White House reviews tax policy on virtual assets held overseas by Americans… IRS access rights discussed

The White House is reportedly reviewing a new tax policy that would allow the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to access virtual assets (cryptocurrency) held overseas by its citizens.

On the 17th (local time), Solid Intel reported that the review is being discussed as part of the U.S. government's efforts to explore expanding the scope of taxation to include not only foreign financial accounts but also digital assets. The IRS is said to take the position that it should be able to obtain U.S. citizens' virtual asset data held on overseas exchanges and wallets.

Holdings of virtual assets overseas have been raised as potentially being used to evade taxes because they are less transparent than traditional financial accounts. Accordingly, the U.S. government is reportedly discussing applying FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act)-level regulation to digital assets as well.

If the policy is pursued, it is highly likely that reporting obligations for overseas exchanges and digital asset service providers will be strengthened. However, the specific implementation timing and scope are reportedly still under review.