New Zealands tax agency has requested that crypto firms in the country share their customers personal details and cryptocurrency asset values.
According to a statement from the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) issued to Radio New Zealand, the agency has requested this information in order to enhance its understanding of the crypto-asset environment in the country, so that it can know how best to help taxpayers meet income tax obligations.
The move comes at a time when tax regulators around the world are tightening their grip on the cryptocurrency market.
Janine Grainger, chief executive of New-Zealand-based Easy Crypto, told Radio New Zealand that the IRD must be widening its net of the tax base because crypto-asset ownership is growing in New Zealand. Grainger called the move a heartbreaking breach of privacy and autonomy.
https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/79008/new-zealands-tax-authority-asks-crypto-firms-to-turn-over-customer-infoIt will eventually become a norm around the globe in next few years. It is a part of the mass adoption that we all are hoping for and the mass adoption will not happen without sharing the data with tax authorities. If we want to see organic growth of crypto, then tax authority will surely ask for the customers' data from the crypto companies. People who call it heartbreaking may have some hidden agenda behind their cryptos but for people who are using cryptos in a legal way, they wouldn't find it problematic at all.
Don't forget that New Zealand has seen a very serious terrorist attack in 2019 where the terrorist Brenton Tarrant reportedly had used cryptocurrency to buy guns for the attack. So it's no wonder that New Zealand tax authorities are taking the matter seriously!