The U.S. administration is examining whether to adopt the international standard for reporting and taxation of digital assets.
The White House is reviewing a proposal from the Internal Revenue Service that would mark a shift in how digital assets are taxed and reported in the United States. The initiative involves adopting the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF), a global tax standard that would grant the U.S. tax agency full access to data related to foreign accounts held by American citizens.
The proposal, titled “Broker Digital Transaction Reporting” and submitted to the White House on November 14, would align the U.S. tax system with that of 72 other countries that have committed to implementing the CARF by 2028. Although the IRS has not classified the measure as “economically significant,” its introduction would nonetheless require American taxpayers to adopt stricter standards when reporting capital gains generated on foreign platforms.
The CARF is an initiative of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, launched at the end of 2022, with the stated objective of facilitating the sharing of cryptocurrency information among participating countries to combat international tax evasion.
According to the policy recommendations report published by the White House last July, implementing the CARF would help discourage U.S. taxpayers from moving their digital assets to offshore exchanges, while preventing domestic platforms from being disadvantaged compared to international competitors.
Adopting this international tax standard would put the United States in line with more than one-third of the world’s countries. The rollout of the CARF is expected in 2027, with 50 nations prepared to join, including Brazil, Indonesia, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Mexico and the United Kingdom. Another 23 countries have reportedly committed to implementing the framework by 2028.
In parallel with joining the CARF, the United States is preparing to introduce stricter tax rules at the national level. Beginning in January 2026, Form 1099-DA will take effect, requiring U.S.-based exchanges to provide far more detailed transactional data, including both incoming and outgoing transfers.
Clinton Donnelly, a tax attorney specializing in digital assets in the United States, stated in a post on X:
“Right now, the IRS doesn’t have instant visibility into everything you’re doing on the blockchain. However, that’s about to change. A few years down the road, with better tools and data integration, they’ll be able to scan blockchain networks at scale to identify major non-reporters, and target them for audits.”
