House Panel Advances Crypto Tax Bill 38-5 as Rep. Don Beyer Accuses Trump of Corruption
Key Takeaways
- •The House Ways and Means Committee approved the Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act (H.R. 10357) by a vote of 38 to 5 on September 16, 2026, advancing it toward consideration by the full House.
- •The bill would establish a $10 de minimis exemption for transaction fees, meaning small crypto purchases or transfers would no longer create a taxable event each time a user pays a minor network fee.
- •Rep. Don Beyer accused President Trump of exploiting the presidency for personal financial gain in crypto and proposed amendments to bar top officials from holding or profiting from digital assets in office, but the amendments did not pass.
- •Research findings estimate that Trump and his affiliates have generated between $800 million and $2.3 billion from crypto ventures since he returned to office.
- •One day before the committee vote, the Senate Clarity Act failed a procedural vote 49 to 50, stalling its path to floor consideration while the House bill moves forward.
The House Ways and Means Committee — the chamber's chief tax-writing panel — advanced a crypto tax bill on September 16, 2026, by a vote of 38 to 5. On paper, the outcome looked tidy, but the five dissenting votes came with a speech, a set of proposed amendments, and a corruption accusation aimed directly at the sitting president.
Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) used the committee markup of the Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act to make his position unmistakably clear, accusing President Trump of exploiting the presidency for personal financial gain in the crypto space.
What the bill does
The Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act, introduced as H.R. 10357 by Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.), is built around one core premise: the current tax treatment of digital assets creates more confusion than clarity.
Under long-standing IRS guidance that treats digital assets as property, disposing of even small amounts of crypto — including paying a network fee — can technically create a separate taxable event that users are expected to report. The bill's most discussed provision is a $10 de minimis exemption for transaction fees. In practice, that means small crypto purchases or transfers would no longer trigger a taxable event every single time a user pays a minor network fee, an approach similar in spirit to de minimis thresholds long applied to certain foreign currency transactions.
Beyer's objections
Beyer's objections ran deeper than standard opposition-party dissent. He proposed amendments that would prohibit top government officials from holding or profiting from digital assets while in office, and would require them to divest any existing crypto holdings upon taking office.
The amendments did not pass, and the bill advanced in its original form, with the $10 exemption intact.
The framing was pointed. Beyer has previously described Trump as the most corrupt president in American history in connection with the president's crypto dealings, a characterization that set the tone for his committee remarks.
According to research findings, Trump and his affiliates are estimated to have generated somewhere between $800 million and $2.3 billion from crypto ventures since returning to office.
Senate turbulence one day earlier
The committee vote came one day after a notable stumble for crypto legislation in the upper chamber. The Senate Clarity Act, a related piece of crypto legislation, failed a procedural vote by a margin of 49 to 50, falling just short of the support it needed to advance. A failed procedural vote stalls a measure's path to floor consideration, and supporters would have to bring it up again for it to move.
For now, the two chambers sit on divergent tracks: the Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act moves toward consideration by the full House, while the Senate Clarity Act remains short of the votes it needs.
