Coinbase Ditches US Customer Tax Form That Set Off False Alarms at IRS

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has fined cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase $6.5 million “for reckless false, misleading, or inaccurate reporting as well as wash trading.” This enforcement action came as Coinbase is getting ready for its initial public offering (IPO) on Nasdaq. CFTC Takes Action Against Coinbase The CFTC announced Friday that it has issued an order settling charges against cryptocurrency exchange operator Coinbase Inc. “for reckless false, misleading, or inaccurate reporting as well as wash trading.” The regulator wrote: The order....

Coinbase, which faces an IRS subpoena to disclose records on all of its U.S. customers, wants customers to know that while the company has chosen to fight the IRS on releasing customer information, it remains committed to complying with tax reporting requirements. Brian Armstrong, Coinbase CEO and co-founder, clarified the company’s position in a recent Medium post in which he appealed to the IRS to work with Coinbase and suggested a tax reporting form that Charles Schwab and Fidelity use might be a solution. On December 1, a federal judge approved an IRS summons and demanded Coinbase....

Coinbase clarified that the crypto exchange was not selling its users’ data and highlighted that it only provides information for investigations of financial crimes. Crypto exchange platform Coinbase denied reports alleging that the company is selling its customer information to the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), an agency that works under the country’s Department of Homeland Security. On Thursday, news that Coinbase has been providing geolocation data to the ICE has circulated online. Because of this, Twitter users like Solobase Mac were shocked and noted that....

Coinbase is handing over customer data to the British tax authority, Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC). The measure affects customers with a U.K. address who received more than £5,000 ($6,450) worth of cryptocurrency during the 2019/20 tax year. On Oct. 2, Coinbase sent an email to its U.K. users advising them that it will share their account information with the HMRC. The exchange said the tax agency originally asked for records relating to all UK customers dating back to 2017, but it later worked out a plan that resulted in “a revised notice with reduced....

For the second year in a row, the IRS is telling crypto investors they under-reported crypto gains. But there may false alarms again.