Lawmakers Expect $28 Billion from Cryptocurrency Reporting to Fund Infrastructure Package; Lobbyists Push Back

The $1.2 trillion Senate proposal looks to be partially funded by cryptocurrency tax revenue. Despite lobbyists’ efforts, the bill may still heavily tax misunderstood technology. Does your firm understand what’s at stake?

The Washington Examiner reported July 28 that a bipartisan Senate group’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure proposal will include several vehicles for funding, including an estimated $28 billion from “applying information reporting requirements to cryptocurrencies.”

While lobbyists for the crypto industry continue pushback, some lawmakers are not optimistic. Sen. Ron Wyden (D – OR) recently tweeted, “Americans avoiding paying taxes they owe through cryptocurrency is a real problem that deserves a real solution. The Republican provision in the bipartisan infrastructure framework isn’t close to being that solution. It’s an attempt to apply brick and mortar rules to the internet and fails to understand how the technology works.”

As it stands, few business professionals can grasp the intricacies, opportunities and challenges posed by blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin and ether. If the IRS is about to finely sharpen its focus in the area to provide the expected tax revenue, CPAs will also need to fine tune their understanding of cryptocurrency taxation.

Shehan Chandrasekera, CPA, head of Tax Strategy with CoinTracker, seeks to help tax professionals with his two-hour webinar, Cryptocurrency Taxation: Nuts, Bolts and Tax Law Updates.

Chandrasekera, a Forbes Tax Contributor, has won multiple awards and recognitions, including 2019 and 2020 CPA Practice Advisor 40 under 40 Accounting Professionals, Outstanding Young CPA of the Year, Rising Star of Texas, and is among 21 accountants mentioned on Accounting Today who will be helping to shape (and reshape) accounting in 2020 and beyond. He has been a guest speaker for Google, Coinbase, Lyft, the AICPA, the American Bar Association and many state CPA societies.

His session offers a high-level, non-technological understanding of cryptocurrencies’ history and the taxation of everyday cryptocurrency transactions. The course will also cover current developments, such as the inclusion of the virtual currency question on Form 1040, how to successfully navigate through tax notices, like CP2000 and Letters 6173, 6174 and 6174-A, as well as tax planning opportunities.

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