Senator Toomey preps ‘amendment to fix’ crypto tax language in bipartian infrastructure bill

At least one member of the U.S. Senate is joining the crypto industry’s opposition to new language around tax reporting standards. 

In a statement shared with The Block on August 2, Senator Pat Toomey (R-PN) said: “Congress should not rush forward with this hastily-designed tax reporting regime for cryptocurrency, especially without a full understanding of the consequences.”

Toomey’s comments come along with widespread opposition from the crypto lobby, similarly calling the new reporting standards unworkable. 

“Simply put, the text is unworkable. I plan to offer an amendment to fix it,” said Toomey. 

The most recent draft of the legislation has pared back some of the original’s more extravagant definitions of a broker. That draft says “any person who (for consideration) is responsible for regularly providing any service effectuating transfers of digital assets on behalf of another person.’’ An earlier version, since changed, alarmed the industry with the following definition:

“Any person who (for consideration) regularly provides any service or application (even if noncustodial) to facilitate transfers of digital assets, including any decentralized exchange or peer-to-peer marketplace”

The ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, Toomey has emerged as a vocal supporter of the crypto industry in the Senate.

During a hearing on crypto before the committee last week, Toomey envisioned cryptocurrencies making transactions “cheaper, easier, and faster for consumers.”