29 March 2024 • 2 minute read
New IRS hires signal increasing focus on cryptocurrency and digital finance sectors
The IRS has announced the addition of two private-sector experts to bolster its efforts in building service, reporting, compliance, and enforcement programs focused on digital assets.
Acknowledging that it needs help in these areas, the IRS noted in its February 27 announcement that “[p]ulling in expertise from the private sector to work with the IRS team is critical to successfully building the agency’s efforts involving digital assets and helping us do it in a way that works well for everyone.” The avalanche of industry comments the IRS received in response its proposed regulations on digital asset broker reporting may have hastened these hires.
The IRS hired Sulolit “Raj” Mukherjee, JD, and Seth Wilks, CPA, as executive advisors. Both bring extensive experience in the tax and crypto industries to the agency. Mukherjee has more than 10 years of experience in tax compliance and tax information reporting for financial institutions and has extensive experience in the crypto industry. Before joining the IRS, he was Global Head of Tax at ConsenSys, where he oversaw tax policy, corporate tax compliance, international tax, mergers and acquisitions, and customer reporting. Mukherjee previously served as Vice President and Global Head of Tax at Binance.US, as well as Global Head of Tax Information Reporting at Coinbase.
Wilks comes to the IRS having worked in the digital asset tax policy space for the past six years, most recently serving as TaxBit’s Vice President of Government Relations.
The IRS noted that these two hires will “expand our ability to understand this sector while designing systems for reporting of cryptocurrency and digital assets and related transactions.” As readers of this newsletter will be aware, these hires confirm that digital assets and compliance related to it are a significant priority for the IRS.
Acknowledging that it needs help in these areas, the IRS noted in its February 27 announcement that “[p]ulling in expertise from the private sector to work with the IRS team is critical to successfully building the agency’s efforts involving digital assets and helping us do it in a way that works well for everyone.” The avalanche of industry comments the IRS received in response its proposed regulations on digital asset broker reporting may have hastened these hires.
The IRS hired Sulolit “Raj” Mukherjee, JD, and Seth Wilks, CPA, as executive advisors. Both bring extensive experience in the tax and crypto industries to the agency. Mukherjee has more than 10 years of experience in tax compliance and tax information reporting for financial institutions and has extensive experience in the crypto industry. Before joining the IRS, he was Global Head of Tax at ConsenSys, where he oversaw tax policy, corporate tax compliance, international tax, mergers and acquisitions, and customer reporting. Mukherjee previously served as Vice President and Global Head of Tax at Binance.US, as well as Global Head of Tax Information Reporting at Coinbase.
Wilks comes to the IRS having worked in the digital asset tax policy space for the past six years, most recently serving as TaxBit’s Vice President of Government Relations.
The IRS noted that these two hires will “expand our ability to understand this sector while designing systems for reporting of cryptocurrency and digital assets and related transactions.” As readers of this newsletter will be aware, these hires confirm that digital assets and compliance related to it are a significant priority for the IRS.
