Aurelia Butler

(Reuters) – Cryptocurrency brokers, including exchanges and payment processors, would have to report new information on users’ sales and exchanges of digital assets to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) under a proposed U.S. Treasury Department rule published on Friday. The rule is part of a broader push by Congress and regulatory authorities to crack down on crypto users who may be failing to pay their taxes. A proposed new tax reporting form called Form 1099-DA is meant to help taxpayers determine if they owe taxes, and would help crypto users avoid having to make complicated calculations to determine their gains, the Treasury Department said. It would also subject digital asset brokers to the same information reporting rules as brokers for other financial instruments, such as bonds and stocks, Treasury said.Under the proposal, the definition of a “broker” would include both centralized and decentralized digital asset trading platforms, crypto payment processors and certain online wallets where users store digital assets. The rule would cover cryptocurrencies, like bitcoin and ether, as well as non-fungible tokens. Brokers would need to send the forms to both the IRS and digital asset holders to assist with their tax preparation. The new requirements stem from the $1 trillion 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which included a provision that aimed to increase tax reporting requirements for digital asset brokers. It instructed the IRS to define what firms qualified as crypto brokers and provide forms and instructions for reporting. It also extended reporting requirements for certain cash transactions of more than $10,000 to digital assets. At the time the bill was passed, it was estimated that the new rules could bring in close to $28 billion over a decade. The Treasury proposed that the rules would be effective for brokers in 2025 for the 2026 tax filing season. “This is part of a broader effort at Treasury to close the tax gap, address the tax evasion risks posed by digital assets, and help ensure that everyone plays by the same set of rules,” the Treasury said in a statement.The IRS currently requires crypto users to report on their tax returns many digital asset activities, including trading cryptocurrencies, regardless of whether the transactions resulted in a gain. Users are required to make that calculation themselves, and the platforms on which digital assets trade do not give the IRS that information. Several Democratic senators, including Elizabeth Warren, urged the Treasury in a letter sent earlier this month to quickly implement the rules, arguing that otherwise tax evaders and crypto intermediaries “will continue to game the system.”The Treasury Department and the IRS are accepting feedback on the proposal until Oct. 30. They will also hold public hearings on the proposal on Nov. 7-8. More

“I won’t be wrong in saying a free trade agreement with UK is very close,” Sitharaman said at an industry conference in New Delhi.The finance minister’s comments come as the two nations work to agree on issues including intellectual property rights, rules of origin and an investment treaty.While the two nations are not working with a deadline to close the deal, India is committed to “a good outcome at the fastest possible speed”, the country’s trade minister Piyush Goyal said at a separate press conference on Friday, after a G20 trade ministers gathering in Rajasthan, western India.India and the UK will hold another round of discussions over the proposed deal while British trade minister Kemi Badenoch is in India, Goyal added.A deal between India and the United Kingdom is crucial for New Delhi, which hopes to become a bigger exporter, while the UK would get wider access for its whisky, premium cars and legal services.Both countries are aiming to double bilateral trade by 2030 via such a deal. More

AI frenzy has powered a rally in global semiconductor shares. Investors who overlooked Chinese chip-related stocks due to US export controls may be missing out. There is room for upside here. US restrictions on chips sold to China have already cut off the country’s access to the most advanced chips. Export curbs on the tools that make the chips, most notably from the Netherlands, go into effect next Friday. It is home to ASML, the only maker of gear that can make the most advanced chips. So it is understandable that Chinese imports of semiconductor equipment have surged to record highs in recent months. China is running out of options when it comes to buying and making advanced chips. That makes it all the more important for the country to maximise production of the lower-tech chips it is still able to produce. In some cases, a large number of lower-tech chips can get complicated processing jobs done. Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment is China’s only producer of lithography machines used in semiconductor manufacturing. It currently makes machines capable of mass-producing 90 nanometre chips. These are used in power management and radio frequency. Local peer Naura Technology’s most advanced etching machine can be used for 55nm and 28nm chipmaking technology. These chips were used in electronic devices in 2015 but are now well behind the curve when it comes to the needs of current devices. The export bans mean that China’s only option is to create more chipmaking gear of its own. It has one advantage. It has been supplying components for all kinds of industries, including chipmaker gear, for years.Shares of Naura Technology are up a tenth this year, while peer Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc. China is up a third this year. These companies, along with countless start-ups, have access to state-led funds. They are unlikely to become serious rivals to ASML. But they will continue to grow. More

“The G20 has exchanged views on WTO reforms and any decision will be taken during WTO’s 13th ministerial conference in February in Abu Dhabi,” India’s commerce and industry minister, Piyush Goyal, told a press conference after a G20 trade ministers gathering in Rajasthan, western India.The WTO’s top appeals bench, which rules on top international trade disputes, has been idle for more than two years due to blockages of adjudicator appointments dating to former U.S. president Donald Trump’s administration.Under President Joe Biden, Washington has resisted calls by WTO members to approve appointments and has instead been leading negotiations on how to reboot the WTO’s paralysed dispute mechanism.Proposed reforms would include having a well-functioning Dispute Settlement System accessible to all members by 2024, as per the statement.At the Rajasthan meeting, G20 members also agreed to improve WTO functioning and strengthen trust in the multilateral trading system.The G20 takes in countries conducting over 75% of global trade and is presently functioning under Indian presidency. More