On Sept. 16, 2026, the House Ways and Means Committee marked up seven bills, including H.R. 10357, the Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act. This legislation is a package of several bills discussed by the Ways and Means Committee earlier this summer.
Among its major provisions, this bill:
- creates a de minimis exemption so taxpayers do not recognize a gain or loss when using digital assets to pay network or transaction fees of $10 or less;
- establishes special tax treatment for U.S.-dollar stablecoin transactions;
- permits simplified gain/loss accounting for some widely traded assets;
- affirms that income earned from validating crypto transactions (mining or staking) would be treated as normal income, but the the bill is silent on when the income must be recognized;
- extends existing wash sale prohibitions to digital assets;
- aligns the tax treatment of certain digital asset charitable donations with treatment for donations of publicly traded securities; and
- directs Treasury to establish a voluntary disclosure program to allow taxpayers to come into compliance, with reduced penalties.
Earlier, in June 2026, the House Ways and Means Committee held a hearing to discuss legislation impacting digital asset taxation, with an emphasis on clarifying the tax treatment of crypto transactions. Witnesses included tax professionals at Fidelity Investments, Coin Center and Coinbase and a tax law professor from New York University. Disagreements arose over the best way to balance competitiveness and administrability against concerns about new avenues for tax avoidance. Six bills were discussed, with support split along party lines.
Key Issues
- Reporting burden and de minimis relief. Republicans emphasized that the IRS receives hundreds of millions of digital asset transaction forms annually, roughly half for amounts under $10. H.R. 9178, the Less Paperwork for Digital Asset Owners Act, would exempt small transaction gains from reporting. Witnesses broadly supported a de minimis exemption but disagreed on whether it should extend beyond stablecoins to assets such as Bitcoin.
- Deferral period on mining/staking rewards. H.R. 9175, the Tax Clarity for Mining and Staking Act, would treat newly created digital assets received for staking or mining as ordinary income but includes no cap on how long that income can be deferred. Some policymakers pointed out that this could function as an interest-free loan and allow entities to defer taxes indefinitely.
- Taxation timing for newly created assets. Industry witnesses addressed debates about taxable event timing and split on whether creation should trigger tax. The tax law professor maintained that current law is correct that rewards are taxable when earned, arguing that mining and staking rewards are compensation for a service. On the other hand, some argued that newly issued cryptocurrency should be taxed when sold or exchanged, not when created.
- Charitable donation appraisal requirements and anti-abuse guardrails. H.R. 9173 would eliminate the appraisal requirement for charitable donations of digital assets. While members from both parties supported easing this barrier, committee members flagged valuation manipulation risk, referencing historical abuse in traditional charitable giving. They recommended a requirement that assets be valued at spot-sale price to prevent inflated deductions.
- Wash sales of digital assets. H.R. 9172, the Applying Existing Tax Anti-Abuse Rules to Digital Assets Act, extends anti-abuse rules to digital assets. One of the three structural gaps that Chairman Jason Smith cited in his opening was digital assets not receiving the tax benefits or the anti-abuse protections granted to financial assets. He praised the introduction of anti-abuse regimes including wash sale rules and constructive sale rules for digital assets and listed extending anti-abuse frameworks onto digital assets as one of the two most important guardrails.
Legislators will continue to weigh broader digital asset policy, with continued negotiation expected over the length of any deferral period, IRS funding and implementation capacity and the scope of anti-abuse provisions.
McGuireWoods Consulting government affairs professionals and McGuireWoods attorneys continue to monitor this space closely. For questions, contact the authors or a member of McGuireWoods Consulting or McGuireWoods’ Crypto Counseling & Enforcement Practice Area.