United States draft crypto bill offers $300 tax exemption for nomads
What the House Ways and Means draft would change
The House Ways and Means Committee held a legislative hearing June 9 on a package of draft digital-asset tax bills meant to cut paperwork and clarify rules for everyday and cross-border crypto use. The proposals are still at the draft and hearing stage, so current IRS rules continue to apply.
The centerpiece for daily spenders is H.R. 9178, the Less Tax Paperwork for Digital Asset Owners Act, introduced by Rep. Rudy Yakym, which targets reporting burdens on small transactions and network fees. The package would also align widely traded digital assets with securities for charitable donations, extend wash-sale and constructive-sale rules to crypto and clarify when mining and staking rewards are taxed.
A separate Senate bill from Sen. Cynthia Lummis, introduced in 2025, proposes a statutory de minimis exemption of up to $300 in gain per transaction, capped at $5,000 a year, with inflation adjustments starting in 2026.
Who feels it: nomads, expats and crypto spenders
Every time a U.S. citizen spends appreciated crypto on rent in Lisbon, a café in Bangkok or a network fee, the IRS treats it as a property disposition with a reportable capital gain or loss. Worldwide income rules mean location abroad doesn't change the reporting obligation.
The draft framework would ease that tracking burden for expats, digital nomads and short-term travelers using crypto for living expenses. Professional traders, miners, stakers and brokers would face new wash-sale and mark-to-market rules and exchanges would absorb expanded reporting duties.
What U.S. taxpayers still have to do now
Until any bill passes, the existing regime stands. Filers must answer the digital-asset question on Form 1040, report each disposition on Form 8949 and Schedule D and include gains in worldwide income subject to foreign tax credits where available.
Custodial broker reporting is already phasing in. Brokers began reporting gross proceeds on Jan. 1, 2025 and started cost-basis reporting for covered digital assets on Jan. 1, 2026, via the new Form 1099-DA.
Witnesses at the June 9 hearing flagged that any enacted rules would likely need an 18 to 24 month implementation runway for brokers to update cost-basis systems.
Read our full United States guide for the complete picture.
Frequently asked questions
Do current IRS rules still apply to crypto spending in the United States?
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