6 senators call on Treasury secretary to clarify definition of broker in infrastructure law by 2022

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators has called on Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to clarify language on cryptocurrency tax filing requirements in the infrastructure bill signed into law by U.S. President Joe Biden. .

In a letter Tuesday, Senators Rob Portman, Mike Crapo, Pat Toomey, Mark Warner, Kyrsten Sinema and Cynthia Lummis called on Yellen to “provide information or Informal guidance". Under the current wording, those in the crypto space, including miners, software developers, transaction validators, and node operators, are required to report most digital asset transactions worth more than $10,000 to the IRS.

However, according to U.S. lawmakers, the law defines brokers "too broadly" and places unnecessary burdens on certain individuals who may not have the necessary trading information to comply. Yellen has authority to use the Administrative Procedure Act, the legislation that determines how federal agencies create and issue regulations, the six officials said. In this case, they called on her to provide a set of rules "swiftly" or no later than the end of the year, clarifying the definition of a broker.

The six senators said: "We ask that you carefully consider the technical characteristics driving this area, which may include differences in the consensus mechanisms of various distributed ledgers and second-layer protocols. In some industries, digital assets may be a Impactful technological developments, clear guidelines around tax reporting requirements for those in this ecosystem will be very important.”

The letter is the latest effort by U.S. lawmakers to revise tax reporting provisions in infrastructure legislation. Toomey, Lummis, Sinema, Portman, Warner and others backed a bipartisan agreement on an amendment when the bill passed the Senate in August, but the proposal was overwhelmed by an attempt by Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama to add himself to the bill. amendments to cancel. On the same day that the bill became law, Senators Ron Wyden and Lummis also attempted to pass legislation that would change the tax filing requirement to “not apply to individuals who develop blockchain technology and wallets.”

"Now that this bill is law, Congress has a responsibility to ensure that it is implemented effectively and in accordance with Congress' intent," the six senators said.

Portman, Crapo, Toomey, Warner, Sinema and Lummis added they were "ready to provide legislation" to clarify the definition of a broker.

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