Finance
The House Released Its Crypto Tax Package, and Miners Didn't Get the Break They Wanted
The House Ways and Means Committee released a 114 page crypto tax package on Monday, the Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act, H.R. 10357, introduced by committee Chair Jason Smith ahead of a Wednesday markup at 10 a.m. ET. The bill pulls together proposals the committee debated at a June hearing and would create the first comprehensive federal tax framework for digital assets. But the provision the industry wanted most did not make it in.
The missing piece is the reward timing election from Representative Mike Carey's Tax Clarity for Mining and Staking Act, introduced in June. That provision would have let miners and stakers choose between recognizing newly created tokens as income when received or deferring tax until the tokens are sold. Without it, mining and staking rewards remain taxable when received or brought under the recipient's control, potentially before they are sold for cash. The bill does address mining and staking directly: income from validator activity would generally be taxed as ordinary income, and qualifying investment trusts could stake their holdings without losing their trust status.
The rest of the package mixes relief with tightening. Taxpayers would not recognize gains or losses when crypto is used to pay network or transaction fees of up to $10. Qualifying U.S. dollar stablecoins would get special treatment for small deviations from the $1 peg, generally using the redemption value as the tax basis when acquired close to that value. Taxpayers could opt for simplified annual accounting for widely traded digital assets. Qualifying digital asset loans would not be treated as taxable sales. And wash sale rules would extend to actively traded digital assets, so a loss could be disallowed if the same or a substantially identical asset is reacquired within 30 days before or after the sale. The fee and accounting provisions would start in 2028, and the Treasury would have 12 months from enactment to establish a Digital Asset Voluntary Disclosure Program letting taxpayers amend earlier returns.
For holders, the message is mixed but clearer. Miners and stakers keep the current tax timing, which means planning for phantom income stays part of the job. Active traders face the end of loss harvesting without a waiting period. The package still has to survive the markup, a House floor vote, and the Senate, so nothing here is law yet. But the shape of crypto taxation in America is finally coming into focus: simpler accounting on everyday use, stricter rules on trading, and no special timing break for newly minted coins.
Sources
- The Block: House committee releases sweeping crypto tax bill
- Cointelegraph: US House crypto tax package omits mining, staking reward deferral
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