U.S. court authorizes IRS to seek identities of taxpayers who have used cryptocurrency

[May 06, 2021]    (Reuters) - A federal court in the United States has authorized the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to serve a "John Doe Summons" on the crypto exchange Kraken, seeking identities of U.S. taxpayers who have used cryptocurrency, the Department of Justice said on Wednesday.

Representations of the Ripple, bitcoin, etherum and Litecoin virtual currencies are seen on a PC motherboard in this illustration picture, February 14, 2018. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

The IRS is seeking information about taxpayers who conducted at least $20,000 worth of transactions in cryptocurrency from 2016 to 2020, the DOJ said in a statement.

"Those who transact with cryptocurrency must meet their tax obligations like any other taxpayer", acting Assistant Attorney General David Hubbert of the Justice Department's Tax Division said in the statement.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; and Leslie Adler)

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