First Federal Crypto Tax Bill Clears House Committee

Quick answer: On September 16, 2026, the House Ways and Means Committee voted 38-5 to advance the Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act (H.R. 10357), the first federal crypto tax bill to clear a congressional committee. The 114-page bill would exempt small blockchain network fees under $10 from triggering a taxable event, extend wash-sale and constructive-sale rules to digital assets, and cut off that fee exemption for anyone making more than 5,000 transfers a year. It does not, as of markup, include the income-deferral treatment the mining and staking industry wanted. None of this is law yet. It’s a committee vote, one step in a long process, and it landed less than 24 hours after the Senate failed to advance the CLARITY Act on a cloture vote. This is general education, not tax advice — talk to a licensed tax professional about your own situation.

What the Ways and Means Committee Actually Approved

Let’s start with what actually happened, because headlines about crypto legislation tend to blur “introduced,” “advanced,” and “signed into law” into one undifferentiated blob of good news or bad news. None of those words mean the same thing.

House Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith (R-Missouri) released the text of the Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act on September 14, two days before the scheduled markup. The bill runs 114 pages and folds together pieces of two earlier standalone proposals — the Applying Existing Tax Anti-Abuse Rules to Digital Assets Act (H.R. 9172) and a mining-and-staking bill that didn’t survive the negotiation intact. On September 16, at 10 a.m. ET, the committee marked it up and voted it out 38-5, a genuinely bipartisan margin for a Congress that hasn’t managed much bipartisanship on crypto policy this year.

“Advanced” is the operative word. A committee markup means the bill has cleared its first formal hurdle and can now be scheduled for a vote by the full House. It has not passed the House. It has not gone to the Senate. It has not been signed by anyone. Committee approval is meaningful — it’s rare, and it signals real momentum — but it’s a long way from a law that changes what you owe next April.

The timing mattered too. One day earlier, on September 15, the Senate’s cloture vote on the CLARITY Act — the crypto industry’s top priority for market-structure legislation — failed to reach the 60 votes needed to proceed. We covered what that Senate failure means for crypto investors in detail. Seeing the House move on tax policy within a day of that setback wasn’t a coincidence so much as Congress trying to show it can still get something crypto-related across a finish line this session, even a partial one.

The $10 De Minimis Exemption, Explained

This is the provision generating the most headlines, and it’s also the one most likely to be misread. The bill does not exempt small crypto transactions from tax. It exempts small network fees — the gas you pay to move or swap tokens on-chain — from counting as a separate taxable disposition.

Here’s the underlying problem the provision is trying to fix. Under current law, when you pay a network fee in crypto rather than in dollars, the IRS treats that as disposing of a small amount of property. Technically, you’re supposed to calculate a gain or loss on the tokens you used to pay the fee, track the cost basis, and report it — for a $1.40 gas fee. Multiply that across someone who swaps tokens or bridges between chains regularly, and you get a genuinely absurd amount of recordkeeping for amounts too small to matter to anyone, including the IRS.

The Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act would let taxpayers skip that calculation entirely for qualifying network or transaction fees of $10 or less. No separate gain-or-loss entry, no basis tracking for the fee portion, no line item on a crypto tax report just for gas.

A Worked Example

Imagine you’re using a decentralized exchange to swap ETH for a stablecoin, and the network fee for that transaction comes out to $6.50, paid in ETH. Under the rules right now, that $6.50 worth of ETH is itself a disposal event: you’d need to know your cost basis for that specific sliver of ETH and report whatever gain or loss resulted, separate from the swap itself. Under this bill, because the fee is under the $10 threshold, you simply wouldn’t have to make that calculation. You’d still report the swap itself if it created a taxable gain or loss — the exemption only touches the fee, not the underlying trade.

Now imagine someone doing dozens of small on-chain swaps a week, chasing yield across a handful of DeFi protocols, paying a couple of dollars in gas each time. That’s exactly the reader this provision was written for — someone whose actual investment decisions are perfectly legitimate but who’s been stuck manually tracking basis on fees smaller than a coffee, dozens of times a month, for no real revenue benefit to anyone.

The 5,000-Transfer Cap and the Wash-Sale Rules

The $10 exemption comes with a ceiling most casual investors will never bump into but that matters enormously for a specific group of users. Anyone who made more than 5,000 digital-asset transfers in the prior year loses eligibility for the fee exemption altogether. That’s not 5,000 trades in the sense most people think of trading — it’s transfers, a broader category that can include on-chain movements, bridging, and automated activity. The number is clearly aimed at high-frequency traders, market makers, validators, and bot-driven strategies rather than a retail investor doing thirty or forty swaps a year.

Separately, the bill extends wash-sale and constructive-sale rules to digital assets for the first time. Right now, crypto sits outside those rules, which is part of why “tax-loss harvesting” in crypto has worked differently than it does for stocks: you can sell a losing position and buy it right back the next day, claim the loss, and keep essentially the same exposure — something the IRS has long disallowed for securities. This bill would close that gap, treating digital assets more like stocks and bonds for loss-claiming purposes. The bill carves out an exemption for qualifying U.S. dollar stablecoins, recognizing that swapping between stablecoins isn’t the kind of position-shuffling the wash-sale rule is meant to catch. This piece of the bill, on its own, is projected to raise roughly $2.07 billion in federal revenue over the 2026–2036 window — which tells you something about how much tax-loss harvesting crypto investors have been doing under the current, more permissive regime.

How This Differs From the IRS’s Cost-Basis Relief Notice

If you’ve been following our coverage, you might be wondering how this connects to the IRS’s own recent move. It’s a fair question, because both stories are about crypto tax reporting getting less punishing in different ways, and it’s easy to mix them up.

We covered the IRS’s side of things separately in our piece on IRS cost-basis relief and the Form 1099-DA phase-in, and it’s worth reading if you haven’t. The short version: that was administrative relief from the IRS itself, through Notice 2026-20, giving exchanges and taxpayers more breathing room on how cost-basis tracking gets reported as Form 1099-DA rolls out. It didn’t require Congress. It’s already in effect.

The Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act is a different animal entirely. It’s actual legislation moving through Congress, which means it would change the underlying tax code itself, not just how existing rules get administered or phased in. It hasn’t passed anything yet. And it does something the IRS notice never touched: creating a brand-new statutory exemption for small fees and formally extending wash-sale rules to crypto for the first time. Think of the IRS notice as the agency easing a transition that’s already happening under current law, and this bill as Congress trying to rewrite parts of that underlying law.

Mining and Staking: What Didn’t Make the Cut

The most contested piece of this whole package, right up until markup, was what to do about mining and staking rewards. Under current IRS guidance, when you mine a coin or earn staking rewards, that income is taxable the moment you receive it, at its fair market value — even if you never sell it and even if the price later crashes. Miners and validators have argued for years that this creates real cash-flow problems: you owe tax on an asset you’re still holding, based on a price that might not exist anymore by the time you actually sell.

An earlier companion proposal would have let miners and stakers defer recognizing that income until they actually sold the tokens — a meaningful change, and one industry groups pushed hard for. That deferral did not survive intact into the version the committee marked up. Reporting on the final markup indicates mining and staking rewards remain taxed as ordinary income upon receipt, with the deferral treatment left out or unresolved rather than adopted. If you’re mining or staking and you were hoping for relief here specifically, this bill, as advanced, doesn’t appear to deliver it. That could still change as the bill moves toward a House floor vote, but don’t plan your 2026 tax strategy around a deferral that isn’t in the version that passed committee.

The Real Timeline: A Committee Vote Is Not a Law

It’s worth being blunt about this, because “landmark crypto tax bill advances” headlines can create an impression of inevitability that doesn’t match where this actually sits in the process. A bill becomes law by passing the full House, passing the full Senate (often in a different form, which then has to get reconciled), and getting signed by the President. This bill has completed exactly one of those steps.

The practical runway here is tight. Congress has limited floor time remaining before the November 2026 midterm elections, and several outlets covering the markup noted that full passage in 2026 looks unlikely given how little legislative calendar is left. There’s no confirmed Senate companion bill moving in parallel right now, and the Senate’s own crypto legislative energy took a hit just a day before this markup when the CLARITY Act failed cloture. Realistically, this bill’s most likely path is picking up momentum now, sitting through the recess, and getting revisited — possibly reconciled with other tax provisions — sometime in a future session. Nothing here changes what you owe on your 2026 return.

Who Actually Benefits Most

The people who stand to gain the most from this bill, if it eventually becomes law as written, are casual and moderate-frequency users doing routine on-chain activity: swaps, bridges, DeFi interactions, wallet-to-wallet transfers, all generating small fees that currently require disproportionate recordkeeping. If you’re someone who checks the charts late at night, moves a little value between chains to catch a yield opportunity, and pays two or three dollars in gas each time, this bill is speaking directly to your situation.

Large holders doing infrequent, high-value trades won’t notice much difference from the fee exemption itself, since $10 in fees is a rounding error against a six-figure position anyway. They will notice the wash-sale changes, though, since that’s the provision that closes a loophole institutional and sophisticated traders have used more systematically. And anyone running high-frequency strategies, bots, or validator operations above the 5,000-transfer threshold gets none of the fee relief at all — the bill was written with a clear eye toward separating “ordinary user friction” from “professional trading volume.”

Common Misconceptions to Correct

A few claims circulating since the markup deserve a direct correction. First, this is not a general “crypto transactions under $10 are tax-free” rule — it only touches network and transaction fees, not the underlying trade or transfer itself. Second, this is not law. A 38-5 committee vote is a strong signal, not an enactment; nothing changes for this year’s filing. Third, the mining and staking deferral that circulated in earlier drafts and industry commentary did not make it into the version the committee approved, so don’t assume your mining income timing has changed. Fourth, the 5,000-transfer cap is about transfer count, not dollar volume — a high-frequency trader moving small amounts very often can hit that ceiling faster than someone making a few large trades.

This article is for general educational purposes only and does not constitute tax, financial, investment, or legal advice. Tax legislation can change significantly between committee markup and final passage, or may never be enacted at all. Everyone’s tax situation is different, and crypto tax rules involve real complexity around cost basis, holding periods, and reporting requirements. Always do your own research (DYOR) and consult a licensed tax professional before making decisions based on pending legislation.

Keep Reading

• IRS Extends Crypto Cost-Basis Relief Through 2026 — the administrative side of this story, covering Notice 2026-20 and the Form 1099-DA phase-in.
• Cryptocurrency Taxation Basics: What You Need to Know in 2026 — a foundational guide if you’re still getting oriented on how crypto gets taxed today, before any of this legislation changes.
• CLARITY Act Fails: What It Means for Crypto Investors — the Senate vote that failed the day before this House committee markup.

Sources

• CoinDesk: U.S. House’s Tax Committee Advances Crypto Tax Bill in Wake of Clarity Act Loss
• Bitcoin.com News: US House Crypto Tax Bill Spares Fees Under $10, but Not Heavy Traders
• CryptoTimes: US House Files 114-Page Crypto Tax Bill With $10 Fee Break, Capped at 5,000 Transfers a Year
• crypto.news: House Crypto Tax Bill Offers $10 Fee Exemption, Tightens Wash Sale Rules
• Cryptopolitan: House Advances Crypto Tax Bill That Ties Digital Assets to Traditional Tax Rules

FAQ

Is the Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act law yet?

No. As of September 16, 2026, it has only passed a House Ways and Means Committee markup vote (38-5). It still needs to pass the full House, pass the Senate, and be signed into law — and several outlets covering the vote noted that full passage in 2026 looks unlikely given how little congressional floor time remains before the midterms.

Does the $10 exemption mean small crypto trades aren’t taxed?

No. The exemption only applies to blockchain network or transaction fees of $10 or less — the gas you pay to execute a transaction. The underlying trade, swap, or transfer can still create a taxable gain or loss depending on your cost basis and what you did.

What is the 5,000-transfer cap for?

It excludes anyone who made more than 5,000 digital-asset transfers in the prior year from the fee exemption. It’s aimed at high-frequency traders, bots, and validator-style activity rather than typical retail investors.

Does this bill help crypto miners and stakers?

Not as advanced. An earlier proposal would have let miners and stakers defer tax on rewards until sale, but that deferral did not survive into the version the committee approved. Mining and staking rewards currently remain taxable as ordinary income when received.

How is this different from the IRS’s cost-basis relief notice?

The IRS notice (covered in our separate piece on cost-basis relief) is administrative relief from the IRS under existing law, already in effect. This bill is new legislation moving through Congress that would change the tax code itself, and it hasn’t been enacted.

Should I change how I file my taxes because of this bill?

Not based on this alone. Nothing in this bill applies to your current tax year unless and until it’s signed into law, and even then effective dates for specific provisions may differ. Talk to a licensed tax professional about your specific situation before making any filing decisions.

Key Takeaways

• The House Ways and Means Committee voted 38-5 on September 16, 2026, to advance the Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act (H.R. 10357) — the first federal crypto tax bill to clear a congressional committee.
• The bill would exempt blockchain network fees of $10 or less from triggering a taxable event, but only for users making 5,000 or fewer transfers a year.
• It also extends wash-sale and constructive-sale rules to digital assets for the first time, closing a tax-loss harvesting gap that crypto has enjoyed relative to stocks.
• The industry-requested deferral for mining and staking income did not make it into the version approved at markup.
• This is a committee vote, not enacted law — the bill still needs full House and Senate passage, and realistic prospects for 2026 enactment appear limited.

If you’re trying to keep track of how U.S. crypto policy keeps shifting this year — between the CLARITY Act’s Senate setback, the IRS’s own administrative relief, and now this House committee action — our crypto taxation basics guide is a solid place to anchor yourself before diving into whatever comes next. We’ll keep tracking this bill as it (if it does) moves toward a House floor vote.