Australia’s Tax Office Tells Crypto Exchanges to Hand Over Transaction Details of 1.2 Million Accounts: Reuters

• Australia’s tax office will force cryptocurrency exchanges to provide personal and transaction details of 1.2 million traders.

• The regulator is attempting to crack down on people trying to avoid paying their tax liabilities.

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has asked cryptocurrency exchanges to provide the personal data and transaction details of up to 1.2 million accounts, according to reports.

The Australian Financial Review reported on Monday that “as part of a surveillance effort announced in April, the ATO said its latest data collection protocol would require designated cryptocurrency exchanges to provide the names, addresses, birthdays and transaction details of traders to help it audit compliance with obligations to pay capital gains tax on sales.”

The ATO said the data would help identify traders who failed to report their cryptocurrency-related activities, including the exchange of crypto assets when they sold it for currency or used it to pay for goods and services, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

Australia’s crackdown on the crypto industry has been more evident since the collapse of FTX. It has sued companies for attempting to sell tokens without the appropriate licenses, banking partners have blocked payments to cryptocurrency exchanges and has proposed a new licensing regime for crypto exchanges.

Last year, the ATO clarified that its capital gains tax on crypto products also extends to wrapped tokens or token interaction with decentralized lending protocols.