Bitfinex Asks Users for Sharing Tax Information, Likely To Share It With Tax Authorities

Popular cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex has recently caught the tongue of many of its customers which notifying them to submit their tax information. The company released an official circular to its users that under the laws of British Virgin Island (BVI), where the exchange is currently registered, they need to report some account information to the BVI government.

It further goes to state that “The government of the BVI may then exchange information with the tax authorities of the customer’s country of residence, consistent with the British Virgin Islands law, the U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FACTA), and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development Common Reporting Standard (CRS).”

However, the crypto exchange soon resounded to this saying “We have not sent this message to all users. We have deliberately targeted users that we believe have an obligation to self-disclose. If a user has _not_ received a message from us, she need _not_ self-certify anything to us at this time.”

The notice from Bitfinex goes to list different self-certifications forms based on whether you are an individual or an entity, and whether they are based out of U.S or not. For users based in the U.S the message notes: “If you are a US person (i.e. a US resident, a US citizen, or an entity organized in the United States), or an entity with at least one 25%+ owner who is a US person, please complete the appropriate FATCA form. Otherwise complete the appropriate CRS form.”

The exchange has set a seven-day deadline to its users and submit this forms by the 24th of May. Bitfinex finally closed the announcement with the reminder to the users saying that while signing to their platform, they have technically agreed upon to comply with the laws and regulations of the exchange.