Crypto industry groups are pressing Congress to approve the Tax Clarity for Mining and Staking Act (H.R. 9175) exactly as written, arguing the bill would finally end the “phantom income” problem that has plagued miners and stakers.
What the bill would do
- H.R. 9175 would let miners and stakers elect when to recognize rewards for tax purposes: either upon receipt of the crypto or later, when the asset is sold or otherwise disposed of.
- Supporters say this preserves taxation of rewards while removing the pressure to sell tokens simply to cover immediate tax bills.
Who’s pushing for it
- Three industry trade groups — the Blockchain Association, the Crypto Council for Innovation (CCI), and The Digital Chamber — sent a June 21 letter to House Ways and Means Committee leaders Jason Smith and Richard Neal urging passage “as introduced.” They argue the proposal is a compromise that ends years of uncertainty and would help ensure proof-of-work and proof-of-stake networks (which they say secure over $1.7 trillion in value) “can be secured by Americans in America.”
The sticking point: a five-year cap
- Rep. Steven Horsford has proposed an amendment to limit the deferral to five years — effectively a forced-sale clock on rewards. CCI CEO Ji Hun Kim publicly opposed the change on X, saying the amendment would “break” the bill and, according to Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) analysis cited by CCI, raise only “negligible revenue.”
- In their joint letter the trade groups warned a five-year limit would create new recordkeeping headaches and force taxpayers to track time-based recognition across multiple wallets and accounts — reintroducing many of the compliance problems the bill is meant to fix.
Banking lobby pushes back
- The American Bankers Association opposes the measure, arguing it would treat crypto rewards differently from dividends, bank interest, and other annual returns and could amount to “clear favoritism” for digital assets. The ABA also warned that delayed taxation could let crypto rewards compound in ways traditional savings products cannot, potentially reshaping how Americans compare yields across asset classes.
Broader context and next steps
- H.R. 9175 sits in the House Ways and Means Committee and was introduced ahead of a June legislative hearing as part of a larger crypto tax package that includes the PARITY Act (which would direct the IRS to review small crypto transactions).
- The package drew scrutiny at a June 9 hearing: Mike Kaercher of the NYU Tax Law Center cautioned that reward deferral could act like a tax subsidy and open the door to abuse, while Coinbase tax executive Lawrence Zlatkin described current IRS rules as confusing and compliance-heavy.
Bottom line
- The debate now moves to Congress. Crypto trade groups want the bill passed unchanged to resolve reward-tax timing once and for all; banking groups and tax critics say lawmakers should avoid granting special tax treatment to digital-asset returns.
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