Man Faces Six Years in Prison After Omitting $12,302,115 in CryptoPunk NFT Sales From Tax Filing

A Pennsylvania man could serve up to six years in prison after filing false tax returns that underreported millions of dollars of income he made from selling non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Waylon Wilcox earned most of his unreported money by hawking 97 CryptoPunk NFTs in 2021 and 2022, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

The U.S. Attorney says Wilcox underreported his 2021 income by more than $8.5 million and reduced his tax burden by nearly $2.2 million. He then underreported his 2022 income by nearly $4.6 million and reduced his tax by more than $1 million. Both years, he indicated on his tax returns that he didn’t receive money for digital assets, but prosecutors say that he sold 97 CryptoPunks worth $12.3 million.

Explained Yury Kruty, Philadelphia Field Office Special Agent in Charge,

“IRS Criminal Investigation is committed to unraveling complex financial schemes involving virtual currencies and non-fungible token (NFT) transactions designed to conceal taxable income. In today’s economic environment, it’s more important than ever that the American people feel confident that everyone is playing by the rules and paying the taxes they owe.”  

Wilcox pled guilty last week to two counts related to filing false tax returns. He will be sentenced at a later date and faces a maximum penalty of six years in prison.

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