Canadian Tax Agency Warns 40% of Crypto Users at Risk of Tax Evasion, Demands Platform User Data Disclosure

In a recent announcement, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) stated that about 40% of taxpayers using crypto platforms are at risk of tax evasion or high-risk non-compliance. CRA revealed that its crypto asset audit team, consisting of 35 auditors, is handling over 230 related cases and has 'recovered over 100 million Canadian dollars in taxes' through audits in the past three years.

CRA acknowledged the limitations of current Canadian laws in identifying crypto asset users, stating that regulators 'cannot reliably identify crypto users and assess their tax compliance.' As a result, CRA has made multiple attempts to request platform user data, including seeking data from Dapper Labs on their top 18,000 users, but ultimately only obtained data on 2,500 users after negotiations with lawyers and officials.

The Canadian Department of Finance announced in October this year that new legislation will be introduced in spring 2026 to address regulatory gaps. Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne stated that the government will establish a dedicated financial crime agency to combat rapidly evolving fraud and financial crimes.

Meanwhile, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) continues to strengthen anti-money laundering enforcement, recently imposing over 19.5 million Canadian dollars in fines on KuCoin operator Peken Global for failing to register as a foreign money services business. (CoinDesk)

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