Looking to Hire a Crypto Tax Professional, What to Know

When it comes to hiring a tax attorney for cryptocurrency, U.S. Taxpayers need to make sure they hire an attorney who has a strong understanding of how cryptocurrency tax works (which can be complex). Unfortunately, these days many Tax Lawyers and CPAs who purport to be ‘Crypto Tax Experts’ do to really specialize in cryptocurrency taxes but rather practice in many different areas of tax. On one website the firm may advertise as a crypto tax specialist but on other websites owned by the firm, they may claim to be employment tax specialists, international tax specialists, sales tax specialists, state tax specialists, etc. With cryptocurrency becoming much more popular among investors of all types, how does a taxpayer find the right crypto tax professional to hire — and what should they know before engaging with the cryptocurrency tax lawyer?

Crypto Specialist or General Tax Practitioner?

When it comes to tax law, there are two types of tax lawyers. They are tax lawyers who specialize in one particular area of tax, such as Golding & Golding which specializes exclusively in international tax and offshore disclosure, and lawyers who are general practitioners and dabble in various types of tax law. For matters involving cryptocurrency, unless it is specifically dealing with international/offshore disclosure we always recommend taxpayers find a law firm that represents taxpayers exclusively in cryptocurrency-related tax transactions.

Specializing in Crypto or Just Advertising as a Crypto Specialist?

Taxpayers have to be careful that they are talking to a firm that truly specializes exclusively in cryptocurrency and not just a firm that advertises that it specializes in cryptocurrency. That is because oftentimes a firm a firm will advertise that they specialize in one area of tax but then they also claim to specialize in 10 other areas of tax — depending on which website you find them on. Therefore, one way to determine if the firm specializes in cryptocurrency or not is to go to its main website and recent blog posts and see if the focus is on cryptocurrency or if it is in a different area of tax.

How Long Have They Been Practicing

For specialized areas of tax such as cryptocurrency, taxpayers should find a cryptocurrency tax lawyer who has been in tax law practice for at least 15- 20 years

Are the Crypto Tax Fees Justified?

Finally, it is important to ensure that the firm is charging fair and reasonable fees. Some tax firms, including cryptocurrency firms, will pad their fees with services Taxpayers do not need such as ongoing accounting and related matters.

Most of the time, Taxpayers can simply input their cryptocurrency transactions into whichever software program they prefer and have their transactions managed appropriately — and may only need a cryptocurrency tax firm to help file their tax returns. When this is the case, taxpayers should make sure that they’re not being overcharged for services they simply do not need.

Late Filing Penalties May Be Reduced or Avoided

For Taxpayers who did not timely file their FBAR and other international information-related reporting forms, the IRS has developed many different offshore amnesty programs to assist Taxpayers with safely getting into compliance. These programs may reduce or even eliminate international reporting penalties.

Current Year vs. Prior Year Non-Compliance

Once a Taxpayer missed the tax and reporting (such as FBAR and FATCA) requirements for prior years, they will want to be careful before submitting their information to the IRS in the current year. That is because they may risk making a quiet disclosure if they just begin filing forward in the current year and/or mass filing previous year forms without doing so under one of the approved IRS offshore submission procedures. Before filing prior untimely foreign reporting forms, Taxpayers should consider speaking with a Board-Certified Tax Law Specialist who specializes exclusively in these types of offshore disclosure matters.

Avoid False Offshore Disclosure Submissions (Willful vs Non-Willful)

In recent years, the IRS has increased the level of scrutiny for certain streamlined procedure submissions. When a person is non-willful, they have an excellent chance of making a successful submission to Streamlined Procedures. If they are willful, they would submit to the IRS Voluntary Disclosure Program instead. But, if a willful Taxpayer submits an intentionally false narrative under the Streamlined Procedures (and gets caught), they may become subject to significant fines and penalties.

**Need Help Finding an Experienced Offshore Tax Attorney?**

When it comes to hiring an experienced international tax attorney to represent you for unreported foreign and offshore account reporting, it can become overwhelming for Taxpayers trying to trek through all the false information and nonsense they will find in their online research. There are only a handful of attorneys worldwide who are Board-Certified Tax Specialists and who specialize exclusively in offshore disclosure and international tax amnesty reporting.

*This resource may help Taxpayers seeking to hire offshore tax counsel: How to Hire an Offshore Disclosure Lawyer.

Golding & Golding: About Our International Tax Law Firm

Golding & Golding specializes exclusively in international tax, specifically IRS offshore disclosure.

Contact our firm today for assistance.