Trish Turner has stepped down as the head of the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) digital assets division, after serving in the position for about three months.
“After more than 20 years at the IRS, I have closed an extraordinary chapter of my career, deeply grateful to those who shaped my journey and made the work so meaningful,” Turner wrote in a LinkedIn post on Friday.
“Together, we tackled complex challenges, developed enduring programs, and laid the foundation for the IRS’s digital asset strategy as it evolved from a niche area to mainstream,” she added.
Turner is said to be transitioning to the private sector
Turner did not specify her next move in her post but noted that she looks “forward to continuing this mission from a new vantage point and to building bridges between industry and regulators.”
On Friday, Bloomberg Tax reported that Turner told the outlet she will take on the role of tax director at the crypto tax firm Crypto Tax Girl. That same day, the firm’s founder, Laura Walter, confirmed on LinkedIn that Turner would be joining the company.
“With significant changes in crypto tax and compliance on the horizon, we are thrilled to have Trish on board to guide and advise our clients,” Walter said.
Turner’s departure comes just over three months after she was appointed to lead the IRS’s digital assets division in May, following the exits of Sulolit “Raj” Mukherjee and Seth Wilks—two private-sector experts who had led the agency’s crypto unit for roughly a year.
Economist Timothy Peterson remarked on the news, quipping, “Trish Turner left the Dark Side to become a Crypto Jedi Knight.”
Crypto taxation has emerged as a major priority in the US
This comes in the wake of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) proposal in March to reduce the IRS workforce by 20%, along with several recent developments in US crypto taxation.
On July 11, Cointelegraph reported that the House Committee on Ways and Means and the Oversight Subcommittee had scheduled a hearing to address “affirmative steps needed to establish a tax policy framework for digital assets.”
Just days earlier, on July 4, the US Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration recommended reforms to the IRS criminal investigation division’s handling of digital assets, citing repeated failures to follow established procedures.
Additionally, on April 11, former President Donald Trump signed a joint congressional resolution overturning a Biden-era rule that would have required decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols to report transactions to the IRS.
