US lawmakers introduce bill to “remedy” crypto reporting

A bipartisan group of US lawmakers has introduced laws amending tax reporting requirements that will come into effect as a result of the recently signed Infrastructure Act.

House of Representatives Patrick McHenry and Tim Ryan introduced the Keep Innovation in America Act, the change Broker definition under HR 3684, the bipartisan infrastructure law enacted November 15th by President Joe Biden. The bill proposes removing mandatory reporting requirements – including transactions in digital assets worth more than $ 10,000 that must be reported to the Internal Revenue Service – between 2024 and 2026.

Additionally, the bill would exempt some taxpayers from reporting digital asset transactions if they have no reason to know information from wallet owners that would otherwise be required. According to the draft law, “miners and validators, hardware and software developers and protocol developers” are not intermediaries.

“Consistent and accurate reporting of digital asset transactions is required,” states the Continue to Keep Innovation in America Act. “Congress needs to work to bring legal and regulatory security to the digital asset industry. The clear rules of the road encourage technology and innovation. ”

McHenry added:

“[The law] includes reporting requirements for digital assets threatening to drive innovators and entrepreneurs overseas […] We can fix these poorly formulated standards and make sure they are compatible with the way this new technology works. “

The proposed bill is already supported by representatives Kevin Brady, Ro Khanna, Tom Emmer, Eric Swalwell, Warren Davidson, Darren Soto, Anthony Gonzalez and Ted Budd, as well as crypto advocacy groups like the Coin Center and the Blockchain Association. However, some senators have tried to find their own legislative path to change the crypto language in infrastructure legislation, with proposals from Ron Wyden and Cynthia Lummis, as well as a separate bill from Ted Cruz presented this week.

The Keep Innovation Act was introduced in America after a group of Democratic lawmakers signed a November 16 letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Similarly, the letter urges a revision of the definition of broker in infrastructure law, raising concerns about the impact on the U.S. market and how the country will catch up with technological innovations.

Related: US lawmakers are calling on the CFTC and SEC to form a joint working group on digital assets

On Wednesday, a bipartisan group of lawmakers met for a Joint Economic Commission hearing to discuss the role of digital assets in government. Tim Massad, former chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, said at the meeting that the US could introduce central bank digital currency as a possible solution to improve the country’s payment system.