Canadian Tax Agency Collects Over $100 Million in Crypto Audits Without Criminal Charges

According to ChainCatcher, court documents reveal that the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has collected over 100 million Canadian dollars through crypto-related audits over the past three years. Despite this, no criminal charges have been filed since 2020, highlighting structural limitations in the country's enforcement capabilities. The report notes that the CRA has a dedicated team of 35 crypto auditors who have handled more than 230 cases. It is estimated that approximately 40% of taxpayers using crypto platforms have either not declared their taxes or pose a high compliance risk. However, the agency's chief crypto auditor admitted in an affidavit that the CRA finds it challenging to reliably identify taxpayers in the crypto sector and assess their compliance with income tax obligations. Additionally, the report states that the CRA has obtained court orders to request data from Dapper Labs, the NFT company behind NBA Top Shot and CryptoKitties, for 2,500 users. Initially, the CRA sought information on Dapper's top 18,000 users but narrowed the scope to 2,500 after negotiations with company executives and lawyers. The CRA filed the application with the Canadian Federal Court in September, marking the second time the court has required a Canadian crypto company to disclose such information. A similar order was issued in 2020 to Toronto-based exchange Coinsquare.