10/08/21

US: Senators, Yellen Announce Bipartisan Cryptocurrency Deal Aimed Against Tax Evasion.

As published on urdupoint.com, Tuesday 10 August, 2021.

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th August, 2021) Republican and Democratic senators announced on Monday they have achieved broad agreement on a cryptocurrency regulation, with US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen saying it will make "meaningful progress" in preventing tax evasion via alternate currencies.

"There's broad agreement that digital asset exchanges behaving as brokers should be required to report transactions just like other kinds of brokers already do," Democrat senators Mark Warner and Kyrsten Sinema, who are aligned to the Biden administration, said in a joint statement with Republicans Pat Toomey, Cynthia Lummis and Rob Portman.

The senator said the regulation would address the "concern that tax evasion and non-compliance are becoming significant issues surrounding cryptocurrencies and digital assets".

Yellen, in a separate statement, also expressed confidence that the regulation, which is to be incorporated into an infrastructure bill to be tabled in the Senate, will "make meaningful progress (against) tax evasion".

The Treasury has expressed concern in the past about wealthy Americans shifting taxable assets into the crypto economy to avoid tax.

The crypto economy in the future could account for a significant portion of the $7 trillion US "tax gap" which is the difference between taxes paid and taxes owed, the Treasury Department said.