Proposed Bill Targets Changes to Internal Revenue Service Crypto Tax Treatment
U.S. lawmakers reintroduced the PARITY Act on March 26, proposing revisions to IRS crypto tax rules that would change cost-basis treatment and extend wash sale rules to digital assets.
Fact Check
The core of the claim is supported by the fetched reporting. CoinDesk's 'U.S. lawmakers take another swing at crypto tax policy with revised bill' explicitly says the PARITY Act was re-released on March 26, 2026, and that the latest draft would apply wash sale rules to digital asset transactions. The same CoinDesk report also describes revised basis-related treatment for regulated payment stablecoins, including nonrecognition unless basis is below 99% of redemption value and a deemed basis of $1 for exchanges. Crypto.news' 'Stablecoin payments in the U.S. could soon be tax-free under PARITY Act' independently describes a similar stablecoin carve-out and says the bill extends wash-sale rules to digital assets. The main caveat is wording: the claim says the bill would 'change cost-basis treatment' broadly for crypto, but the fetched evidence points to a narrower basis rule centered on regulated payment stablecoins rather than a general cost-basis overhaul for all digital assets. So the statement is directionally correct but somewhat overgeneralized.
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Summary
U.S. lawmakers reintroduced the PARITY Act on March 26 for further review, adding key details to the previously noted proposal to change Internal Revenue Service treatment of crypto taxes. According to the source, the bill would remove the prior $200 de minimis exemption, set a $1 deemed cost basis for swap transactions, and apply wash sale rules to digital assets.
Terms & Concepts
- De minimis exemption: A tax provision that excludes small transactions or gains from reporting or taxation when they fall below a specified threshold.
- Cost basis: The original value used to calculate gain or loss for tax purposes when an asset is sold, swapped, or otherwise disposed of.
- Wash sale rules: Tax rules that can disallow a claimed loss if an investor sells an asset and repurchases the same or a substantially similar one within a set period.