Canada’s tax agency says many people who use digital assets are not paying their taxes properly. Even though the government has recovered a large amount of unpaid tax money, it has not charged anyone with a crime so far.

According to a report by The Canadian Press, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) estimates that about 40% of people using digital asset platforms are either not following tax rules or are at high risk of breaking them. This includes people who did not file tax returns and others whose filings look suspicious.

The CRA says 15% of digital asset users have not filed taxes at all. Among those who did file, 30% were marked as high-risk for tax non-compliance. To deal with this, the CRA created a “special crypto audit team.”

The program has 35 auditors who are focused only on digital cases. They are currently working on more than 230 audits. These audits have already produced results. Over the past three years, the CRA has recovered about CA$100 million in unpaid taxes linked to digital asset activity.

Predrag Mizdrak, a senior CRA auditor, said the problem is serious. In court documents, Predrag wrote that the agency’s work so far shows “significant non-compliance in this space.”

Even with these findings, the CRA admits it faces major problems enforcing the law. Bitcoin and other digital asset’s transactions can be hard to trace, and many platforms operate across borders.

The agency told the court that under current laws, “there is no way to reliably identify taxpayers operating in the crypto space and assess compliance.” This makes it difficult to know who owes taxes and how much.

These limits became clear during a case involving Dapper Labs, a Vancouver-based digital assets and NFT company. The CRA asked a judge for permission to see user information. At first, the CRA wanted data on 18,000 users. After discussions with the company and its lawyers, that number was reduced to 2,500 users. A judge approved the request in September.

This type of court order is rare. Known as an “unnamed persons requirement,” It has only happened twice in Canada, including a similar case involving the exchange Coinsquare in 2020. The companies involved were not accused of wrongdoing.

An unnamed persons requirement (UPR) is a legal tool the Canadian tax authority uses to obtain information about a defined group of people whose identities are not yet known, by requiring a third-party business such as a bank, business, or an exchange to provide records. A Federal Court order is required, and the CRA must clearly define the group and show a valid tax purpose, like investigating unreported income.

The CRA must state clearly which group should be included in the report by setting a guideline. For example, it could demand the information of the accounts who had X amount of transactions in the past year, or their holdings exceeded Y dollars.

When approved, the business may be required to provide both customer identifying details (such as name, address, and account information) and transaction data, but only the specific information authorized by the court.

Despite the large amount of unpaid tax recovered, no criminal charges have been laid since 2020. The CRA says it has started five criminal investigations involving digital assets, but most are still ongoing.

The agency says these cases take a long time. “The CRA’s criminal investigations are complex and often require years to complete,” the CRA said, pointing to international evidence requests and lack of cooperation in some cases.

Some experts find the lack of charges surprising. Jessica Davis, a former financial-crime official, said the CA$100 million collected is a “pretty significant haul.”

“I think people still don’t fully understand that profits made on crypto are actually taxable,” Davis said. “People have thought for a long time that they fall outside of that scheme, which obviously is not true.”

The federal government says new rules are coming. Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced plans for new laws by Spring 2026. “Fraud and financial crime are evolving rapidly, and so must our response,” Champagne said. The plans include a national anti-fraud strategy and a new financial crimes agency.