U.S. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) has expanded a probe into cryptocurrency links to qualified opportunity zones (QOZ). The QOZ program allows investors who recognize capital gains to reinvest those gains, tax-deferred, in QOZ-related funds that then invest in QOZs throughout the country. Wyden is “concerned by recent reports that companies involved in cryptocurrency mining” are using the QOZ program to “avoid taxes without meaningfully benefitting low-income communities.” Addressing certain companies by name, Wyden’s concerns include a lack of transparency and reporting from QOZ participants to federal regulators, and evolving IRS guidance on cryptocurrency reporting.
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