Toomey and Sinema Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Simplify Use of Digital Assets for Everyday Purchases
Virtual Currency Tax Fairness Act Creates Tax Exemption for Small Personal Transactions
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senate Banking Committee Ranking Member Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and U.S. Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) today introduced the Virtual Currency Tax Fairness Act to simplify the use of digital assets for everyday purchases. This bipartisan legislation exempts from taxation small personal transactions that use virtual currencies for goods and services.
“While
digital currencies have the potential to become an ordinary part of Americans’
everyday lives, our current tax code stands in the way,” said
Senator Toomey. “The Virtual Currency Tax Fairness Act will allow Americans
to use cryptocurrencies more easily as an everyday method of payment by
exempting from taxes small personal transactions like buying a cup of coffee.”
“We’re
protecting Arizonans from surprise taxes on everyday digital payments, so as
use of digital currencies increases, Arizonans can keep more of their own money
in their pockets and continue to thrive,” said Senator
Sinema.
Under
current law, every time a digital asset is used, a taxable event occurs. For
example, if an individual uses digital assets to purchase a cup of coffee, the
individual would owe capital gains on the transaction if the digital asset
appreciated in value—even if the asset appreciated by only a fraction of a
penny. The Virtual Currency Tax Fairness Act would simplify the use of digital
assets for everyday transactions by creating a sensible de minimis exemption
for gains of less than $50 on personal transactions and for personal
transactions under $50.
To
protect against bad actors looking to take advantage of this exemption to evade
taxes on more substantial transactions, the bill includes an aggregation rule
to treat all sales or exchanges that are part of the same transaction as one
sale or exchange.
The
Virtual Currency Fairness Act has broad support across the cryptocurrency
industry.
“Cryptocurrency
needs the same exemption for small, personal transactions that we have for
foreign currency,” said Jerry Brito, Executive Director of
Coin Center. “This would foster use of crypto for retail payments,
subscription services, and micro transactions. More importantly, it would
foster the development of decentralized blockchain infrastructure generally
because networks depend on small transaction fees that today saddle users with
compliance friction that no doubt costs the economy more than the tax revenue
that’s otherwise generated. We are very grateful to Senators Toomey and Sinema
for introducing the Virtual Currency Tax Fairness Act that will continue to
solidify America’s leadership in cryptocurrency.”
“The
use of virtual currencies for retail payments continues to increase in
popularity, making it critical for Americans to understand their tax
obligations,” said Kristin Smith, Executive Director of
the Blockchain Association. “By providing an exemption for small everyday
purchases, the Virtual Currency Tax Fairness Act eases the burden for consumers
and allows for greater use of virtual currencies for more people. We're proud
to support this bipartisan bill in the Senate.”
“We
applaud the bipartisan leadership of Senators Toomey and Sinema. Their
legislation is forward-looking and focused on the utility of this new
technology,” said Sheila Warren, Chief Executive
Officer of the Crypto Council for Innovation. “With 1 in 5 Americans holding
or using crypto, greater regulatory clarity will support the industry's next
stage of growth. We look forward to helping policymakers on the work ahead.”
“The
Virtual Currency Tax Fairness Act is a key step forward in both defining the
rules of the road for consumers using digital assets as an everyday purchasing
tool and alleviating the tax burdens standing in the way of broader adoption,” said Robert
Baldwin, Head of Policy, Association for Digital Asset Markets. “We applaud
Senators Toomey and Sinema for putting forth this bipartisan legislation and
taking the necessary actions to allow consumers to leverage digital assets for
the everyday purchases that fuel their lives.”
“The
IRS first addressed the issue of taxation of virtual currency transactions in
2014, declaring that virtual currency should be treated as property for tax
purposes,” said
Perianne Boring, Founder and CEO, Chamber of Digital Commerce. “That
classification was a major setback for adoption because taxpayers were required
to track gains and losses in the value of virtual currency each time it was
used, hindering retail adoption. The Virtual Currency Tax Fairness Act is a
step forward in unlocking undue burdens on retail users. We thank Senators
Toomey and Sinema for their leadership and look forward to working with them
and cosponsors in the legislative process.”
Toomey
and Sinema’s Virtual Currency Tax Fairness Act also has bipartisan support in
the House, where Reps. Suzan DelBene (WA-01) and David Schweikert (AZ-06) introduced
a previous version of the legislation in February.
To
read the full text of the bill, click
here.
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