IRS Seizing Crypto Assets to Pay Off Tax Debts, Official Says

The IRS can seize people’s cryptocurrency assets to pay off past-due tax debts, an agency official said Wednesday.

The agency said in a 2014 notice that cryptocurrency is property for tax purposes. As such, it can be seized like other types of property, said Robert Wearing, deputy associate chief counsel (Procedure & Administration) at the IRS.

• “Bottom line: The IRS will seize that property and will attempt to follow its usual procedures to sell it and use it to satisfy collection,” he said at a virtual conference hosted by the American Bar Association’s tax section.
• Wearing noted that both ...