As the U.S. House of Representatives digs into digital assets policy during what lawmakers have styled “Crypto Week” next week, the committee that focuses on tax policy will discuss the proper way forward for taxing crypto.
The chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Representative Jason Smith, announced a July 16 hearing of the oversight subcommittee to look at the “affirmative steps needed to place a tax policy framework on digital assets,” according to a statement on Wednesday.
Crypto taxation is next in line behind overall regulation of the markets and the oversight of stablecoins as a leading policy issue expected to get attention in Congress. The two primary legislative efforts are both expected to see action next week, including a potential House vote to approve the Senate’s recently passed bill to regulate stablecoin issuers.
Taxation on digital assets activity has long been a millstone around the industry’s neck, because until crypto taxes get a reliable, rational U.S. tax regime, investors have to face uncertainty in their accounting approach. The House hearing announcement comes on the heels of Senator Cynthia Lummis’ introduction of a bill last week in the other chamber of Congress that addresses some of the lingering complaints of cryptocurrency users.
Lummis’ legislation would set a threshold of $300 on crypto transactions that would need to factor into a users’ tax calculations, freeing up people’s small, day-to-day transactions from capital-gains headaches — limited to a total of $5,000 a year. And it would also eliminate double taxation on crypto given in staking, mining, airdrops and forks, eliminating the initial tax when the rewards are received and focusing only on taxing gains from the eventual sale.
It’s unclear what the House has in mind just yet, but the Republican-led committee is looking for industry-friendly policy, with the hearing entitled, “Making America the Crypto Capital
of the World: Ensuring Digital Asset Policy Built for the 21st Century.”
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