The IRS has filed paperwork in federal court in California requesting the identities of United States Coinbase customers who transferred virtual currency at any time between December 31, 2013, and December 31, 2015.
Coinbase is a virtual currency exchange headquartered in San Francisco.
In a press statement, a Coinbase spokesman said the exchange site was “very concerned with the indiscriminate breadth of the government’s request.”
The IRS court documents request records for an indeterminate number of “John Does.” The IRS filing argues that “There is a reasonable basis for believing that such group or class of persons may fail, or may have failed, to comply with one or more provisions of the internal revenue laws.
Coinbase is the first fully licensed U.S.-based Bitcoin exchange, opening in January of 2015 and has become one of the largest exchanges handling dollar to bitcoin trades.
In 2014, the IRS declared virtual currency would be taxed as property, and affirmed standard reporting requirements for any payments made with it.
Coinbase officials said they are still considering a response, according to Forbes Magazine. Bitcoin, now valued at $725 per coin, has nearly doubled in value since January.
