On Monday, the House Ways and Means Committee published a broad cryptocurrency tax measure ahead of a markup session slated for Wednesday, pushing forward with efforts to set up more transparent federal tax regulations for virtual currencies.
Authored by committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., the Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act combines various measures that representatives previously talked over during a June committee session.
Among the measures is a de minimis exemption regarding specific fees paid in cryptocurrency. An individual settling an eligible network or transaction charge using digital assets will not need to report any capital gain or loss provided the fee totals $10 or less.
The legislation additionally addresses minor deviations from the $1 peg for eligible U.S. dollar stablecoins, typically counting their redemption price as the tax basis when they are acquired sufficiently close to that value.
Furthermore, participants can select simplified annual recordkeeping for actively traded digital currencies. Both the fee exemption and the accounting modification are set to take effect in 2028.
Mining, staking and wash sales
Mining and staking feature in their own dedicated portion of the proposed act. Revenue derived from these operations will generally be treated as standard income. That said, the bill also permits certain investment trusts to stake their digital holdings without that specific function altering their tax classification.
A previous mining and staking proposal featured an alternative to postpone revenue recognition from newly generated digital assets. That specific choice is absent from this updated version. Cryptocurrency advocacy groups had previously urged lawmakers to approve the earlier draft without any modifications.
Wash-sale regulations would likewise apply to traded virtual assets. A capital loss might be rejected if a holder disposes of an asset and subsequently purchases the identical item or a nearly identical alternative within 30 days prior to or following the transaction.
Eligible transfers of traded digital assets conducted under lending contracts will not be classified as sales or exchanges. Members of Congress unveiled these lending protocols and anti-abuse safeguards prior to the June hearings.
Additionally, the proposal mandates that the Treasury Department institute a Digital Asset Voluntary Disclosure Program within a 12-month window following its enactment. Eligible taxpayers will be able to revise previous filings and clear any outstanding taxes, interest, or associated penalties.
The committee has lined up the bill for its Wednesday markup beginning at 10 a.m. ET.
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Originally published at https://www.theblock.co/news/regulation/2026-09-15-house-committee-crypto-tax-bill-414824.
