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Weekly IRS Roundup August 14 – August 18, 2023

Check out our summary of significant Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidance and relevant tax matters for the week of August 14, 2023 – August 18, 2023.

August 14, 2023: The IRS published Internal Revenue Bulletin 2023-33, which includes:

  • Revenue Procedure 2023-26, describing a program that provides an opportunity for fast-track processing of certain requests for letter rulings under the jurisdiction of the Associate Chief Counsel (Corporate), replacing the pilot program described in Revenue Procedure 2022-10, 2022-6 I.R.B. 473.
  • Proposed regulations that would amend the definition of short-term, limited-duration insurance, which is excluded from the definition of individual health insurance coverage under the Public Health Service Act, and provide guidance as to the requirements for hospital indemnity or other fixed indemnity insurance to be considered an excepted benefit in the group and individual health insurance markets. The proposed regulations would also clarify the tax treatment of certain benefit payments in fixed amounts received under employer-provided accident and health plans.
  • Revenue Ruling 2023-14, providing that, if a cash-method taxpayer receives cryptocurrency tokens as rewards for staking cryptocurrency native to a proof-of-stake blockchain, the fair market value of the rewards received should be included in the taxpayer’s gross income in the taxable year in which the taxpayer gains dominion and control over the rewards.

August 14, 2023: The IRS released Tax Tip 2023-100, providing information to organizations applying for tax-exempt status, including that Form 1023 must now be submitted electronically, every tax-exempt organization needs an employer identification number, certain churches and ancillary organizations do not need to apply to be tax-exempt, different rules may apply depending on whether the organization is a private foundation or a public charity and charitable organizations must make certain information available to the public.

August 15, 2023: The IRS published Revenue Ruling 2023-16, which sets forth the applicable federal rates for September 2023.

August 15, 2023: The IRS released Tax Tip 2023-101, informing taxpayers that, as part of their right to the finality of tax matters, they are entitled to know the maximum amount of time they have to challenge the IRS’s position on a matter, the maximum amount of time the IRS has to audit a particular tax year or collect a tax debt, when the IRS has finished an audit, that the IRS generally has three years from the date taxpayers file their returns (with exceptions) to assess any additional tax for that tax year and that the IRS generally has 10 years from the assessment date to collect unpaid taxes.

August 15, 2023: The IRS reminded eligible contractors who build or substantially reconstruct qualified new energy-efficient homes that they might qualify for a tax credit of up to $5,000 per home under Code Section 45L. The credit amount depends on the type of home, the home’s energy efficiency and the date when someone buys or leases [...]

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Weekly IRS Roundup July 31 – August 4, 2023

Check out our summary of significant Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidance and relevant tax matters for the week of July 31, 2023 – August 4, 2023.

July 31, 2023: The IRS released Revenue Ruling 2023-14, holding that a cash-method taxpayer who receives cryptocurrency units as validation rewards for staking cryptocurrency native to a proof-of-stake blockchain must include the fair market value of the validation rewards in its gross income for the tax year in which the taxpayer gains dominion and control over the validation rewards.

July 31, 2023: The IRS released Tax Tip 2023-97, identifying tax considerations for couples who are separating or divorcing. These considerations include updating tax withholdings by completing a new Form W-4, recognizing alimony payments as income (or deducting) and excluding child support payments from income (or not deducting).

August 1, 2023: The IRS warned tax professionals to be on the lookout for phishing texts and emails and cloud-based attacks intended to steal taxpayer information.

August 2, 2023: The IRS announced that taxpayers will be able to submit all correspondence to the IRS and respond to IRS notices electronically. Further, taxpayers will be able to e-file 20 additional tax forms starting in 2024. By the 2025 filing season, an additional 150 non-tax forms will be available in digital, mobile-friendly formats, and the IRS will digitally process all paper-filed tax and information returns.

August 3, 2023: The IRS released Tax Tip 2023-98, explaining that in most cases, revenue officers will contact taxpayers through appointment letters (Letter 725-B) to schedule a meeting and generally will not make unannounced visits. IRS.gov will be updated to reflect the new policy. Unannounced visits may still be made to serve summonses and subpoenas and in cases involving the seizure of assets where such assets are at risk of being placed beyond the reach of the government.

August 3, 2023: The IRS released proposed regulations that would prevent employee benefit plans and issuers from using nonquantitative treatment limitations to place greater limits on access to mental health and substance use disorder benefits as compared to medical/surgical benefits. Written comments on the proposed regulations are due October 2, 2023.

August 3, 2023: The IRS released proposed regulations that would identify certain monetized installment sale transactions and substantially similar transactions as listed transactions that must be reported to the IRS.

August 3, 2023: The IRS issued Notice 2023-59, which provides the requirements for home energy audits for taxpayers who want to claim the Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit. The credit amount is equal to 30% of the total amount that taxpayers pay throughout the year for qualified energy efficiency improvements, residential energy property expenditures and home energy audits. The notice provides specific requirements for claiming the Home Energy Improvement Credit and details the process for conducting the home energy audit.

August 4, 2023: The IRS issued
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IRS Releases Memorandum on Deducting Cryptocurrency Donations

On January 13, 2023, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released a memorandum (CCA 202302012) concluding that a qualified appraisal is required when a taxpayer claims a charitable contribution deduction exceeding $5,000 for donated cryptocurrency. Valuations reported by cryptocurrency exchanges do not qualify as “qualified appraisals.” The memorandum is relevant to any taxpayer who has donated (or plans to donate) cryptocurrency if they also intend to claim a charitable deduction.

SUBSTANTIATION REQUIREMENTS FOR CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTION DEDUCTIONS

Internal Revenue Code Section 170 generally allows deductions for charitable contributions in the taxable year that the contributions are made. However, these deductions are allowed only if they are verified under US Department of the Treasury (Treasury) regulations. Deductions may be denied if the taxpayer does not meet certain substantiation requirements outlined in Section 170(f)(11).

The substantiation requirements for charitable contribution deductions generally require that, for contributions of property for which a deduction of more than $5,000 is claimed, the taxpayer must obtain a “qualified appraisal” of the property.

MEETING THE QUALIFIED APPRAISAL REQUIREMENT

An appraisal can only be qualified if it is conducted by a qualified appraiser in accordance with generally accepted appraisal standards. To be qualified, an appraiser must (1) be an individual, (2) have earned an appraisal designation from a recognized professional appraiser organization or meet minimum education and experience requirements set by the Treasury or the IRS, and (3) regularly perform appraisals for which he or she receives compensation.

Furthermore, the appraisal must not be made and signed by the appraiser sooner than 60 days before the donation or later than the due date (with extensions) of the tax return on which the deduction is claimed. The qualified appraiser must sign and date the appraisal report and include a declaration that such person (1) understands the appraisal will be used in connection with a return or claim for refund, (2) understands that such person may be subject to a penalty if the appraisal contains a substantial or gross valuation misstatement of the value of the property and the taxpayer claims a deduction based on the appraisal, and (3) has not, within the past three years, been barred from presenting evidence or testimony before the Treasury or the IRS. The appraiser may not receive a fee that is based to any extent on the appraised value of the property.

EXCEPTIONS TO THE QUALIFIED APPRAISAL REQUIREMENT

While the qualified appraisal requirement may seem to impose an onerous burden on taxpayers, given the philanthropic purpose of charitable donations, this is mitigated by rules excepting certain readily valued property from the qualified appraisal requirement. For example, a taxpayer is not required to obtain a qualified appraisal for cash donations, stock in trade, inventory, inventory property, publicly traded securities and certain vehicles.

Notably, “publicly traded securities” for this purpose is limited to mean corporate stock; a right to subscribe for or to receive a share of corporate stock; or a bond, debenture, note, certificate, or other evidence of indebtedness issued by a corporation, a government or [...]

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Recent Tax Developments Concerning Staking Rewards

Stakers—taxpayers involved in proof of stake (PoS) validation of blockchain transactions—continue to operate in uncharted tax waters. PoS blockchains represent over half of the $1.68 trillion cryptocurrency market capitalization, with five of the top 10 PoS blockchains having a stake rate greater than 50%. Despite the remarkable growth of the PoS market in the last two years, there is no government guidance about the tax treatment of staking rewards.

In a closely followed case in the US District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, Jarrett v. United States, No. 3:21-cv-00419 (M.D. Tenn.), a taxpayer paid tax on staking rewards and sued for a refund. The question before the district court is whether the receipt of staking rewards generates taxable income at the date the rewards are received.

On February 3, 2022, it was reported that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) offered to refund the taxpayer’s money for taxes paid on staking rewards. The taxpayer rejected the IRS’s offer to receive a definitive ruling that will be binding on the IRS.

In this article, we look at the issue before the district court and address the significance of the recent offer by the IRS to refund the taxpayer’s tax payment.

VIRTUAL CURRENCY STAKING

In PoS systems, stakers are chosen by combinations of random selection plus the amount of units making up their stake and/or the amount of time they agree to lock up the stakes in a specific digital wallet. Staked units support the blockchain operations by validating transactions on the blockchain and earning rewards. Unlike the mining activities of proof of work (PoW) blockchain miners, stakers validate new blocks by forging the next block on the blockchain without mathematical computations. Certain platforms participate in staking by pooling their customers’ tokens and sharing the staking rewards.

Although each blockchain protocol is different, PoS protocols require stakers to hold (for an agreed amount of time) and post a minimum number of units (stake) to participate in the validation process. Stakers receive, as staking rewards, a specified number of units. These reward units can redistribute ownership stakes away from computers (nodes) that do not put up a stake to those nodes that do put up stakes.

The IRS has addressed the tax treatment of PoW blockchain miners but has not addressed the tax treatment of staking rewards. This means that taxpayers must consider general tax principles that apply to property transactions and adopt a tax methodology they believe is supportable on audit, subject to judicial and administrative review.

Stakers take a wide range of positions with respect to the tax character and tax timing of staking rewards. For example, some stakers take the position that the receipt of staking rewards result in taxable income from the performance of services, while others assert that staking rewards are not taxable until they sell, exchange or otherwise dispose of the rewards. The policy considerations behind each of these positions vary as well, with the timing of taxation on staking rewards currently being litigated in Jarrett v. United [...]

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What You Need to Know About the Taxation of NFTs

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are today’s hottest digital assets. They are also completely ignored by the Internal Revenue Service—to date, at least—even in the agency’s pronouncement on the taxation of cryptocurrencies.

In this series of articles, we’ll start cracking the NFT code: what they are, how they are created, bought and sold, how they might be taxed by the IRS, and the use of NFTs for charitable contributions and fundraising purposes.

1. Introduction to NFTs – As today’s hottest digital assets, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have taken the arts and investment worlds by storm. But what are they, exactly, and how are they to be treated for tax purposes? This article provides an overview of need-to-know information regarding these exciting—and potentially risky—assets. Read more.

2. Taxation of NFT Creators – NFTs offer artists, musicians, celebrities, influencers and other creators an opportunity to develop, market and control the future of many types of digital content that they produce. Less understood is how these assets will be categorized and taxed by the Internal Revenue Service. This article reviews how creators of NFTs will likely be treated by the IRS and what that means for them. Read more.

3. Taxation of the Purchase and Sale of NFTs – Given a lack of guidance on the tax treatment of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), taxpayers can be forgiven for experiencing a certain level of uncertainty with respect to how the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will apply its tax rules to purchases and sales of these assets. IRS reasoning on other asset classes, however, sheds some light on this otherwise uncharted territory. This article reviews the various factors that are likely to play a role in determining the classification and treatment of NFT transactions for tax purposes. Read more.

4. NFTs and Charitable Fundraising: Navigating Tax Hurdles – As the creation of and transactions involving non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have increased dramatically, so has interest in using NFTs as donations to charitable organizations and for other charitable fundraising tools. Given the lack of guidance from the IRS on such gifts, donors and recipient charities face a number of tax uncertainties. This article examines the tax hurdles involved in using NFTs for charitable fundraising purposes and offers suggestions for compliance with recordkeeping and tax reporting requirements. Read more.

Andrea (Andie) Kramer is a recognized thought leader on tax related cryptocurrency matters. She was named the 2020 Go-To Thought Leader in Virtual Currency Tax by the National Law Review and a 2021 Readers’ Choice Top Author in cryptocurrency taxation by JD Supra for her article series on cryptocurrency tax.




Infrastructure Bill Provision Expands Cryptocurrency Reporting Requirements

On August 1, 2021, the US Senate unveiled the draft text of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Bill), a highly anticipated $1 trillion infrastructure package negotiated by the White House and a bipartisan group of senators. As discussed below, the Bill includes a provision (Section 80603) that, if enacted in its current form, would amend the Internal Revenue Code (Code) to extend certain reporting requirements for transactions involving digital assets, including cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ether and other forms of digital tokens. The provision, which would generally go into effect on January 1, 2023, is intended to address a “tax gap” resulting from the underreporting of cryptocurrency transactions.

BROKER REPORTING

Code Section 6045 generally imposes reporting requirements on “every person doing business as a broker” with respect to sales affected by the broker on behalf of its clients. Under current law, such reporting is currently limited to sales of corporate stock, interests in trusts and partnerships, debt obligations, certain commodities and various associated derivatives. Pursuant to regulations, such sales are reported by the broker on Form 1099-B and the information required to be reported includes identifying information about the taxpayer and the property sold, the sale date and gross proceeds of the sale—and only with respect to the sale of a “covered security,” the adjusted basis of the property sold and the character of the gain or loss on the sale (i.e., long- or short-term capital gain).

For purposes of 1099-B reporting, a “broker” is defined to include a “dealer, a barter exchange, and any other person who (for a consideration) regularly acts as a middleman with respect to property or services.” A typical example of a broker subject to 1099-B reporting is a brokerage firm that facilitates transactions for customers in stocks, bonds and/or commodities.

The Bill expands the definition of a broker to include “any person who (for consideration) is responsible for regularly providing any service effectuating transfers of digital assets on behalf of another person.” Unless otherwise provided by the US Department of the Treasury’s regulations, a “digital asset” means “any digital representation of value which is recorded on a cryptographically secured distributed ledger or any similar technology as specified by [Treasury].” A cryptocurrency exchange would be considered a broker under this language.

The “basis” reporting under Section 6045 only applies to “covered securities.” Under current law, the term covered securities generally includes corporate stock shares, debt obligations, certain designated commodities (and derivatives thereof) and other financial instruments. The Bill would expand the definition of covered securities to include any “digital asset.” Accordingly, brokers subject to Section 6045 will be required to report the adjusted basis and the character of the gain or loss upon the sale of digital assets, including utility tokens, stablecoins and asset-backed tokens.

BROKER-TO-BROKER AND BROKER-TO-NON-BROKER TRANSFER REPORTING

Under current law, Code Section 6045A imposes additional reporting requirements that are generally applicable to the transfer of covered securities by one broker to another. Specifically, the transferor broker must [...]

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Key Takeaways | Cryptocurrency Global Tax Enforcement: What Investors and Companies in the Industry Need to Know NOW

During a recent program discussing the latest government enforcement efforts related to cryptocurrency, we spoke with Gary Alford, one of the leading Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agents in their crypto enforcement efforts, Perry Carbone, Chief of the White Plains Office (US Attorney’s Office – SDNY) and Andy Cole, former Director of Specialist Investigations at HM Revenue & Customs in the United Kingdom, about how investors and companies in the virtual currency industry should address enforcement actions. Below are key takeaways from the conversation.

ENHANCED ENFORCEMENT – UNITED STATES

  • The time to act is now. The IRS and the US Department of Justice (DOJ) are collecting virtual currency data at a rapid pace while simultaneously moving forward with tax enforcement cases. The IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) revamped its operations to “do more with less” using new technology that will move investigations at a faster pace.
  • The IRS joined its civil and criminal units through Operation Hidden Treasure and is also working with outside experts in the field—along with specially-trained IRS agents—to pursue tax enforcement and asset seizure. This is a key agenda item for the US Department of the Treasury and is not going away any time soon.
  • The IRS and the DOJ expect taxpayers to comply voluntarily with all tax obligations. Despite these recent developments, US taxpayers have limited guidance from the IRS. Engaging with professionals in the space to evaluate the options available to taxpayers is crucial to assessing and ensuring compliance with cryptocurrency taxation.

INTERNATIONAL EFFORTS

  • Global collaboration is nothing new, but it is now on the rise. Agencies around the world are enhancing their cross-border information and resource sharing to investigate tax crimes efficiently and effectively. The J5, an important component of this global collaboration, is prepared to pool some of the world’s most sophisticated data analytical tools so that intelligence can be screened, searched and/or identified.
  • The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and its governing body will likely start requiring cryptocurrency exchanges to collect customer due diligence information. The window of anonymity around cryptocurrency transactions has closed rapidly in recent years.
  • The global Common Reporting Standard (CRS) has been in force since 2017. Under the CRS, tax authorities of over 100 countries (including most of the traditional “tax havens”) automatically exchange tax, account and payment information with each other in order to assist in tax collection and enforcement action.

FOR INDIVIDUALS

  • Moving forward, the “knowledge and willfulness” element needed for criminal cases will be much easier for the DOJ to prove because the “virtual currency question” is now at the top of Form 1040. The prominent location of this question is “a game changer” for criminal tax prosecutions.
  • Cryptocurrency tax crimes are no longer “add on” charges to other criminal prosecutions, such as narcotics or fraud crimes. The DOJ expects to bring independent cryptocurrency criminal tax cases and take these prosecutions to “the next level,” including prosecutions of more routine tax matters.
  • Individuals serving as board members on behalf [...]

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Cryptocurrency Global Tax Enforcement: What Investors and Companies in the Industry Need to Know NOW

On June 28, 2021, McDermott held a webinar presentation titled “Cryptocurrency Global Tax Enforcement: What Investors and Companies in the Industry Need to Know NOW.”

Topics during this webinar included:

  • How to address the tax consequences of past virtual currency transactions, including potential voluntary disclosure considerations.
  • How to protect your business from a US Department of Justice (DOJ) or UK investigation, including compliance updates to address this risk.
  • Law enforcement perspectives and updates from the IRS, DOJ and a former high-level director at HM Revenue & Customs.
  • How to respond to an IRS letter, including potential civil resolutions.
  • How to respond to a DOJ or a UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO) inquiry, summons, subpoena, search warrant or a whistleblower complaint.

A link to the webinar is available here. A link to the webinar’s slides is available here.




Biden Administration Proposals Will Greatly Enhance IRS’ Ability to Identify Cryptocurrency Transactions

The Biden Administration and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) continue to focus heavily on cryptocurrency tax enforcement issues. On May 20, 2021, the US Department of the Treasury (Treasury) released the American Families Plan Tax Compliance Agenda, a 22-page report detailing tax compliance measures that are to be included as part of US President Joe Biden’s American Families Plan. The report sets forth a number of initiatives designed to “close the tax gap,” identify the underreporting of tax liabilities and detect tax evasion. These measures, which are part of an $80 billion proposal for the IRS, would significantly enhance the agencies’ ability to address the challenges involved with finding taxes that result from virtual currency transactions.

The Treasury’s report notes that “[c]ryptocurrency already poses a significant detection problem by facilitating illegal activity broadly including tax evasion.” To address this issue, the Biden Administration is proposing “additional resources for the IRS to address the growth of cryptoassets.”

Most notably, the Biden Administration is proposing enhanced reporting requirements for domestic and foreign financial accounts that specifically address cryptocurrency. Financial institutions, including “cryptoasset exchange accounts and payment service accounts that accept cryptocurrencies” would be required to submit third-party annual reports of all “gross inflows and outflows” from business and personal accounts to the IRS using a form similar to the IRS 1099-INT. Additionally, “businesses that receive cryptoassets with a fair market value of more than $10,000 would be reported on” in a manner similar to how cash transactions are reported on Currency Transaction Reports. These new reporting requirements would dramatically increase the IRS’ ability to identify and detect unreported cryptocurrency transactions.

The report also reemphasizes the need to devote additional funding to the IRS. The Biden Administration is seeking $80 billion in additional funding so that the Treasury and IRS can, among other things, hire “new specialized enforcement staff” and “revitalize[e] the IRS’s examination of large corporations, partnerships, and global high-wealth and high-income individuals.”

Additionally, the Biden Administration plans to overhaul the IRS’ IT systems and capabilities. These IT enhancements are designed to “help support a staff capable of deploying new analytical techniques” and “developing machine learning capabilities [that] will enable the IRS to leverage the information it collects to better identify tax returns for compliance review.” Given the inherent difficulties in identifying cryptocurrency users who have failed to comply with the internal revenue laws, increased data collection and analytics capabilities would be invaluable for the IRS.

The IRS has already been ramping up its cryptocurrency tax enforcement efforts by issuing John Doe summons to various cryptocurrency exchanges, working with industry experts and foreign law enforcement. If implemented, the American Families Plan Tax Compliance Agenda would provide the IRS with extensive new tools and resources for these ongoing enforcement activities.

Practice Point: If you have engaged in cryptocurrency transactions, now is the time to analyze whether you have any civil or criminal exposure and prepare for a government inquiry by gathering all of your transaction records. For [...]

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Finding John Doe, Part II: IRS Secures Another Victory to “Root Out” Virtual Currency Tax Noncompliance

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has scored another significant victory in its rapidly increasing virtual currency tax enforcement efforts. On May 5, 2021, the US District Court for the Northern District of California entered an order authorizing the IRS to serve a John Doe summons on popular cryptocurrency exchange, Payward Ventures Inc. d/b/a Kraken (Kraken). Specifically, the court’s order grants the IRS permission to serve a John Doe summons on Kraken in order to obtain information on US taxpayers who conducted the equivalent of at least $20,000 in total transactions for each year from 2016 to 2020.

If the IRS follows its playbook from the Coinbase summons, its victory here and with the Poloniex summons (upheld by a court in Massachusetts a few weeks ago), will likely result in thousands of US taxpayers receiving a letter from the IRS regarding their virtual currency transactions. As noted in its response to the court, over the past few years the IRS has learned a great deal about analyzing these transactions and is in possession of information from foreign virtual currency exchanges it’s also analyzing. This victory, coupled with the IRS’ increased knowledge of virtual currency transactions, is a big step in its efforts to, as stated in the IRS’ court filing, “root out tax noncompliance.”

As we previously noted in “Finding John Doe: IRS Steps up Enforcement Efforts to Take the Anonymity Out of Virtual Currency,” the court ordered the government to submit a response explaining its need for the information requested in its summons to Kraken. The government’s response indicates that the IRS has made significant progress in its analysis of summoned data from other cryptocurrency exchanges, such as Coinbase, and its ability to follow leads in the cryptocurrency marketplace. The court’s order approving the summons significantly reinforces the strength of the IRS’ crypto pursuit. These efforts are not solely focused on identifying tax noncompliance at a single exchange like Kraken but to identify the conduct for individuals transacting in cryptocurrency with Kraken accounts who may have additional accounts at other exchanges.

In citing its need for additional information to the court, the IRS expressly stated that in its experience from processing the Coinbase summons information, it has learned that taxpayers will use aliases, false addresses, post office boxes, fictitious entity names or other means to disguise their true identity. Taxpayers who create and use false information are more likely to evade their taxes, the IRS argued. The summons approved by the court requires Kraken to produce extensive records and data regarding its accountholders. Among other things, the summons requires Kraken to produce the following for each US-based account with at least $20,000 in annual transactions:

  • Account registration records and user profile information, including name, date of birth, taxpayer ID number, physical address, email address and telephone number
  • History of any IP addresses used to access the account
  • Payment [...]

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