Coinbase and other cryptocurrency exchanges may have had up to 1.2 million accounts subject to a recent request for personal information and transaction details from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).
The goal of this action is to crack down harder on taxpayers who, in the excitement around digital tokens, may be ignoring their financial responsibilities.
Last month, the ATO published a warning stating that they will be using the data to help find traders who haven’t declared using digital currency for purchases or crypto exchanges. The complex structure of the cryptocurrency market is something the ATO is aware of, and it’s a factor that may lead to people being unaware of their tax obligations.
The Australian Taxation Office expressed worry that people would use the anonymity of crypto transactions to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. It stressed that anyone trying to avoid taxes may be interested in crypto assets due to how easy it is to buy them using fake information.
Data such as social media accounts, dates of birth, and phone numbers are part of the sought-after list, along with transaction data such as bank account numbers, wallet locations, and the exact cryptocurrency in question.
In Australia, investors must pay capital gains tax on their earnings from selling crypto assets or digital asset exchanges since digital currencies are considered assets rather than foreign funds for tax reasons.
Crypto assets’ appeal in the Australian market has been growing recently. More than 800,000 Australian taxpayers have transacted in digital assets in the three years before, with a notable 63% surge in 2021, according to a Treasury report dated 2022.
Australia has been growing the number of crypto ATMs it has since September 2022, after years of installing just a few. The nation now has an impressive 1,007 of these computers, which shows that digital assets are far more accessible than they were in the past.
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