According to 2022 data from the US Internal Revenue Service, more than 50% of cases brought by crime departments were related to cryptocurrency tax evasion.

The head of the IRS Criminal Investigations Division, Jim Lee, said that the department’s investigations related to cryptocurrency take up more than 50% of the working time of employees.

While three years ago, almost 90% of cases were related to money laundering, last year more than half of the various tax offenses related to failure to report capital gains in cryptocurrency or mining, as well as concealment of the facts of ownership of crypto assets.

“The desire to evade payment of cryptocurrency taxes covers a wide range of payers, from individuals to corporate institutions of various levels that deliberately do not disclose their cryptocurrency income. Therefore, the IRS Criminal Investigation Division is forced to bring an increasing number of cases of tax crimes involving crypto assets every year,” the official complained.

Jim Lee says the IRS is making it clear to all digital asset market participants that cryptocurrency is subject to tax, and failure to pay and accurately report cryptocurrency earnings to the agency may result in penalties. Depending on the severity of the offence, offenders may face a fine of up to 75% of the amount of unpaid tax, up to a prison sentence of up to five years.

Previously, the US Internal Revenue Service issued a clarification according to which funds received from staking are also considered income and should be taxed.