US House Ways and Means Committee passes crypto tax bill

September 17: The U.S. House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday approved the Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act by a vote of 38 to 5 and sent it to the full House for consideration. The vote came less than 24 hours after the Senate failed to advance the CLARITY Act, and the result showed broad bipartisan support for the tax bill.

The bill aims to clarify the basic tax rules for digital assets, setting a threshold of $10 for everyday small transactions to reduce the complex tax accounting burden incurred when using cryptocurrency for payments. The bill also addresses crypto income recognition, asset transfers, wash-sale rules, mining, staking, and broker reporting requirements, aiming to give digital assets tax treatment similar to that of other financial assets.

However, the remaining legislative time in this Congress is limited. From the end of the November election to the start of the new Congress in January next year, only about 5 weeks of working time are expected. Some Democratic lawmakers also opposed the bill, questioning why Congress is still prioritizing crypto industry tax issues after the CLARITY Act was blocked.