U.S. President Joe Biden released his 2025 budget proposal on Monday featuring a number of provisions aimed at altering the cryptocurrency industry, including a wash sale rule for digital assets and an excise tax for crypto mining operations.
If approved, Biden’s $7.3 trillion budget proposal would see the federal government crack down on crypto “wash sales,” wherein a cryptocurrency holder sells an asset at a loss “to reduce their tax burden” just to buy it back shortly thereafter.
The budget proposal states that it will eliminate the tax subsidy by “modernizing the tax code’s anti-abuse rules to apply to crypto assets just like they apply to stocks and other securities.”
“The Budget saves billions of dollars by closing other tax loopholes that overwhelmingly benefit the rich and the largest, most profitable corporations,” the proposal reads, including “closing a loophole that benefits wealthy crypto investors.”
Similarly, the proposed budget would implement a 30% excise tax corresponding to the cost of energy used by crypto mining firms, according to the U.S. Treasury Department’s annual “greenbook.”
“The increase in energy consumption attributable to the growth of digital asset mining has negative environmental effects and can have environmental justice implications as well as increase energy prices for those that share an electricity grid with digital asset miners,” the Treasury’s explanation states.
Biden’s 2025 budget faces an uphill battle as Congressional Republicans stand to oppose the proposal. The President attempted to close the wash sale loophole and implement a crypto mining tax in previous years to no avail.
“The price tag of President Biden’s proposed budget is yet another glaring reminder of this
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