WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Internal Revenue Service chief Charles Rettig said on Tuesday that Congress needs to provide clear statutory authority for the tax agency to collect information on cryptocurrency transfers valued at over $10,000 that largely go unreported.
“I think we need congressional authority,” Rettig said in testimony to the Senate Finance Committee. “We get challenged frequently, and to have a clear dictate from Congress on the authority for us to collect that information is critical.”
He said cryptocurrency market capitalization is over $2 trillion, with more than 8,600 exchanges worldwide, “and by design, most crypto virtual currencies are designed to stay off the radar screen, so we will be challenged right now.”
(Reporting by David Lawder)
