加密货币逃税：弗兰克·理查德·阿尔格伦三世案例

加密货币在数字前沿的地位已经有一段时间了，它承诺财务自由，但对某些人来说，它却呼吁人们不要忽视政府的关注。

Frank Richard Ahlgren III was sentenced to 27 months in prison for failing to pay over $1 million in capital gains tax on his Bitcoin gains, despite his belief that cryptocurrency’s opacity could shield him from the IRS.

弗兰克·理查德·阿尔格伦三世 (Frank Richard Ahlgren III) 因未能为其比特币收益缴纳超过 100 万美元的资本利得税而被判处 27 个月监禁，尽管他相信加密货币的不透明性可以使他免受国税局的追究。

Ahlgren, a self-proclaimed cryptocurrency enthusiast, began accumulating Bitcoin in 2011. By 2017, he had sold over $4 million in the cryptocurrency, according to court documents.

Ahlgren 自称是加密货币爱好者，他于 2011 年开始积累比特币。根据法庭文件，到 2017 年，他已售出超过 400 万美元的加密货币。

Throughout his time in the crypto space, Ahlgren was known to champion the anonymity of Bitcoin and the financial freedom it offered. In one post on a blog, he reportedly noted how cryptocurrencies could mask income and capital flows, allowing individuals to evade taxation.

在加密货币领域的整个过程中，阿尔格伦以拥护比特币的匿名性及其提供的财务自由而闻名。据报道，他在博客上的一篇文章中指出，加密货币如何掩盖收入和资本流动，从而允许个人逃税。

However, Ahlgren's enthusiasm for anonymity and his belief that cryptocurrency transactions could evade the IRS ultimately led to his downfall.

然而，阿尔格伦对匿名的热情以及他认为加密货币交易可以逃避国税局的信念最终导致了他的垮台。

In an attempt to conceal his Bitcoin gains from the IRS, Ahlgren employed a multi-layered strategy that combined cryptocurrency tools with classic methods of evasion, according to court filings.

根据法庭文件，为了向美国国税局隐瞒他的比特币收益，阿尔格伦采用了一种多层策略，将加密货币工具与经典的逃税方法结合起来。

Each step was designed to obscure his financial trail and, in so doing, reduce his taxable income.

每一步都是为了掩盖他的财务轨迹，从而减少他的应税收入。

First, Ahlgren made use of “mixers” and “tumblers,” tools designed to anonymize Bitcoin transactions. By pooling his Bitcoins with others’ holdings and redistributing them, these services made tracing the origin of funds more complex.

首先，阿尔格伦使用了“混合器”和“滚筒”，这些工具旨在使比特币交易匿名。通过将他的比特币与其他人持有的比特币集中起来并重新分配，这些服务使得追踪资金来源变得更加复杂。

He transferred his cryptocurrencies through a chain of multiple wallets and intermediary “hops,” adding layers to the transaction history and leaving a trail that was ultimately difficult to trace.

他通过多个钱包和中间“跳跃”组成的链转移他的加密货币，为交易历史增加了层次，并留下了最终难以追踪的踪迹。

When it ultimately came time to turn virtual currency into cash, he opted for peer-to-peer cash sales, avoiding exchanges that would report the transactions to tax authorities.

当最终需要将虚拟货币转化为现金时，他选择了点对点现金销售，避免了向税务机关报告交易的交易所。

These face-to-face cash trades left no digital record and, to his mind, minimized his visibility to regulators.

这些面对面的现金交易没有留下任何数字记录，而且在他看来，这也降低了他在监管机构面前的知名度。

Ahlgren took it a step further. To evade bank reporting requirements, he engaged in “structuring”—that is, breaking large cash deposits into amounts just under the $10,000 threshold that would trigger mandatory currency transaction reports.

阿尔格伦更进一步。为了逃避银行报告要求，他进行了“结构化”，即将大笔现金存款分解为略低于 10,000 美元门槛的金额，这将触发强制性货币交易报告。

He also inflated his cost basis of his Bitcoin purchases, claiming he had bought them at much higher prices than the market ever reflected.

他还夸大了购买比特币的成本基础，声称他以比市场反映的价格高得多的价格购买了比特币。

Ultimately, the bookkeeping for this scheme proved too much for one person, so he deliberately misled his accountant, presenting false summaries of his Bitcoin transactions and indicating incorrect purchase prices and misclassified sales.

最终，这一计划的记账工作对一个人来说太过分了，所以他故意误导他的会计师，提供了他的比特币交易的虚假摘要，并指出了不正确的购买价格和错误分类的销售。

However, Ahlgren's scheme relied on the anonymity of cryptocurrency and the assumption that his digital movements would go unnoticed. Unfortunately for him, those assumptions appear to have been incorrect.

然而，阿尔格伦的计划依赖于加密货币的匿名性以及他的数字活动不会被注意到的假设。对他来说不幸的是，这些假设似乎是错误的。

The key to Ahlgren's undoing was blockchain analytics. Despite Bitcoin’s popular reputation for anonymity, all transactions are recorded on a public ledger—the blockchain.

阿尔格伦失败的关键是区块链分析。尽管比特币因匿名而享有盛誉，但所有交易都记录在公共分类账（区块链）上。

By using sophisticated tracing software, investigators were able to piece together his digital trail and identify patterns, wallets, and transaction records even across mixers and multiple hops.

通过使用复杂的追踪软件，调查人员能够拼凑出他的数字踪迹，并识别模式、钱包和交易记录，甚至跨混合器和多个跃点。

Plain old falsehoods in his tax filings also exposed him. For instance, he claimed purchase prices for Bitcoin far exceeding historical market values—a glaring inconsistency for an asset for which there is readily available historical market data.

他的税务申报中的明显谎言也暴露了他。例如，他声称比特币的购买价格远远超过历史市场价值——对于有现成历史市场数据的资产来说，这是明显的不一致。

Ultimately adding to the weight of evidence against him were his own words. His public writings, just as public as the Bitcoin blockchain, extolled the virtues of the latter’s anonymity. According to court documents, in one post he mused about how difficult a time the government would have taxing assets that cannot be found.

最终，他自己的话增加了对他不利的证据的分量。他的公开著作与比特币区块链一样公开，赞扬了后者匿名的优点。根据法庭文件，他在一篇帖子中思考，政府对无法找到的资产征税将是多么困难。

The lesson here is clear: don't be tempted to evade your tax obligations by hiding behind the perceived anonymity of cryptocurrency or taking guidance from so-called “experts.”

这里的教训很明确：不要试图通过隐藏在加密货币的匿名性背后或接受所谓“专家”的指导来逃避纳税义务。

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