The US is discussing tax breaks for stablecoin payments and staking income.
Date: 2025-12-22 Author: Gabriel Deangelo Categories: CRYPTO PAYMENTS
A bill aimed at modernizing tax regulations for crypto assets has been introduced in the US House of Representatives. The initiative addresses several areas, from everyday stablecoin payments to the taxation of rewards received for staking and mining. The bill's authors believe the current tax code is insufficient to address the current level of digital asset adoption and needs to be adapted.
One of the key proposals concerns the use of stablecoins as a means of payment. The bill proposes a capital gains tax exemption for transactions up to $200. This bill applies exclusively to regulated stablecoins pegged to the US dollar and trading within a limited price range around $1. Thus, legislators aim to remove tax barriers that currently make even small purchases using cryptoassets administratively complex.
According to the bill's proponents, this exemption will allow stablecoins to be considered a functional digital equivalent of cash. Currently, users are required to consider the tax implications of each transaction, which discourages the use of such assets in everyday transactions. This new approach should encourage the wider use of stablecoins outside of investment contexts.
However, the document contains a number of restrictions aimed at preventing abuse. The exemption will not apply to professional market participants, including brokers and dealers. Furthermore, the exemption will not affect stablecoins that trade outside the established price range. The US Treasury Department reserves the right to impose additional reporting requirements and measures to combat tax evasion.
A separate section of the bill is devoted to the taxation of income from staking and mining. Legislators propose allowing taxpayers to defer recognition of such income for up to five years. Unlike the current practice, whereby taxes are assessed upon receipt of rewards, the new model will defer tax liabilities until a later date.
The authors of the initiative point out that the current system effectively results in taxation of so-called "fictitious income," whereby the user must pay taxes without having sold the asset or received actual liquidity. The proposed scheme is seen as a compromise between immediate taxation and a complete deferral until the cryptoasset is sold.
Furthermore, the bill envisages the application of several regulations specific to the securities market to certain digital asset transactions. Specifically, this concerns wash sales rules and the possibility of accounting for cryptoassets at market value for professional participants. Taken together, these measures are aimed at creating a more flexible and predictable tax environment for the US crypto market.
