Australian Tax Agency To Target Crypto Traders Hiding Profits Offshore

The Australian Tax Office or ATO said it will track down citizens hiding their profit from cryptocurrency trading offshore, Australian Financial Review reported.

The move, using the recently signed data sharing agreements with other nations, will also target unexplained assets and wealth.

ATO Acting deputy commissioner Martin Jacobs said, “Our feeling is that the vast majority of investors who joined the bubble in 2017 are likely to be in the loss position as opposed to a gain.”

He said that tax implications from major gains will be confined to a few individuals.

The tax authority will use a 100-point identification check system with advanced data-matching techniques to track Australian crypto investors trading on offshore exchanges.

Jacobs, who is responsible for the private groups and high wealth individuals area, told AFR that the authority is not really alarmed by potential crypto-specific tax compliance risks.

ATO has added cryptocurrency to its hit list for tax time 2018, along with work-related expenses and property investors. It is expected that many taxpayers will make cryptocurrency-related declarations for the first time this year.

It was in early July that tax enforcement authorities of five nations established a joint operational alliance to fight international tax crime and money laundering, including cybercrimes facilitated through cryptocurrencies.

Australia is part of the Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement, known as “the J5”, along with tax officials from Britain, Canada, the U.S., and the Netherlands.

by RTTNews Staff Writer

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