The Canada Revenue Agency launches tax investigation into cryptocurrency users of Dapper Labs.
AI Summary2 min read
TL;DR
The Canada Revenue Agency has collected over CAD 100 million from crypto audits but faces challenges in identifying taxpayers and enforcing compliance. It obtained data on 2,500 Dapper Labs users via court order, highlighting ongoing investigations into crypto tax evasion.
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Canada Revenue Agencycryptocurrencytax investigationDapper Labscompliance
According to a report by The Block on December 8th, court documents reveal that the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) collected over CAD 100 million (approximately USD 72 million) in taxes over the past three years through crypto-related audits, but has failed to bring any criminal charges since 2020, exposing structural limitations in the country's enforcement capabilities. The report states that the CRA has a 35-person crypto audit team that has handled over 230 cases and estimates that approximately 40% of taxpayers using crypto platforms are either unreporting taxes or pose a high compliance risk. However, the agency's chief crypto audit officer admitted in an affidavit that the CRA believes it "cannot reliably identify taxpayers in the crypto space and assess their compliance" with income tax obligations. Furthermore, the report indicates that the CRA has obtained data from 2,500 users of Dapper Labs (the NFT company behind NBA Top Shot and CryptoKitties) through a court order. The CRA initially requested information on Dapper's top 18,000 users, but after consulting with company executives and lawyers, narrowed the scope to 2,500. The CRA filed an application with the Federal Court of Canada in September, marking the second time the court has ordered a Canadian crypto company to disclose such information. A similar order was previously issued in 2020 to Toronto-based exchange Coinsquare.