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I have no idea why you thought this: "fishing expeditions" are called "discovery" in US law, and they are both absolutely legal and a standard element of pre-trial preparation.
(This has absolutely nothing to do with the IRS's statutory authority to tax your assets, and consequently their authority to ask you about them.)
I think you're assuming this is some kind of "gotcha" question to provoke perjury because it doesn't ask for the value of the digital assets. That's because, as the instructions make clear, you need to fill out another form (Form 8949) if you check "yes" to this checkbox.
Feel free to seek the advice of an attorney on taking the 5th on a tax form, but I suspect that will cause the IRS to do the necessary investigative work to obtain a warrant for your now extremely interesting tax return!
The answer is much simpler: being asked if you own or owned digital assets during a particular tax year doesn't amount to compelled admission of a crime, because owning digital assets isn't illegal. The only illegal thing would be dodging one's taxes.
[1]: https://www.irs.gov/publications/p525#en_US_2021_publink1000...
> Feel free to seek the advice of an attorney
> seek the advice of an attorney
> an attorney
Are you an attorney?
> being asked XXXX doesn't amount to compelled admission of a crime, because XXXX isn't illegal
This is bad legal advice! Talk to a lawyer (before you talk to the IRS or any government investigatory agency), especially if it is your plan or intent to lie to the government or challenge their interpretation of a law and how it governs your behavior (the premise of OP).
Better advice: Seek tax or legal advice on HN. From anyone.
If that’s correct then I don’t see how you would be able to plead the 5th on a standard government form.
Similarly for a government form: the government can't slide you a piece of paper and compel you to bear witness against yourself outside of a courtroom. But that isn't remotely close to what's happening here, because none of the information the IRS asks taxpayers for can be used to prosecute them (because it isn't illegal to own digital assets).
Edit: s/ask/compel/
Where did you get this idea?