Slashdot Mirror
Bitcoin Exchange Ordered To Give IRS Years of Data On Millions of Users (gizmodo.com)
Last month, instead of asking for data relating to specific individuals suspected of a crime, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) demanded America's largest Bitcoin service, Coinbase, to provide the identities of all of the firm's U.S. customers who made transactions over a three year period because there is a chance they are avoiding paying taxes on their bitcoin reserves. On Wednesday, a federal judge authorized a summons requiring Coinbase to provide the IRS with those records. Gizmodo reports: Covering the identities and transaction histories of millions of customers, the request is believed to be the largest single attempt to identify tax evaders using virtual currency to date. As a so-called "John Doe" summons, the document targets a particular group or class of taxpayers -- rather than individuals -- the agency has a "reasonable basis" to believe may have broken the law. According to The New York Times, the IRS argued that two cases of tax evasion involving Coinbase combined with Bitcoin's "relatively high level of anonymity" serve as that basis. "There is no allegation in this suit that Coinbase has engaged in any wrongdoing in connection with its virtual currency exchange business," said the Justice Department on Wednesday. "Rather, the IRS uses John Doe summonses to obtain information about possible violations of internal revenue laws by individuals whose identities are unknown." In a statement, Coinbase vowed to fight the summons, which the company's head counsel has previously characterized as a "every, very broad" fishing expedition.
What is the difference between this and the IRS asking for banks to release 3 years of all of its customers records, because cash is anonymous?
love is just extroverted narcissism
As soon as Bitcoin entered common parlance, this became the obvious endgame.
As soon as you could purchase normal day-to-day goods, it became inevitable.
And as much as it sucks ... they're right. Using crypto currency does avoid taxes, even if that isn't the primary intent.
I just wish they'd found a better way to address the issue. A mass subpoena is rather inelegant, and will cause a lot of pushback.
This signature is false.
Honestly, nobody knows what the fuck he would say.
Or whether or not he'd change his opinion the next day, depending on who he met with that night.
There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
I hate it when they use his own words against him.
It makes them look so bad.
There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
Why would anyone use BitCoin for tax evasion when they could just incorporate and use the many legal tax loopholes that the government refuses to close?
Those who understand bitcoin have enough brain to maintain their anonymity.
If they had even more of a brain, they wouldn't have bothered with bitcoin in the first place.
The basic issue is not about bitcoin. It is about the scope of warrants, summonses, and subpoenas. The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states:
> The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses,
> papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures,
> shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable
> cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing
> the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
I doubt there is "probable cause" that tax evasion has indeed been committed by Coinbase's users. Such a broad summons fails to describe which persons' accounts are to be examined. Since the summons was served on Coinbase, which has not been suspected of a crime, a challenge of the summons to appeals courts or the US Supreme Court might be very successful.