The US House Ways and Means Committee is set to consider a 114-page crypto tax package on Wednesday, and it leaves out a key provision that would have let miners and stakers defer taxes on their rewards until the tokens are sold.
The bill, known as the Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act, or H.R. 10357, was released together with the committee’s markup notice on Monday. It does not include the reward-timing provision from Representative Mike Carey’s Tax Clarity for Mining and Staking Act, which came forward in June.
What the Omitted Provision Would Have Done
Taxpayers would have had two options under Carey’s proposal for dealing with newly created tokens.
| Approach | How it Works |
|---|---|
| Income when received | Recognize the tokens as income immediately |
| Sale-based treatment | Pay tax when the tokens are sold, similar to self-created property |
Why the Reward-Timing Provision Was Left Out
The omission means that rewards from mining and staking get taxed at the moment they are received or come under the recipient’s control. That arrangement requires income to be reported before it has been converted into cash.
What the Package Does Keep
Some provisions concerning mining and staking remain in the bill. The legislation treats income from operating a blockchain validator as ordinary income and determines where such income comes from. It also permits qualifying investment trusts to hold digital assets without losing their trust standing.
Taxpayers won’t be forced to recognize gains or losses when crypto is used to pay network or transaction fees of up to $10, under the package’s provisions. The proposal also includes special tax treatment for qualifying US dollar stablecoins, and it would permit qualifying digital asset loans to happen without being treated as taxable sales.
A separate set of provisions would provide simplified accounting treatment for crypto assets that trade frequently, apply wash-sale and constructive-sale rules to digital assets, and create a voluntary disclosure mechanism for people who wish to fix prior errors involving taxes on their digital holdings.
The Push Behind the Omission
Before a hearing on digital asset taxation, the committee sent out seven crypto tax drafts in June. Among those proposals were stablecoins, mining, and staking. They also included measures meant to lessen the tax-reporting burden tied to crypto transactions.
The Blockchain Association, Crypto Council for Innovation, and Digital Chamber asked Congress to approve Carey’s legislation as it stands. Their case is that taxing rewards before they can be sold puts real strain on miners and stakers.
An amendment that would have capped the deferral at five years was also rejected by them.
Timing Against the Senate
The Senate is weighing whether to move forward with the CLARITY Act, which would establish how the US Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission split responsibility for overseeing the nation’s crypto market. The package has arrived just as that debate begins.
What Miners Lose Without Deferral
Without the reward-timing provision, mining and staking income gets taxed upon arrival rather than sale. That distinction carries weight for those earning from these sources. Income hits tax records before it turns into cash, altering how such earners handle their money.
Directly in their push for Carey’s legislation, the three trade groups made that argument. The reasoning behind it is that putting off taxes until a sale keeps cash available for operators who need to keep their tokens instead of selling them right away.
The Bottom Line
This package covers fees, stablecoins, and lending, but it leaves out the reward-timing provision entirely. Miners and stakers are therefore left with their existing tax burden, which remains unchanged by this legislation.
The timing of rewards issue may come back up again depending on what the Senate does with its own package.
The message from the House is currently plain: no deferral, no alteration to the existing system within this package. Miners and stakers must accept that arrangement until the Senate makes its decision.
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