TAMPA, Fla. — As tax-filing season gets underway this week, tax experts are warning if you made money off cryptocurrency last year, the IRS is coming for its share.

“They’ve estimated there is a trillion-dollar shortfall in taxes and crypto makes up a large part of that,” said Steve Ribble with Guardian Accounting Group in Tampa. “They are going after it because people are trying to circumvent paying income taxes in the U.S. on cryptocurrencies.”

As crypto investing has become more popular in recent years, the IRS launched Operation Hidden Treasure last year, and effort to pull records from major cryptocurrency brokerages.

The companies deal in thousands of crypto trades and transactions every year, and if your name pops up in the records, the IRS is pouring over, it will be hard to hide.

Last year the IRS targeted two major crypto brokerages, and has sent requests to more this year.

Spectrum News talked to local crypto investor Ashley Butler who says although the IRS enforcement action may turn some away, it won’t deter investors like her that are long-haulers.

“The people who want to make the max gains aren’t going to be fearful of a tax code,” Butler said. “I don’t think it is going to take away their focus away from the opportunities of getting in to Solana earlier, or Ethereum earlier, or Bitcoin earlier.”

Butler says investors that are serious about crypto are welcoming the tax regulations because she says it will help legitimize the currency.

Cryptocurrencies are taxed differently than your weekly paycheck, so if you invested, traded, or made income off crypto in 2021, sitting down with a tax expert when you file could save you from an enforcement action from the IRS.