The House Ways and Means Committee is reportedly preparing to take up two digital-asset tax bills on Sept. 16, a step that would open debate, amendments and votes on measures affecting miners, stakers and crypto traders. As of Sept. 14, however, the committee had not posted a public markup notice, meeting time or final bill list in its official records.
The two proposals target different parts of the tax code. H.R. 9175 would let some taxpayers elect to defer income recognition on certain newly created tokens until those assets are sold or otherwise disposed of. H.R. 9172 would extend wash-sale and constructive-sale restrictions to most covered digital assets and related contracts, while carving out limited exceptions for qualified dollar stablecoins and some validation-related acquisitions.
Mining and staking bill would change timing of income
H.R. 9175, titled the Tax Clarity for Mining and Staking Act, would create an optional tax treatment for qualifying tokens received through mining, staking or another covered validation process. Under the bill’s default approach, taxpayers would continue to include the fair market value of a token in ordinary income when it is acquired, and that amount would become the asset’s tax basis.
The alternative offered by the bill is an election to defer recognition for qualifying tokens received during the elected tax year. That election would continue in later years unless Treasury approved its revocation. When a token covered by the election is later sold or otherwise disposed of, the deferred amount would be recognized then, and the bill would treat it as ordinary rather than capital income. Certain acquisition costs would also have to be capitalized while the election remains in effect.
The introduced text does not apply universally. It includes limits tied to foreign ownership structures and uses sourcing rules that depend in part on a taxpayer’s residence when the asset is acquired or disposed of. Current IRS guidance generally treats mining and staking rewards as ordinary income when a taxpayer gains control over them, with later price changes potentially creating a separate capital gain or loss at disposal.
Anti-abuse proposal would broaden wash-sale rules
H.R. 9172, the Applying Existing Tax Anti-Abuse Rules to Digital Assets Act, would bring digital assets into rules now associated mainly with stocks and securities. One of those rules, section 1091, blocks an immediate loss deduction when a taxpayer sells an asset and buys substantially identical property within 30 days before or after the sale.
The bill would replace references to stock or securities with a broader category of specified assets. That category would cover most digital assets as well as certain contracts or options tied to them. It would also extend constructive-sale rules to digital assets, potentially forcing recognition when a taxpayer offsets an appreciated position without actually selling the underlying asset.
The proposal includes narrow exceptions. Qualified U.S. dollar-denominated stablecoins would be excluded if they meet the bill’s conditions, though a stablecoin using another currency might not qualify. Tokens acquired through mining, staking or similar validation activity also receive a limited exception aimed at the wash-sale acquisition test, rather than a blanket exclusion from the full bill.
Amendments remain unconfirmed
A committee markup would allow lawmakers to revise either measure before voting on whether to send it to the full House. Press reports have suggested that Republicans may seek to remove the mining deferral provision or cap it at five years, but no published chairman’s amendment, substitute text or other official committee document had confirmed those changes as of Sept. 14.
That means the June introduced versions remain the only verified legislative text. The committee also had not publicly released a voting agenda or formal notice for the reported Sept. 16 session, leaving the exact scope of the markup unconfirmed in official records.
What happens after committee action
If the markup goes forward, the committee could approve the bills as introduced, amend them, combine them with other tax measures or reject them. Any five-year limit for the mining and staking deferral would need to be added through a formal amendment before becoming part of the legislation.
Committee approval would only begin the next stage. The measures would still need House floor consideration, Senate approval and, if the chambers pass different versions, a process to reconcile the texts before any final bill could be sent to the president.
The nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation has estimated opposite budget effects for the two proposals over 2026 through 2036: the mining and staking bill would reduce federal revenue, while the anti-abuse bill would raise revenue. For now, the next confirmed step is whether the committee publishes official markup materials and any revised bill text ahead of Sept. 16.
Source: crypto.news