IRS Crypto Investigators Depart After Taking DOGE Agreements

The IRS has seen the departure of two important directors in its cryptocurrency initiatives, Seth Wilks and Raj Mukherjee, following their acceptance of deferred resignations as part of a Department of Government Efficiency direction.

Although Wilks and Mukherjee originated from the cryptocurrency sector, they will remain IRS employees for a few additional months, currently on paid administrative leave as of Friday. Earlier this year, the DOGE initiative under former President Trump’s administration extended deferred resignation offers to numerous federal employees.

Wilks, a former vice president at TaxBit, and Mukherjee, who previously led tax divisions at ConsenSys and Binance.US, joined the IRS Digital Asset Initiative in February 2024. Their role was to enhance the IRS’s strategies for cryptocurrency taxation, focusing on building reporting, compliance, and enforcement frameworks while liaising with industry stakeholders. They collaborated on creating an updated 1099-DA tax form, which was released last summer to assist U.S. taxpayers in reporting digital asset transactions.

Additionally, both officials were involved in formulating tax rules specifically for the cryptocurrency sector.

One rule introduced by the IRS required decentralized finance (DeFi) brokers to gather specific data. However, this regulation was revoked by Congress earlier this year under the Congressional Review Act, following a resolution signed by Trump.

Wilks served as the executive director for digital asset strategy and development, while Mukherjee held the position of executive director of the digital assets office.

Sources indicate that the two officials accepted voluntary buyouts, with these deferred resignations occurring in advance of anticipated layoffs within the IRS.

Recently, over 20,000 IRS staff members opted into the deferred resignation program, and reports stated that these individuals would be kept on administrative leave until September.