Analysts estimate share of crypto investors who paid taxes

According to the 2022 results, only 0.53% of investors worldwide paid taxes on digital asset transactions. Specialists at Divly found this.

The highest share of compliant taxpayers is recorded in Finland (4.03%) and Australia (3.65%). The top five also include Austria (2.75%), Germany (2.63%), and the United Kingdom (2.61%). The United States ranked 10th (1.62%).

At the opposite end of the list are residents of India, Indonesia and the Philippines (0.07%, 0.04% and 0.03%, respectively).

Experts obtained similar results based on an analysis of the relationship between the number of people who reported the corresponding incomes on tax declarations and the number of searches for cryptocurrency-related keywords.

Experts also used Statista data on the number of digital-asset users in various countries.

The report notes that the latest figures may distort reality because not all taxpayers search for information about their obligations online.

An additional discrepancy could have arisen from the lack of adjustments for internet accessibility.

In an interview with Cointelegraph, Danny Tailvor, head of tax at the startup Koinly, doubted the accuracy of the study’s results.

“It is likely that 99.5% of those who do not fulfill obligations do not reflect the countries where specific guidelines such as the United States, Canada, Australia and India have been developed,” he explained.

Blockchain Australia representative Greg Wells also questioned the methodology.

Both experts noted that government efforts to reconcile data and oversight complicate the ability to evade taxes tied to cryptocurrency.

According to Wells, as government technologies improve, the task of locating evaders becomes easier. He warned that in the coming years tax authorities may pursue those who are currently reluctant to meet their obligations to the budget.

Tailor noted the emergence of tax authorities’ ability to obtain data from bitcoin exchanges.

As The Wall Street Journal reported that President Joe Biden planned in the 2024 fiscal year to collect $24 billion in taxes from crypto investors.

In September 2022 it became known that IRS would issue invitations to appear before the agency for digital-asset users who do not report their incomes. This would be possible after a court ruling.

Earlier, state finance ministries released updated tax guidance that clarifies the status of NFTs.