Last week, the House Ways and Means Committee introduced six bills targeting the digital asset sector.
Ways and Means is the tax-writing committee in Congress and is thus very powerful. As the House remains under Republican control and is pro-innovation and supportive of digital asset innovation, the legislation aims to strengthen the crypto marketplace in the US.
These bills include the following:
- H.R. 9178, the “Less Tax Paperwork for Digital Asset Owners Act” (Rep. Yakym).
- Aims to reduce compliance burdens for everyday digital asset use
- H.R. 9175, the “Tax Clarity for Mining and Staking Act” (Rep. Carey).
- Clarifies taxation of newly minted digital assets from mining/staking.
- H.R. 9173, the “Charitable Deductions for Digital Asset Donations Act” (Rep. Kelly).
- Provides parity with traditional assets for charitable giving.
- H.R. 9176, the “Providing Analogous Rules for Digital Assets Act” (Rep. Kustoff).
- Extends existing tax treatments from traditional financial assets to digital assets.
- H.R. 9174, the “Digital Assets Voluntary Disclosure Program Act” (Rep. Bean).
- Creates a one-time voluntary disclosure program for past non-compliance on digital assets.
- H.R. 9172, the “Applying Existing Tax Anti-Abuse Rules to Digital Assets Act” (Rep. Arrington).
- Closes loopholes by extending traditional anti-abuse rules to digital assets.
In general, the legislation aims to clarify rules and lower compliance costs.
The CLARITY Act, the crypto market infrastructure legislation that is vital for the US to extend its lead in digital asset development was approved by the House last year and remains mired in the Senate with some hoping for a floor vote before July 4th.