Committee hearing June 9 will shape whether small crypto payments get federal tax break
The House Ways and Means Committee will hold a legislative hearing on digital asset taxation June 9 at 2:00 PM ET in room 1100 Longworth, with written comments due June 23. The hearing will determine whether tax relief should apply only to regulated stablecoins or extend to Bitcoin and other on-chain transactions.
The committee is weighing two competing approaches. Sen. Cynthia Lummis proposes a $300 de minimis rule with a $5,000 annual cap for all small digital asset transactions. The Digital Asset PARITY Act package, by contrast, proposes a Treasury study on de minimis relief while offering immediate relief only for regulated stablecoins that meet qualification conditions.
Current IRS treatment classifies convertible virtual currency as property for federal tax purposes, requiring users to track basis, fair market value, and gain or loss on all transactions, including small payments and network fees. The Joint Committee on Taxation’s 2025 digital asset report found no digital asset is treated as currency for federal income tax purposes and no general de minimis rule excludes gains on small personal transactions.
The GENIUS Act, enacted in July 2025 as Public Law 119-27, created a federal regulatory framework for payment stablecoins but left user-side tax treatment as a separate question. Under PARITY, qualifying stablecoin spending would be treated like cash for tax purposes when qualification conditions are met. PARITY also proposes an election to defer income recognition for mining and staking rewards for up to five taxable years until disposition.
Sarah Reilly of Fidelity Investments, Lawrence Zlatkin of Coinbase, Jason Somensatto of Coin Center, and Mike Kaercher of the Tax Law Center at NYU Law are expected to provide testimony or written comments to the committee.
The hearing gives tax writers two weeks to build a record before the June 23 comment deadline. Starting in 2026 and beyond, IRS Form 1099-DA instructions require digital asset brokers to report gross proceeds for sales after 2025 and include basis reporting for covered securities, creating new compliance obligations for the industry.
The CLARITY Act, which passed the House, remains part of the broader market-structure debate alongside these tax proposals. The outcome of the June 9 hearing will likely influence whether Congress pursues narrow stablecoin relief or a more expansive approach covering Bitcoin and other digital assets.
