Report: The United States exempts cryptocurrency payments under $300 from tax burdens, potentially increasing net revenue by up to $2.58 billion over 10 years

The report from the Cornell Brooks School Tech Policy Institute (BTPI) shows that if the United States implements a minimum exemption for Bitcoin and cryptocurrency payments under $300, the federal net revenue is expected to increase by $859 million over 10 years, with a range of $172 million to $2.58 billion, assuming the number of digital asset payment users remains at 5.4 million.

The bill S. 2207 proposed by U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis aims to exempt capital gains tax on related payments, with an annual tax-free capital gains limit of $5,000. Some other legislative initiatives propose to limit the scope of the exemption to regulated stablecoins, and discussions are still ongoing. BTPI states that the current capital gains tax and small transaction reporting requirements suppress daily Bitcoin payments. If the transaction-level tax and reporting burdens are removed, it could increase Bitcoin payments and demand; under the current adoption level, the recent impact on Bitcoin prices and taxes may be small, while the long-term impact depends on factors such as the scale of payments.