The U.S. House Ways and Means Committee has approved legislation aimed at easing the tax reporting burden for virtual asset transactions and clarifying tax standards.
On Wednesday, according to reports from CoinDesk and other media outlets, the committee passed the Digital Asset Tax Clarification Act with a vote of 38 in favor and 5 against, advancing it to the House floor.
The bill introduces simplified accounting methods for widely traded cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). Instead of tracking the acquisition cost for each transaction, investors can now calculate their profits and losses by combining the year’s opening and closing values with the total amounts bought and sold during the year.
Furthermore, the legislation exempts from taxation any gains or losses incurred when paying blockchain network fees, or gas fees, that are less than 10 USD per transaction.
The bill also establishes specific tax provisions for U.S. dollar-based stablecoins. Under the proposed Genius Act, qualified dollar stablecoins issued by licensed entities will be valued at a fixed redemption rate of 1 USD each for tax purposes. This measure aims to simplify the calculation of minor gains or losses resulting from price fluctuations.
In contrast, South Korea plans to implement a new tax regime for virtual assets starting in 2027. Income from cryptocurrency transfers or lending will be classified as other income, with a basic deduction of 2.5 million KRW (approximately 1,809 USD) and a flat tax rate of 22% on the remainder.
The U.S., however, already treats virtual assets as property and taxes capital gains from their transfer. Unlike South Korea, there is no specific basic deduction for virtual assets in the U.S. tax code. Instead, the tax rate depends on the holding period: assets held for one year or less are taxed at ordinary income rates, while those held for more than a year are subject to long-term capital gains rates of 0%, 15%, or 20%, depending on the taxpayer’s income bracket.