US House plans vote on two crypto tax bills

The US House Ways and Means Committee is set to discuss two major crypto tax bills on 16 September. The bills concern tax deferral for miners and stakers and expanding wash-sale rules to digital assets. If both bills pass the committee, they will go to a full vote in the House of Representatives.

In brief:

• The Tax Clarity for Mining and Staking Act seeks to defer tax on newly acquired tokens until the moment of sale.
• The second bill expands wash-sale rules to digital assets, thereby closing a tax advantage for crypto traders.
• Expanding wash-sale rules could generate an estimated $23.5 billion for the US government over ten years.

Tax only upon sale for miners and stakers

The first bill, the Tax Clarity for Mining and Staking Act (H.R. 9175), aims to ensure that miners and stakers pay tax on newly acquired tokens only when they actually sell those tokens. Under current rules, a miner can already be liable for tax as soon as tokens arrive in their wallet, even if they never sell them.

The income would be taxed as ordinary income upon sale. According to Crypto Briefing, however, Republicans are considering scrapping the deferral altogether or limiting it to five years.

Wash-sale loopholes for crypto traders closed

The second bill, the Applying Existing Tax Anti-Abuse Rules to Digital Assets Act (H.R. 9172), targets a well-known tax arrangement. In traditional markets, wash-sale rules prevent investors from selling a stock at a loss, claiming the tax deduction and buying the stock back shortly afterwards. This rule does not yet apply to crypto, meaning traders could take advantage of tax benefits for years by, for example, selling Bitcoin or Ethereum at a loss and re-establishing the same position minutes later.

The new bill seeks to curb this practice for actively traded digital assets. Tokens obtained through mining or staking and US dollar-pegged stablecoins fall outside the scope of the bill.

Closing these loopholes could generate an estimated $23.5 billion for the federal government over a period of ten years, based on earlier estimates from the US Department of the Treasury. That amount gives the bill a fiscal argument that may appeal to austerity-minded members on both sides of the aisle.

Industry in favour, Democrats reluctant

The consideration of the bills follows a hearing on 9 June 2026, attended by representatives from Coinbase, Fidelity and Coin Center, among others. They advocated clear tax rules, partly to safeguard the US competitive position in digital assets.

Democrats on the committee are less enthusiastic. Some of them want the consequences of the proposed changes to be better examined first before the bills move forward. Whether that leads to procedural delays or mainly political debate will become clear when the committee meets on 16 September.