Selling crypto at a loss and buying it right back could soon come with a tax problem.
The Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act (H.R. 10357) cleared the House Ways and Means Committee. It isn't law yet, but the proposed wash-sale change deserves attention if you use crypto losses to offset gains.
Under the bill, buying substantially identical assets within 30 days before or after a loss sale could stop you from deducting that loss immediately.
As written, that provision would apply to sales after September 14, 2026, if enacted. Waiting until the bill becomes law to pay attention could mean overlooking trades it would cover.
There's more in the bill...
Paying qualifying gas or transaction fees of $10 or less in crypto generally wouldn't trigger a separate gain or loss on the coins used to pay the fee. That would remove some tedious accounting. It wouldn't make the underlying trade tax-free or create a general exemption for small purchases.
Qualifying dollar stablecoins would also get simpler treatment when used near their redemption value, reducing the need to account for tiny price differences. Selling BTC for a stablecoin would still require calculating the gain or loss on your BTC.
For crypto lending, certain qualifying arrangements would let you lend assets and receive them back without treating the transfer itself as a taxable sale. The conditions matter here. A DeFi product wouldn't qualify just because it calls itself a loan.
The bill also specifies ordinary-income treatment for mining and staking rewards. It doesn't create a blanket rule that lets you wait until you sell your rewards to pay tax.
And there's an optional accounting method for eligible widely traded assets that uses year-end market values. Before choosing it, understand the trade-off: you could recognize gains on crypto you still hold, with gains and losses treated as short-term.
For anyone planning to harvest crypto losses this year, the wash-sale provision and its proposed effective date are worth discussing with your tax professional now.
The bill still needs to pass Congress and be signed into law, and the language could change.
JUST IN: 🇺🇸 US House committee advances crypto tax bill.