House crypto tax bill exempts fees under $10, tightens wash-sale rules

The House Ways and Means Committee is scheduled to mark up the Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act (H.R. 10357) at 10 a.m. ET on Sept. 16, 2026, a bill that would exempt certain digital-asset transaction fees under $10 from tax while extending wash-sale and constructive-sale rules to qualifying crypto assets.

The measure is the product of months of work on several separate digital asset tax proposals, covering everything from everyday transactions and stablecoins to broker reporting, charitable contributions, mining and staking.

Crypto tax bill would put a $10 ceiling on certain fee-related tax events

At the center of the package is an effort to eliminate tax calculations over tiny blockchain fees. Under the proposal, no gain or loss would be recognized when a digital asset is used to pay a qualifying network or transaction fee of $10 or less.

The provision addresses a longstanding problem with the treatment of crypto as property. When a user pays a network fee using cryptocurrency, the transaction can technically constitute a disposal of that asset, potentially requiring the taxpayer to calculate a gain or loss.

The proposed exemption would cover network fees used to validate another digital asset transaction as well as certain brokerage, trading and liquidity fees. However, it would not be universal.

Traders, brokers and businesses involved in transaction validation would generally be excluded. The exception would also be unavailable to taxpayers who conduct more than 5,000 digital asset transactions during the relevant tax year, although Treasury would have authority to create exceptions where the revenue impact is not considered substantial. The provision is proposed to apply to transactions after Dec. 31, 2027.

The approach reflects concerns raised during the committee’s June hearing. Coinbase Vice President of Tax Lawrence Zlatkin told lawmakers that requiring taxpayers to calculate gains and losses on routine digital asset payments and fees creates compliance costs that can outweigh the tax involved.

Crypto tax bill would bring wash-sale restrictions to digital assets

Another major change would close what lawmakers describe as a gap between cryptocurrency and traditional financial assets.

Under current federal law, the wash-sale rule generally prevents investors from claiming a loss when they sell stock or securities and acquire substantially identical assets within a 61-day window centered on the sale. Digital assets are not expressly covered by Section 1091, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation.

The proposal would extend those restrictions to traded digital assets, excluding qualifying U.S. dollar stablecoins. A loss generally would not be immediately deductible if substantially identical assets were acquired within 30 days before or after the sale.

The provision also reaches certain contracts, options, tokenized assets and wrapped assets when they are economically equivalent to covered property. The proposal would therefore make crypto loss harvesting considerably more restrictive for assets falling within its definition of traded digital assets.

The move builds on H.R. 9172, the Applying Existing Tax Anti-Abuse Rules to Digital Assets Act, introduced by Rep. Jodey Arrington in June. The original proposal sought to apply both wash-sale and constructive-sale rules to digital assets.

For crypto traders, the practical impact could be significant. Strategies involving selling Bitcoin, Ether or another covered token at a loss and quickly buying it back could face restrictions similar to those already imposed on traditional securities.

Crypto tax bill leaves mining and staking at the center of negotiations

Mining and staking remain among the most politically sensitive pieces of the broader tax debate.

Earlier House proposals sought to change the timing and treatment of income generated through newly created digital assets. The Tax Clarity for Mining and Staking Act, H.R. 9175, would have allowed taxpayers to make an election that treats newly minted assets in a manner similar to self-created property, while also clarifying the treatment of staking Crypto tax bill.

A separate proposal from Democratic Rep. Steven Horsford included a five-year limit on the proposed deferral treatment.

However, the issue remains unsettled as lawmakers negotiate the broader package. Punchbowl News reported Sept. 13 that Ways and Means Republicans were considering whether to remove mining and staking provisions, with the issue emerging as a major source of tension with Horsford. No final decision had been reported at that stage.

That uncertainty is important because the current official Joint Committee on Taxation description of H.R. 10357 focuses on sourcing and character rules for mining and staking income, as well as treatment for investment trusts involved in staking.

Crypto tax bill heads for a crucial House committee test

The package arrives as lawmakers attempt to establish a broader tax framework for an industry that has long operated under rules written before digital assets became mainstream.

Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith said in June that the existing system had become difficult to defend as the crypto economy expanded. He argued that unclear tax rules were no longer sustainable and that Congress needed to modernize the tax code.

The committee’s June hearing brought testimony from Coinbase, Fidelity Investments, Coin Center and New York University’s Tax Law Center, highlighting the growing pressure on Congress to provide clearer rules.

The Sept. 16 markup will determine whether H.R. 10357 advances from the committee. The legislation is scheduled alongside several unrelated tax and policy measures, meaning passage through Ways and Means would represent an important but not final step toward becoming law.

For crypto users, the biggest takeaway is that Washington is moving beyond broad calls for regulatory clarity and into detailed rules governing everyday transactions. A fee exemption could remove some of the industry’s most frustrating reporting requirements, while the proposed wash-sale provisions could simultaneously take away a tax strategy that digital asset investors have been able to use under the current statutory framework.

The outcome of Wednesday’s markup could therefore determine whether the United States moves closer to a simpler crypto tax system—or a more comprehensive one that places digital assets firmly alongside traditional financial instruments.