Crypto Journalist

Amin Ayan

Crypto Journalist

Amin Ayan

About Author

Amin Ayan is a crypto journalist with over four years of experience in the industry. He has contributed to leading publications such as Cryptonews, Investing.com, 99Bitcoins, and 24/7 Wall St. He has…

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August 23, 2025

Trish Turner has stepped down as head of the United States Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) digital assets division, leaving the role after just three months.

Turner announced her departure in a LinkedIn post on Friday, reflecting on her two-decade career at the agency.

“After more than 20 years with the IRS, I have closed an extraordinary chapter of my career with deep appreciation for those who shaped my journey and made the work so meaningful,” she wrote.

Turner Vows to Bridge Gap Between Industry and Regulators

Turner added that she looked forward to “building bridges between industry and regulators” from a new position outside the agency.

Bloomberg Tax later reported that Turner will join Crypto Tax Girl, a private tax advisory firm, as its new tax director.

Founder Laura Walter confirmed the appointment, saying Turner’s expertise will help clients navigate the growing list of compliance challenges.

“With all of the big crypto tax and compliance changes on the horizon, we are excited to have Trish on board,” Walter said.

Her resignation comes at a critical moment for U.S. crypto taxation. The IRS has been under increasing pressure to modernize its digital asset strategy, following repeated criticism from lawmakers and watchdog agencies over its handling of crypto-related investigations.

Turner herself was only appointed in May, following the departures of Sulolit “Raj” Mukherjee and Seth Wilks, who left the division after roughly a year.

The shake-up coincides with heightened congressional scrutiny. Last month, the House Committee on Ways and Means announced a hearing on how to establish a clear tax framework for digital assets.

Earlier in July, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration recommended reforms to the IRS’s criminal investigation unit, citing failures to follow protocols in crypto cases.

Meanwhile, the broader regulatory environment has shifted under the Trump administration.

In April, the president signed a resolution overturning a Biden-era rule that would have required decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols to report user transactions to the IRS.

Turner’s move to the private sector highlights the ongoing migration of senior government officials into crypto-focused firms, as the industry braces for sweeping changes in U.S. tax and compliance policy.

IRS Ramps Up Crypto Tax Crackdown With Surge in Warning Letters

As reported, the IRS has intensified its scrutiny of crypto investors in the United States, sending out a wave of warning letters over the past two months.

Tax experts say the letters point to growing enforcement efforts after the agency flagged discrepancies in filings linked to digital asset transactions.

CoinLedger, a crypto tax filing platform, said it received nearly 800 customer support queries about IRS letters between May and June, nine times more than the same period in 2024.

Tax attorneys have also seen a spike in outreach, with some firms now fielding multiple calls each week from concerned clients, compared to little or no activity last year.

The campaign recalls earlier IRS crackdowns in 2020 and 2021, when the agency issued widespread compliance letters after obtaining exchange data, including records from Coinbase.

A scammer pleaded guilty after participating in a scheme that convinced the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to pay out $10 million in fraudulent refunds.

Brooklyn resident Xerxes Shevar, 57, was part of a prolific international conspiracy ring involving scammers in the United States, Ghana, Nigeria and Ireland, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

The US Attorney says the conspirators obtained stolen identity info on the internet and then submitted fraudulent federal tax returns under the names of those identities. The alleged scammers also opened bank accounts in those names to receive the returns from the IRS.

One of Shevar’s co-conspirators alleges the scam ring attempted to secure around $38 million from the IRS between the tax years 2010 and 2013 and ended up receiving more than $10 million.

The scammers allegedly used stolen identities to open 3,493 bank accounts and obtain 4,563 credit cards across 443 financial institutions. In all, the scam ring allegedly victimized 11,468 individuals.

Shevar was arrested in February 2024 when he returned to the United States from Ghana. The Brooklyn resident was convicted of wire fraud conspiracy, and US District Judge Susan Paradise Baxter sentenced him earlier this month to three years of probation. The judge also ordered him to pay $290,000 in restitution.

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As crypto prices see a new rebound with Bitcoin (BTC) leading the pack, US investors are not only anticipating significant returns on BTC and other digital assets but also facing increased scrutiny from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). 

Recent reports indicate that the Internal Revenue Service has dispatched a wave of warning letters to crypto investors, raising alarms about the accuracy of the information they provided on their tax returns.

Crypto Tax Inquiries Skyrocket

In the past two months, the number of these warning letters has spiked, signaling a renewed focus on digital asset reporting. Crypto tax experts have noted that this uptick is markedly higher than in previous years. 

David Kemmerer, co-founder and CEO of CoinLedger, reported a dramatic increase in support inquiries related to IRS communications. From May to June, conversations on CoinLedger about “IRS letters” surged to nearly 800, a ninefold increase compared to the same timeframe in 2024.

Kemmerer explained, “Thousands of investors are getting these letters. Naturally, when that happens, we see a flood of customers coming to us asking, ‘What do I do?’” 

This sentiment is echoed by two crypto tax attorneys, Jordan Bass and Andrew Gordon, who have also observed a noticeable rise in inquiries regarding these IRS notifications. 

Bass mentioned that his firm received inquiries from at least ten recipients of the letters in the last two months, a significant increase from the previous year when no inquiries were reported.

IRS Warning Letters

The IRS has a history of intensifying its efforts to ensure compliance among cryptocurrency investors. Following the agency’s acquisition of thousands of customer records from Coinbase in 2017, it implemented a series of “voluntary compliance” letters aimed at encouraging accurate reporting among investors. 

The latest notices inform recipients that the Internal Revenue Service possesses information indicating they hold “one or more accounts containing virtual currency.” 

While some letters advise recipients to review their reporting for accuracy, others require a response, either through amended returns or explanations justifying their reported transactions.

Interestingly, Gordon noted a potential commonality among recent recipients of the letters, many of whom had accounts on the Seychelles-based crypto exchange Poloniex, raising questions about the data the IRS may have accessed to trigger these communications.

Kemmerer speculated that the increased outreach from the IRS typically follows the agency acquiring new data, suggesting that the notices might be part of broader enforcement efforts. “I’m sure there are just people randomly getting selected, and the lucky ones get these scary letters,” he said.

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A Pennsylvania NFT trader faces up to six years in prison after pleading guilty to federal tax fraud charges for failing to report $13 million in profits from CryptoPunk NFT sales. Waylon Wilcox, 45, deliberately concealed 97 high-value NFT transactions over two years, evading approximately $3.3 million in taxes in what prosecutors describe as one of the first major U.S. cases involving NFT-related tax evasion.

• Wilcox underreported income by $8.5 million in 2021 and $4.6 million in 2022 from CryptoPunk sales, selecting “no” when asked about cryptocurrency transactions on tax forms.

• The IRS uncovered the fraud by tracing blockchain records and exchange data, demonstrating their improving ability to link crypto transactions to individuals.

• The case coincides with intensified IRS focus on cryptocurrency tax compliance ahead of the April 15 deadline.

• This prosecution could establish a precedent for how NFT profits are treated under tax law and the serious consequences of evasion.

The Fraud Scheme Details

Court documents reveal that Wilcox conducted 62 CryptoPunk sales in 2021, generating $7.4 million, and another 35 sales in 2022, generating $4.9 million. Despite these substantial profits, he falsely claimed on his tax forms to have no involvement with digital asset transactions.

This deliberate misrepresentation allowed Wilcox to underpay $2.1 million in taxes for 2021 and $1.1 million for 2022. The guilty plea was entered on April 9, 2025, with sentencing expected to include imprisonment, supervised release, and additional fines.

IRS Cryptocurrency Compliance Efforts

This case highlights the IRS’s increasingly sophisticated approach to tracking cryptocurrency transactions. The agency used blockchain analytics tools to trace Wilcox’s sales and match them to his identity, breaking through the perceived anonymity of crypto wallets.

Philadelphia Field Office Special Agent Yury Kruty stated, “IRS Criminal Investigation is committed to unravelling complex financial schemes involving virtual currencies and non-fungible token (NFT) transactions designed to conceal taxable income. He continued, “In today’s economic environment, it’s more important than ever that the American people feel confident that everyone is playing by the rules and paying the taxes they owe.”

The IRS issued guidance in 2023, specifically requiring NFT gain and loss reporting. Using a “look-through analysis,” the IRS will determine if an NFT is a collectible based on its associated asset. For example, NFTs tied to gems or art would be considered collectibles, subject to a higher tax rate of up to 28%. Public comments were solicited to refine this approach.

Impact on the NFT Market

Despite regulatory scrutiny and legal cases like Wilcox’s, the CryptoPunk collection continues to maintain significant market value. While trading volume has dropped approximately 70% from its 2021 peak, CryptoPunks remains the largest NFT collection with a floor price that has stabilized at around $68,000.

Yuga Labs, which acquired CryptoPunks in 2022, has preserved the collection’s legacy despite initial concerns about commercialization. The ongoing value of these digital assets makes clear why tax authorities are paying increased attention to the sector.

Tax Implications and Blockchain’s Transparency Paradox

The Wilcox case establishes an important precedent for how NFT profits are treated under tax law and the serious consequences of evasion. NFT sales are typically taxed as capital gains or ordinary income depending on holding periods, with the same reporting requirements as traditional assets.

The Wilcox case also exposes an interesting paradox in blockchain technology. While all transactions are recorded on a public ledger, the pseudonymous nature of wallets creates an illusion of privacy that some traders mistakenly believe shields them from tax obligations.

In reality, as this case demonstrates, the IRS has become adept at connecting wallet addresses to real identities through exchange records, withdrawal patterns, and other investigative techniques. The permanent nature of blockchain records means evidence of transactions remains available indefinitely for future investigation.