House and Senate Crypto Tax Bills Follow a Track Separate From CLARITY

A House crypto tax bill has cleared committee while a separate Senate proposal was referred to the Finance Committee, leaving both measures on a track distinct from stalled market-structure legislation.

At 2:19 p.m. ET on Sept. 15, the Senate voted 49-50 on cloture on the motion to proceed to H.R. 3633, the CLARITY Act. The motion needed 60 votes to advance. The Sept. 15 procedural vote did not decide the bill’s final passage; it blocked the measure from moving forward at that stage.

The next day, the House Ways and Means Committee ordered H.R. 10357, the Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act, favorably reported by a 38-5 vote after adopting a substitute. The committee action advanced the proposal but did not amount to a vote by the full House.

The Senate’s ADAPT Act, S. 5616, was introduced Sept. 30 by Sen. Steve Daines, with Sens. Cynthia Lummis, Bernie Moreno and Tim Scott as cosponsors. After two readings, it was referred to the Senate Finance Committee.

Under S. 5616, using certain payment stablecoins to purchase goods or services would not result in taxable gain or loss. It also proposes a tax exception for qualifying digital-asset transaction costs totaling $10 or less. The House substitute would provide a tax exception for qualifying network and transaction fees capped at $10, with distinct provisions for U.S. dollar stablecoins. These are proposed rules, not current law.

In a Thursday, Oct. 22, statement, Daines said, “Digital assets have changed dramatically, but our tax code hasn’t kept up, and hardworking Americans are paying the price.” The statement came after the bill’s formal Sept. 30 introduction date.

The tax proposals amend the Internal Revenue Code. The CLARITY Act concerns a different question: federal oversight of digital commodity markets by the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Progress on either tax proposal would not itself establish that market-oversight framework.

Both tax bills would need approval from the House and Senate and presentation to the president before becoming law.