The Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act: What It Means for Your Tax Strategy
Key Takeaways
- The Act passed the House Ways and Means Committee 38–5 on Sept. 16, 2026, and must clear the full House and Senate before reaching the President.Â
- Digital asset dealers and traders would gain the ability to elect mark-to-market accounting under IRC Section 475, aligning treatment with traditional financial assets.Â
- Mining and staking income would be classified as ordinary income and sourced by residence for federal tax purposes under the proposed legislation.Â
- The Act establishes a de minimis threshold exempting network and transaction fees of $10 or less from gain or loss recognition, reducing administrative reporting burdens.Â
- Routine stablecoin transactions would receive a general reporting exception, offering practitioners and taxpayers clearer compliance guidance.Â
A Clear Tax Framework for Digital Assets
Digital assets move faster than the tax rules designed to govern them. That gap has created real uncertainty for taxpayers and practitioners alike. The House Ways and Means Committee took a direct step to close that gap on September 16, 2026, approving the Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act (H.R. 10357). The bill builds a tax framework specifically for digital assets, targeting the reporting requirements and tax treatment questions that have gone unanswered for too long.
Key Proposed Changes
The Act extends familiar tax rules for traditional financial assets to digital assets, closing several open questions at once:
- Digital asset dealers and traders could elect mark-to-market accounting under IRC Section 475.Â
- Wash Sale and Constructive Sale rules would apply to traded digital assets.Â
- Digital asset donations would follow tax rules more consistent with financial securities.Â
The bill also settles a long-standing question on income classification: mining and staking income would be classified as ordinary income, sourced by residence for federal tax purposes.
Current law generally requires reporting on every digital asset transaction, no matter how small. The Act addresses a few of the more common digital asset transactions by establishing a de-minimis threshold. This threshold would exempt network and transaction fees of $10 or less from gain or loss recognition. Routine stablecoin transactions would receive a general reporting exception, removing a persistent compliance headache for taxpayers and brokers.
Path to Enactment
The Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act cleared the House Ways and Means Committee and was sent to the full House after a 38-5 committee vote on September 16, 2026, and now moves to the full House to consider and pass the Act.
From there, the Senate must pass it, either in the same form or in a different version that would need to be reconciled with the House-passed version. If both chambers ultimately pass identical text, the bill can be sent to the President for signature and enactment into law.
Potential Impact
The Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act is an important step for lawmakers to establish tax rules that better align with how digital assets work. By establishing clearer guidance, reducing unnecessary reporting burdens, and incorporating digital assets into existing tax frameworks, the legislation would improve tax certainty for taxpayers and practitioners alike. Lawmakers are listening to taxpayers, tax professionals, and digital asset stakeholders, and this bill positions the United States to attract more investment in digital assets.
The bill provides greater clarity on the tax treatment of digital assets and reduces some administrative burdens. Taxpayers should continue to maintain detailed records of digital asset transactions. Tracking tax basis for gains and losses on digital asset sales remains a critical component of tax compliance, particularly because Form 1099-DA generally does not include basis information for many reportable transactions for the 2025 tax year. Taxpayers and tax professionals should also continue to monitor developments in digital asset legislation, as new bills and tax legislation are introduced regularly. Strong recordkeeping and proactive compliance remain the most effective strategies for navigating digital asset taxation.
Connect with our digital asset tax professionals to assess what this legislation means for your portfolio, reporting obligations, and tax strategy, and assist with the most up to date tax legislations and treatment. Â
Nicholas A. Drago
