Clarity for crypto tax reporting in proposed bill- Senator Rob Portma

A bill that will lead to a legislation that will make citizens not to evade tax on their crypto earnings is being prepared by a Republican Ohio senator

Though the Senator Rob Portma said lawmakers “don’t have the final bill yet” and were “still pulling in information” on the subject. However, he claimed both Republicans and Democrats were interested in pursuing closing the tax gap with respect to crypto and also hoped to introduce a bill with bipartisan support after the next congressional recess which would address the problem of many crypto users in the U.S. not paying taxes

Senator Portma said that there is a trillion dollar gap in tax presently and which is largely premised on tax evasion through crypto earnings. Also the rationale for the bill is to have better information reporting on cryptocurrency, and to define it better for tax purposes

According to data from the Internal Revenue Service, or IRS, in October, 83.6% of taxes were paid “voluntarily and on time” from 2011 to 2013. During this period, the U.S. government lost an average of roughly $400 billion a year.

Portman mentioned the proposed bill in a hearing with the Senate Finance Committee hearing last Tuesday, in which he addressed IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig. The commissioner said providing appropriate reporting rules for crypto would “absolutely” help in closing the tax gap.

At the time, Rettig cited his role in adding a question to the 2019 tax return forms in which filers were asked whether they received, sold, sent or exchanged any financial interest in cryptocurrencies. He added that certain aspects of the crypto world were “not visible by design,” including nonfungible tokens.

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