IRS goes after cryptocurrency owners for unpaid taxes

• The IRS is sending out 10,000 form letters to Americans who had cryptocurrency trades and may not have paid taxes.
• The government has said that virtual currencies are taxed like property, but has not given more detailed guidance, to the frustration of many.
• While the letters are essentially a generic reminder of tax obligations, they are a warning that a crackdown could be coming, tax attorneys said.

The IRS is going after taxpayers who owe money from cryptocurrency trades. The agency began sending letters last week telling people they “potentially failed to report income” from selling virtual currencies like Bitcoin, Litecoin or Ethereum, and will send 10,000 of these letters by the end of August, according to a press release.

Tax attorneys suggested that this campaign is an outgrowth of a court order last year for currency platform Coinbase to turn over information on about 13,000 accounts to the IRS. When most people in the U.S. buy cryptocurrencies, they use regulated exchanges…