{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://carey.house.gov/2025/12/19/carey-leads-colleagues-in-letter-to-acting-irs-commissioner-bessent-urging-fair-tax-treatment-for-crypto/", "Carey Leads Colleagues in Letter to Acting IRS Commissioner Bessent Urging Fair Tax Treatment for Crypto", "2025-12-19", "2025", "2025-12", "Republican", "House", "OH", "Mike Carey", "C001126", "carey.house.gov", "carey", "https://carey.house.gov/press-releases/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Rep. Mike Carey (R-Ohio-15), a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, led a group of 18 House lawmakers in a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary and Acting Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner Scott Bessent asking him to review and update guidance on the taxation of staking rewards before the 2026 tax year begins.\n\nThis letter was first reported by Decrypt on December 19, 2025.\n\n\u201cTaxing staking rewards at the time of their sale is critical to ensuring that stakers are taxed based on a correct statement of their actual economic gain, are able to hold their staking rewards throughout the year without facing unreasonable tax risk in the event of price changes, and finally will make compliance feasible as opposed to an administrative nightmare for taxpayers and the Service alike. Millions of Americans own tokens on these networks. Network security and American leadership \u2013 requires those taxpayers to stake those tokens, but today the administrative burden and prospect of over taxation discourages that participation,\u201d the lawmakers wrote.\n\nBACKGROUND:\n\nStaking is a way for crypto owners to contribute to a blockchain network while receiving additional crypto in return for helping the network run more efficiently. Due to the misled IRS guidance from the previous administration, staking rewards are currently taxed twice: when they are received, and when they are sold. Like those who mine gold or anything else, cryptocurrency miners and stakers are the first owners of this new property. This is yet another way in which the Biden administration worked to hinder the development of the digital asset sector.\n\nThis letter is simply requesting fair tax treatment for digital assets and ending the double taxation of staking rewards is a big step in the right direction.\n\nStatements of support for Rep. Carey\u2019s letter from crypto industry leaders can be found below:\n\n\u201cMining and staking are fundamental to securing public blockchains like Solana. The U.S. tax code should encourage this critical infrastructure activity rather than impose unworkable compliance burdens on everyday Americans. We appreciate Representative Carey\u2019s leadership in urging the IRS to heed the Trump Administration\u2019s recommendation and act swiftly to update mining staking tax guidance. Fair taxation isn\u2019t just good policy, it\u2019s essential if America wants to remain the crypto capital of the world,\u201d Solana Policy Institute CEO Miller Whitehouse-Levine said.\n\n\u201cWe commend Rep. Carey for urging the IRS to reconsider its 2023 staking guidance. The current outdated approach unfairly penalizes staking\u2014the very activity that secures and enables decentralized networks and other proof-of-stake blockchains\u2014and puts digital assets at a disadvantage compared to traditional assets. Withdrawing this guidance would restore fairness, reduce unnecessary compliance burdens, and help pave the way for bipartisan legislation in 2026 that correctly treats staking rewards as newly created property to be taxed upon sale,\u201d Blockchain Association CEO Summer Mersinger said.\n\n\u201cTax clarity for staking rewards cannot wait. As a new tax year approaches, consumers and innovators remain unnecessarily burdened by prior guidance that mischaracterizes how on chain staking actually works. We appreciate Representative Carey\u2019s leadership in echoing the President\u2019s recommendation that this guidance be revisited now to ensure fair and consistent treatment for those who choose to participate in staking,\u201d Cody Carbone, CEO of The Digital Chamber, said.\n\n\u201cStaking is an essential component of modern blockchain infrastructure and U.S. tax rules must reflect the economic reality of how these rewards are created and earned. The 2023 staking guidance did not fully capture that reality and its relation to longstanding tax principles. Congress has an important opportunity in 2026 to enact legislation that provides clear, administrable rules that clarify the proper timing of taxation and establish workable sourcing rules. Modernizing the tax code in these areas will reduce compliance burdens, promote fairness, and strengthen the United States\u2019 position as a leader in digital asset innovation,\u201d Ji Hun Kim, CEO of CCI, said.\n\n\u201cUpdating the Tax guidance to reflect newly created tokens as property taxed upon sale aligns with the technology\u2019s technical realities. The current guidance unduly burdens taxpayers and ultimately hinders US citizens participation in the digital economy,\u201d Brian Nistler, General Counsel of the Uniswap Foundation, said.\n\nThis letter was also signed by U.S. Reps. Nick Begich (R-Ala.-AL), Young Kim (R-Calif.-40), Caludia Tenney (R-N.Y.-24), Beth Van Duyne (R-Texas-24), Carol Miller (R-W.Va.-01), Aaron Bean (R-Fla.-04), Warren Davidson (R-Ohio-08), Byron Donalds (R-Fla.-19), Gabe Evans (R-Colo.-08), Pat Fallon (R-Texas-04), Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.-AL), Mike Kelly (R-Pa.-16), Addison McDowell (R-N.C.-06), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa-01), Barry Moore (R-Ala.-01), Zach Nunn (R-Iowa-03), Bryan Steil (R-Wisc.-01), and William Timmons (R-S.C.-04).\n\nFull text of the letter can be found here.\n\n# # #", 1, "2026-04-04T05:28:40Z", "2026-04-04T05:30:10Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://carey.house.gov/2025/12/19/carey-leads-colleagues-in-letter-to-acting-irs-commissioner-bessent-urging-fair-tax-treatment-for-crypto/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0065629612654448, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}