U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis said that while this shows that the government is bullish on crypto, a 30% tax would destroy the industry’s foothold in the country.
United States President Joe Biden has revived the idea of a 30% tax on electricity used by crypto miners in his budget proposal for 2025.
In a U.S. Department of the Treasury document titled “General Explanations of the Administration’s Fiscal Year 2025 Revenue Proposals,” the administration highlighted that current laws do not address digital assets apart from broker and cash transaction reporting. Because of this, the administration wants to impose an excise tax — taxes levied on goods like fuel — on digital asset mining. The Treasury wrote:
If implemented, crypto mining companies must report the amount and type of electricity they use. In addition, firms must report the value of the electricity used if they purchase it externally. Meanwhile, Miners who lease computational capacity would be mandated to report the value of the electricity of the company that leased them the capacity. The value would then serve as the tax base.
