Overview
- A bipartisan group of House members reintroduced the PARITY Act this week to start modernizing federal tax rules for digital assets by directing Treasury and the IRS to study small-transaction tax relief.
- The bill would instruct Treasury to report on how a de minimis exemption for low-value crypto payments could work and what IRS resources or fraud controls would be needed to implement such a carveout.
- Under the proposal, regulated payment stablecoins would get a deemed-basis rule so users generally would not recognize gain or loss on ordinary merchant uses unless cost basis falls well below redemption value.
- The measure also includes safe-harbor language for brokered trading, guidance on how wash-sale rules might apply to tokens, and election timing for when staking and mining rewards are taxed to ease recordkeeping burdens.
- Industry data showing millions of low-value tax forms filed by exchanges has driven the push, and the bill is an early-stage step that would require Treasury/IRS reports and interim guidance before any law or exemptions take effect.