Biden Administration Resurrects 30% Bitcoin Mining Tax in Budget Proposal for 2025
U.S. President Joe Biden unveiled his fiscal year 2025 budget proposal, which includes a bitcoin mining excise tax to 'reduce mining activity.'
- "The computational effort involved in mining can be substantial and can therefore require a correspondingly large amount of energy. The increase in energy consumption attributable to the growth of digital asset mining has negative environmental effects and can have environmental justice implications as well as increase energy prices for those that share an electricity grid with digital asset miners. Digital asset mining also creates uncertainty and risks to local utilities and communities, as mining activity is highly variable and highly mobile," writes the proposal.
"An excise tax on electricity usage by digital asset miners could reduce mining activity along with its associated environmental impacts and other harms," proposed the administration.
- "Any firm using computing resources, whether owned by the firm or leased from others, to mine digital assets would be subject to an excise tax equal to 30 percent of the costs of electricity used in digital asset mining."
"Firms engaged in digital asset mining would be required to report the amount and type of electricity used as well as the value of that electricity, if purchased externally. Firms that lease computational capacity would be required to report the value of the electricity used by the lessor firm attributable to the leased capacity, which would serve as the tax base. Firms that produce or acquire power off-grid, for example by using the output of a particular electricity generating plant, would be subject to an excise tax equal to 30 percent of estimated electricity costs."
- "The proposal would be effective for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2024. The excise tax would be phased in over three years at a rate of 10 percent in the first year, 20 percent in the second, and 30 percent thereafter."
The proposal appears to follow a coordinated media campaign about the alleged negative effects of Bitcoin mining.
CoinDesk Article / Archive
TFTC Article / Archive
Full Proposal
