WASHINGTON - In their search for tax revenue to pay for Senate's bipartisan infrastructure bill, lawmakers turned to cryptocurrency as a possible source of income and proposed tighter oversight of digital transactions.The package stipulates that cryptocurrency investors and brokers must provide greater disclosure to the Internal Revenue Service about the transactions they have made. This provision is intended to increase transparency in an opaque sector that critics claim is a haven to money laundering and tax evasion. The provision also highlights the fact that Washington recognizes that the $2 trillion industry will continue to exist and provides a new opportunity for federal tax revenue.According to the Joint Committee on Taxation's analysis of the plan, federal revenue could be raised by strengthening tax enforcement on digital assets over the course of a decade. Although it would only be a fraction of the $550billion that lawmakers propose for new federal infrastructure spending, it is one of the few new sources of revenue in the plan.Crypto transactions could be subject to more federal scrutiny. This is alarming news for the emerging financial technology industry. Traditional financial services have not been subject to the same rigorous oversight.
