Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act Advances, Promises Relief for Crypto Users

The House Ways and Means Committee approved H.R. 10357, the Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act, pushing it toward a full House vote. It’s a significant move for an industry that’s been waiting years for real tax clarity.

Chairman Rep. Jason Smith called it the product of a year-long bipartisan effort. The goal, per Smith, is keeping the U.S. competitive as a hub for crypto innovation while fixing a tax framework that most in the industry consider broken. Right now, digital assets are treated as property under U.S. tax law. That means every time someone pays a transaction fee using tokens — even a tiny one — it technically triggers a taxable event. For frequent crypto users, that’s a bookkeeping nightmare. The committee reviewed the bill, worked through amendments, then voted to send it forward.

Not a done deal. Not even close.

What the Bill Actually Does

The most immediate relief for everyday users: gains or losses on network or transaction fees of $10 or less won’t be taxed, starting in 2028. Small number, big deal. Anyone who’s ever tried to track micro-fee transactions for tax purposes knows how absurd the current setup is. The bill basically says: below ten bucks, don’t bother.

Beyond that, the legislation simplifies tax calculations for dollar stablecoins traded near redemption value. That’s been a gray area for a while — whether swapping a stablecoin for its pegged dollar amount counts as a taxable transaction. The bill tries to clean that up.

Mining and staking rewards get classified as ordinary income. That’s not a surprise to most tax attorneys who’ve been advising clients that way anyway, but getting it written into law removes the ambiguity. And qualifying crypto loans won’t be treated as sales under the new rules, which matters for DeFi users who’ve been nervous about collateralized lending triggering tax events.

Investment trusts also get a carve-out. Under the bill, certain trusts can stake assets without losing their tax-advantaged status. That’s probably a bigger deal institutionally than it sounds.

One thing the bill dropped: an earlier proposal that would have let taxpayers defer recognizing some mining and staking rewards. That’s gone from the current version. No explanation given publicly for why it was pulled, but it’s a notable absence for miners who were counting on it.

Read also: Digital Asset Market Clarity Acts Survival in Doubt as Senate Vote Approaches

Wash-Sale Rules and Past Disclosures

Wash-sale rules are coming to crypto. Under the bill, investors who sell a digital asset at a loss can’t immediately buy back a similar asset within 30 days and still claim that loss deduction. Stock investors have lived under this rule forever — it prevents what’s called tax loss harvesting, where someone sells low, locks in a paper loss for tax purposes, then repurchases right away. Crypto traders have been doing exactly that for years because digital assets were exempt. That window closes if this passes.

There’s also a new disclosure program tucked into the bill. Eligible taxpayers can use it to correct past tax returns. It’s basically an amnesty-adjacent mechanism for people who weren’t sure how to report digital asset transactions and may have gotten it wrong. No details yet on what “eligible” means in practice, or whether penalties get waived. Unclear from what the committee put out.

The wash-sale addition and the disclosure program together send a pretty clear message: the IRS wants compliance, and Congress is trying to build the on-ramp for it.

Broader Context and What’s Still Blocking It

The timing here isn’t random. The Senate recently failed to advance the Clarity Act, a separate piece of legislation focused on crypto market oversight — basically who regulates what between the SEC and CFTC. That bill stalled. And with it gone for now, the SEC and CFTC said they’d keep enforcing crypto rules under their existing authority. No new framework, just the old tools applied harder.

So the tax bill is moving while the market structure bill sits. Two different tracks, and they don’t depend on each other — but the industry wanted both.

Rep. Smith said he’s optimistic and wants to keep refining the policies. He’s focused on making sure crypto innovation stays in the U.S. rather than moving offshore, which has been a recurring argument from the pro-crypto side of Congress for years.

More context: Bipartisan Support Fuels Passage of Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act in House Vote

But optimism doesn’t get a bill signed. The Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act still needs to pass the full House, then the Senate — in identical form — and then get the president’s signature. Any changes in the Senate mean it goes back. That’s how it works, and it’s why bills like this die quietly all the time.

Stablecoin adoption and on-chain activity have grown sharply across the U.S. over the past few years, which makes the tax treatment question more urgent. More people are affected. More transactions are happening. The current property-treatment framework was designed for a much smaller user base, and it’s creaking under the volume.

The $10 transaction fee exemption kicks in 2028 if everything passes. That’s a long runway. A lot can change between a committee vote and a presidential signature.