Israel Tax Authority is hunting for crypto traders on social media
It has emerged that Israel Tax Authority is hunting for crypto traders on social media. Local sources indicate that various local branches of the organization are sending out letters to those they suspect to be trading crypto without reporting it.
In the letters, the authorities demand that the recipients should reveal all their involvement in crypto markets including all the past transaction history and their current holdings. Also, the recipients are being asked to reveal all the exchange accounts and wallets they have and also to declare all their trade earnings over time. Interestingly, the ITA demands people declare if they have ever engaged in crypto mining.
The tax agency seems very confident with its suspicions as some local tax offices haven’t even bothered sending out letters that seek information but they just decided to open up a case for anyone they suspect is trading crypto. Apparently, the recipients of the letters have been informed they have to pay taxes as business owners and also fill reports that go back to 2013.
At the start of the year, the agency issued a circular where they declared cryptos to be assets and anyone who is engaging in trading them must pay capital gain taxes of 25%. Also, anyone running a business engaged in cryptos must pay VAT of 17%.
The agency is yet to disclose how it got its hands on the list of crypto traders in the country but local sources believe there a few ways they could have obtained the information. People who are familiar with the tax scene have told the Globes newspaper that investigators have used creative ways to come up with the list.
It’s believed that there are undercover agents who are monitoring local groups on Facebook, Whatsapp and Telegram for peer to peer buying and selling of crypto. This information is then cross-referenced with any other available data.
