US House Crypto Tax Package Drops Proposed Deferral for Mining, Staking Rewards

The House Ways and Means Committee is set to take up a 114-page crypto tax package on Wednesday, but the proposal does not include a tax-deferral rule for mining and staking rewards. The Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act (H.R. 10357) was released Monday alongside the committee's markup notice. Left out was a provision from Rep. Mike Carey's Tax Clarity for Mining and Staking Act, introduced in June, that would have shifted taxation of newly created tokens. Under Carey's approach, taxpayers would recognize tokens as income when received and treat them like self-created property, paying tax when the tokens are sold. Absent that change, mining and staking rewards would continue to be taxable when received or when they come under the recipient's control, a point that can occur well before the rewards are converted to cash. The broader package would classify income from blockchain validator activities as ordinary income and set rules for determining whether that income is sourced inside or outside the United States. It would also allow qualifying investment trusts to stake digital assets without jeopardizing their trust status. Other provisions would bar recognition of gains or losses when cryptocurrency is used to pay network or transaction fees of up to $10; propose special tax treatment for qualifying U.S. dollar stablecoins; permit certain digital asset loans without treating them as taxable sales; and simplify accounting for widely traded crypto assets. The package would extend wash-sale and constructive-sale rules to crypto and create a voluntary disclosure program for taxpayers seeking to correct past digital-asset tax violations. The committee's work comes as the Senate weighs whether to advance the CLARITY Act, a measure that would define how the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission split oversight of the U.S. crypto market. In June, the committee circulated seven crypto tax discussion drafts ahead of a hearing on digital-asset taxation, covering stablecoins, mining, staking and efforts to reduce the tax-reporting burden tied to crypto transactions. Industry groups including the Blockchain Association, the Crypto Council for Innovation and the Digital Chamber have urged Congress to pass Carey's bill as introduced, arguing that taxing rewards before they can be sold creates liquidity pressure for miners and stakers. The groups also opposed an amendment that would have capped any deferral at five years.