- Mining and staking taxes could shift to when rewards are sold, not received.
- Miners and stakers would face less pressure to sell crypto to cover a tax bill.
- New wash sale rules could restrict how traders use losses to offset crypto gains.
The US House Ways and Means Committee is set to mark up two crypto tax bills on September 16 that could reshape how miners, stakers, and traders are taxed, though the mining and staking provisions may not survive the process intact.
What’s on the Table
H.R. 9175, the Tax Clarity for Mining and Staking Act, would let miners and stakers choose to defer recognizing income on newly created tokens until they’re actually sold, rather than at the moment they’re received.
Under current IRS rules, both mining and staking rewards count as ordinary income based on fair market value the day they’re received, meaning validators can owe tax on tokens that later drop in value before they’re ever sold. Deferred income would still be taxed as ordinary income, not capital gains, once eventually disposed of.
The companion bill, H.R. 9172, extends existing “wash sale” and “constructive sale” rules, already used in traditional markets, to digital assets. That would bar traders from selling crypto at a loss, claiming the deduction, and repurchasing the same asset within 30 days, a strategy some traders have used to lower their tax bills.
The Treasury Department estimates this change alone could generate roughly $23.5 billion over ten years.
The Trade-Off
The pairing creates an uneven outcome across crypto participants. Miners and stakers stand to gain real cash-flow relief, since they’d no longer face tax bills disconnected from an actual sale.
Active traders, by contrast, would lose a tool many have relied on to offset gains with losses, potentially raising their effective tax burden even without new rates. The shift could also encourage miners and stakers to hold rewards longer, while pushing traders to rethink how they manage losing positions.
Not a Done Deal
Reports suggest House Republicans have discussed dropping the mining and staking provisions entirely before markup, possibly to win Democratic support ahead of the midterms. No committee document has confirmed that removal, and Democrats have separately raised fairness concerns about deferring tax only on newly created rewards. Nothing here is finalized; advancing through committee is a step toward a House floor vote, not enactment.
What to Watch
For miners, stakers, and traders alike, the near-term takeaway is to treat current IRS treatment as still in force until any bill actually becomes law, and to consult a qualified tax professional before adjusting strategy around proposed rules that haven’t passed.
Related: Grayscale Says Zcash Miners Earn Twice Bitcoin Revenue Per Machine
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