Check the box

Beginning with tax year 2022, taxpayers must check a box on their tax returns indicating whether they received digital assets as a reward, award or payment for property or services or whether they disposed of any digital assets that were held as capital assets through sales, exchanges or transfers. If the “yes” box is checked, taxpayers must report all income related to the digital asset transactions.

New information form

Under the broker information reporting rules, brokers must report transactions in securities to both the IRS and investors. Transactions are reported on Form 1099-B. Legislation enacted in 2021 extended these reporting rules to cryptocurrency exchanges, custodians and platforms and to digital assets such as cryptocurrency. The new rules were scheduled to be effective for returns required to be filed, and statements required to be furnished, for post-2022 transactions. But the IRS has postponed the effective date until it issues new final regulations that provide instructions.

In addition to extending this reporting requirement to cryptocurrency, the legislation also extended existing cash reporting rules (for cash payments of $10,000 or more) to cryptocurrency. That means businesses that accept crypto payments of $10,000 or more must report them to the IRS on Form 8300. These rules apply to transactions that take place in 2023 and later years.

Existing rules and new reporting for digital assets

Currently, if you have a stock account, whenever you sell securities, you receive a Form 1099-B. On the form, your broker reports details of transactions, such as sale proceeds, relevant dates, your tax basis for the sale and the gain or loss.

The 2021 legislation expanded the definition of “brokers” who must furnish Forms 1099-B to include businesses that regularly provide services accomplishing transfers of digital assets on behalf of another person. Thus, once the IRS issues final regulations, any platform where you buy and sell cryptocurrency will have to report digital asset transactions to you and the IRS.

These exchanges/platforms will have to gather information from customers, so they can issue Forms 1099-B. Specifically, they will have to get customers’ names, addresses and phone numbers, the gross proceeds from sales, capital gains or losses and whether they were short-term or long-term.

Note: It’s not yet known whether exchanges/platforms will have to file Form 1099-B (modified to include digital assets) or a new IRS form.

Cash transaction reporting

Under a set of rules separate from the broker reporting rules, when a business receives $10,000 or more in cash, it must report the transaction to the IRS, including the identity of the person from whom the cash was received. This is done on Form 8300. For this reporting requirement, businesses will have to treat digital assets like cash.

Form 8300 requires reporting information including address, occupation and taxpayer identification number. The current rules that apply to cash usually apply to in-person payments in actual cash. It may be difficult for businesses seeking to comply with the reporting rules to collect the information needed for crypto transactions.

What you should know

If you use a cryptocurrency exchange or platform, and it hasn’t already collected a Form W-9 from you, expect it to do so. In addition to collecting information from customers, these businesses will need to begin tracking the holding periods and the buy-and-sell prices of digital assets in customers’ accounts. Contact us for more information in your situation.

To help plan sponsors better understand digital assets and evaluate whether plan offerings focused on digital assets are a potential fit for their organization, we are sharing a series of articles about the asset class and recent regulatory developments, including the Biden administration’s comprehensive plan for responsible development of digital assets. This first article in the series examines how the federal government is assessing the benefits and risks that cryptocurrencies pose to consumers, investors, and businesses.

White House calls for research on digital assets

In March 2022, the Biden administration issued an executive order calling for the federal government to report its findings on the risks and benefits of cryptocurrencies and other digital assets. For six months, various agencies conducted research and offered recommendations for responsibly developing the U.S. digital asset industry. The result of this work was a fact sheet that was released in September and outlined six main concepts for the development of responsible digital assets nationally and globally: consumer and investor protection; promoting financial stability; countering illicit finance; U.S. leadership in the global financial system and economic competitiveness; financial inclusion; and responsible innovation.

Protecting consumers, investors, and businesses

The U.S. government believes that without a solid framework of rules and regulations for digital assets, innovations in this sector could be harmful to consumers, investors, and businesses. In response to the White House calling for research on digital assets, several federal agencies issued reports addressing the potential benefits and challenges in protecting Americans from some of the potential risks posed by digital assets.

The Treasury Department’s report noted that about 12% of Americans own some form of digital asset. While the number of people holding these assets has grown, the volume of fraud and other scams has increased as well. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reported that more than 46,000 incidents of cryptocurrency-related fraud occurred between January 1, 2021, and March 31, 2022, valued at more than $1 billion.

The Treasury Department’s report made four main recommendations:

• Expand regulatory oversight: Regulators including the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) should expand and increase investigations and enforcement related to digital assets, especially regarding potential misrepresentations made to consumers. Agencies also should increase their coordination of enforcement efforts between agencies as such efforts have been effective in shutting down fraudulent actions.
• Increase focus on scams and aggressive marketing: Online activities like gaming and entertainment are havens for scams, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and FTC should expand investigations into consumer complaints. The Department of Labor should also ensure that 401(k) plans and participants are protected from aggressive marketing, conflicts of interest, and bad-faith cryptocurrency investments.
• Encourage cross-collaboration between agencies: While several regulatory agencies have issued guidance to deal with increasing cryptocurrency issues, the Treasury Department would like to see more cross-collaboration among agencies to create more comprehensive oversight. Building a more connected, cross-agency response is critical to promote safety and reduce consumer, investor, and business confusion as well as the potential for fraud.
• Educate consumers on digital assets: Through its website MyMoney.gov, the Financial Literacy and Education Commission (FLEC) has taken the lead on educating consumers, investors, and businesses on financial issues. Now the FLEC will educate the public on common digital asset risks and scams and ways to report abuse. FLEC member agencies will also review the lack of information available to more vulnerable groups to help better understand the risks and opportunities they face. Lastly, the FLEC will engage with industry experts and academics to promote and coordinate public/private partnerships for financial education outreach.

Insight: Take a long-term approach to digital assets

Financial advisors often encourage investors to focus on the long-term and avoid trying to time the market with their 401(k) investments. Similarly, plan sponsors may want to take a long‑term perspective regarding their own approach to digital assets. Given today’s massive surge in the variety and scope of digital assets, plan sponsors should seek to understand their role in the financial landscape before rushing to implement changes.