The U.S. House Ways and Means Committee is set to consider legislation on September 16 that would change when miners and stakers recognize income from newly created crypto tokens.
According to reporting by Punchbowl News, Republicans on the committee are considering changes to the proposed tax deferral for mining and staking rewards. The provision could be removed entirely or limited to a five-year deferral period.
The proposals address two major issues in crypto taxation: when miners and stakers should pay taxes on newly created tokens and whether existing wash-sale rules should also apply to digital assets.
The final decision could determine how long miners and stakers can delay recognizing income from newly created tokens.
How the proposed tax change works
Under current IRS treatment, taxpayers generally recognize income from staking rewards when they obtain dominion and control over the tokens. Mining rewards are similarly treated as taxable income when received.
One of the measures, the Tax Clarity for Mining and Staking Act (H.R. 9175), would allow eligible miners and stakers to defer recognizing income on newly created tokens until they dispose of the assets.
This would shift the taxable event from the time the tokens come under the taxpayer’s control to the point when they are sold or otherwise disposed of. The income would still be treated as ordinary income, rather than capital gains.
The proposed deferral has been a point of debate among lawmakers. During a June hearing, Democratic lawmakers questioned whether an open-ended deferral could provide crypto mining and staking activities with a tax advantage over other investments.
Republicans are now considering whether to retain the provision as written, remove it or impose a five-year limit on the deferral. The September 16 markup could determine which version moves forward.
Wash-sale rules also on the agenda
The committee is also expected to consider the Applying Existing Tax Anti-Abuse Rules to Digital Assets Act (H.R. 9172).
The bill would extend wash-sale and constructive-sale rules to actively traded digital assets.
Under existing rules for traditional securities, investors generally cannot sell an asset at a loss, claim the tax loss, and immediately repurchase a substantially identical asset. The rules are designed to prevent investors from creating artificial tax losses while maintaining essentially the same investment position.
Crypto assets have historically not been subject to the same wash-sale restrictions. As a result, traders have been able to sell assets such as Bitcoin or Ethereum at a loss and repurchase them shortly afterward, while potentially claiming the tax loss.
H.R. 9172 would seek to close that gap by applying similar anti-abuse rules to covered digital-asset transactions. However, the proposal includes exclusions for certain assets earned through mining or staking, as well as qualifying U.S. dollar-denominated stablecoins.
What happens after the markup?
The September 16 markup would be an important step for both bills, but committee approval would not by itself change U.S. crypto tax law.
If approved, the legislation could move closer to consideration by the full House. The final treatment of mining and staking rewards, as well as the scope of wash-sale rules for digital assets, will depend on the language adopted during the committee process and whether the bills ultimately advance through Congress.
The markup, therefore, could provide a clearer indication of how lawmakers intend to address some of the biggest unresolved issues in U.S. crypto taxation.
Also Read: Crypto Groups Ask Illinois Court to Halt 0.2% Digital Asset Tax
