Spain’s tax regulator, commonly known as Agencia Tributaria or the Agency for Tax Administration (AEAT), has issued 60 formal requests to cryptocurrency entities seeking private customer data, such as identification documents, account ownership, trades and other information.
Cryptocurrency cash machine operators, exchanges and payment gateways were some of the companies that received the request earlier this week.
The information is apparently being used as part of an investigation across the crypto industry to decide whether new control procedures are required.
Furthermore, AEAT obtained data from the National Fraud Investigation Office (ONIF) on the whereabouts of offshore bank accounts held by 16 cryptocurrency exchanges registered in Spain.
It is not yet known if AEAT is seeking this information to clamp down on people not declaring capital gains from the buying and selling of cryptocurrencies. According to Tom Lee, the head of research at Fundstrat Global Advisor, US taxpayers accrued $92 billion in taxable gains from cryptocurrencies in 2017.