US Treasury calls for IRS reporting on crypto transfers above $10,000

The Treasury Department is ramping up IRS enforcement of tax evaders and focusing on cryptocurrency as part of that.

The Internal Revenue Service will require that businesses that receive transfers of $10,000 or more be reported.

"Cryptocurrency already poses a significant detection problem by facilitating illegal activity broadly including tax evasion," the agency said in a release. "This is why the President's proposal includes additional resources for the IRS to address the growth of cryptoassets."

Regulators across a number of agencies are increasingly focusing on crypto as an area of concern.

The announcement Thursday came as part of a broader proposal to improve tax compliance and stop tax evasion.

"Despite constituting a relatively small portion of business income today, cryptocurrency transactions are likely to rise in importance in the next decade, especially in the presence of a broad-based financial account reporting regime," the Treasury Department said in the release. "Within the context of the new financial account reporting regime, cryptocurrencies and cryptoasset exchange accounts and payment service accounts that accept cryptocurrencies would be covered. Further, as with cash transactions, businesses that receive cryptoassets with a fair market value of more than $10,000 would also be reported on. Although cryptocurrency is a small share of current business transactions, such comprehensive reporting is necessary to minimize the incentives and opportunity to shift income out of the new information reporting regime."