'Weaponized Every Tool In The Toolbox': Jason Smith Lays Into Biden's IRS And 'Industry Bureaucrats'

2 days ago

During House floor debate prior to the Congressional recess, Rep. Jason Smith (R-MO) called for the reversal of a Biden-era IRS rule.

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Transcript

00:00Recognized. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today in support of a Congressional

00:06Review Act resolution repealing the last-minute, unfair, and unworkable Biden-IRS rule that places

00:16a bureaucratic burden on the Americans who own cryptocurrency and the platforms that allow them

00:22to own it. Congress gave the IRS clear instructions in the 2021 Infrastructure Law

00:30regarding digital asset reporting. The IRS was given an inch and took a mile,

00:37writing a rule that is overly broad and downright sloppy in the process. The rule subjects

00:44decentralized finance platforms or DeFi exchanges to the same reporting requirement

00:51as a centralized bank or traditional securities broker. Under President Biden, the IRS traded

00:59congressional intent for a politically motivated mandate. The Biden administration made no secret

01:07of its opposition to digital assets and America's leadership in this booming industry.

01:14Bureaucrats weaponized every tool in the toolbox, including finalizing this rule at the 11th hour,

01:24crippling the digital asset industry and threatening American leadership and innovation

01:30in the process. Approximately one in four Americans own cryptocurrency. This rule puts a

01:38huge burden on these regular folks and could discourage participation in the digital asset

01:45market altogether. While workers lose, foreign countries win. Since only American companies

01:55and taxpayers have to comply with the burdensome rules, only American companies and taxpayers will

02:03need to spend billions of dollars to change their business models and report billions of pieces of

02:11taxpayer data. America risks losing our edge to foreign companies as a result. The rule disincentivizes

02:20the very innovation that has powered American leadership in the digital asset industry.

02:28In a global economic competition with China, this rule chips away at a source of American

02:36economic strength. There are real questions if the rule can ever even be administered.

02:44DeFi exchanges are not the same as centralized crypto exchanges or traditional banks or brokers.

02:52DeFi platforms do not and cannot even collect the information from users needed to implement

03:01this rule. Their software never controls the digital assets. DeFi platforms cannot exchange

03:10currencies, hold assets in escrow, or maintain third-party records of financial transactions

03:17like their counterparts. Yet the Biden administration, they wanted to treat them the

03:23same. As former IRS Commissioner Redding said himself, these new IRS crypto regulations require

03:33millions of taxpayers to file new Form 1099s in a way that would quote,

03:41overwhelm the agency and have little or no value to be effective and efficient tax administration.

03:50The lesson here is simple. Laws passed by Congress should be interpreted and implemented fairly,

03:58not used as a pretext to gain more control over the economy at the expense of individual

04:05taxpayers. The repeal of this misguided rule would remove a barrier preventing American consumers

04:15from participating in crypto and help cement America's digital asset leadership. I want to

04:22thank my Ways and Means colleague, Congressman Mike Kerry, for leading the effort to protect

04:27taxpayers from an unjustified overreach from the Biden IRS. I urge my colleagues to support

04:36this bill and I reserve the balance of my time.

'Weaponized Every Tool In The Toolbox': Jason Smith Lays Into Biden's IRS And 'Industry Bureaucrats'

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