IRS plans cheaper, faster voluntary disclosure program that also covers crypto

24 Oct 2026

24 Oct 2026, 01:27 UTC+02:00

US taxpayers who have hidden crypto gains from the tax office may soon get a cheaper way to come clean. The Internal Revenue Service is preparing to overhaul its voluntary disclosure program, with lower penalties and much faster resolutions, according to a Friday report by Forbes cited by Cointelegraph.

What the IRS is planning

IRS Criminal Investigation Chief Jarod Koopman told the UCLA Extension Tax Controversy Conference that the agency wants the revised program in place before December. The target is to resolve cases within 120 days after a taxpayer completes the required submission. Under the current process, a case can take a year or longer.

Koopman said penalties would be substantially lower than today, although he gave no figures. The agency is also considering letting taxpayers settle what they owe through installment plans or offers in compromise, which would make the program more realistic for people who cannot pay a large bill in one go.

No special track for digital assets

The overhaul will reportedly not create a separate process for crypto. Digital assets will be handled through the same voluntary disclosure procedures used for every other kind of tax noncompliance. It is worth remembering who the program is for: it targets taxpayers whose willful failure to comply could expose them to criminal prosecution, not people who simply made honest reporting mistakes.

For those honest mistakes, Congress is working on a separate path. Section 502 of the proposed Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act would set up a correction process for crypto taxpayers with defined penalties, including for unintentional errors. The bill cleared the House Ways and Means Committee in September but still has to pass both chambers.

What it means for traders

• Exchange data is reaching tax offices: broker reporting rules in the US and the EU’s DAC8 regime mean exchanges increasingly share customer data. Unreported gains are getting harder to hide.
• Keep your records: export your full trade history from every exchange you use, including closed accounts. A clean record makes any correction cheaper.
• Know your platform: regulated exchanges provide tax reports and statements. Our exchange comparison shows which platforms are licensed where you live, and our testing methodology explains how we score them.

What to watch next

Watch for the formal IRS announcement and the actual penalty rates, expected before December, and for progress on the Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act in the Senate. This article is general information, not tax advice.

Sources

• Cointelegraph: IRS plans lower tax disclosure penalties, including for crypto: Forbes

News is for information only and is not financial advice. More crypto news