The U.S. Congress is moving to overhaul tax rules to reduce burdens when payment stablecoins are used in everyday transactions. It is an attempt to refine an institutional framework so digital assets can be used effectively like cash.

According to blockchain outlet Cryptopolitan on April 14, the latest amendment to the PARITY bill includes provisions that limit gain and loss recognition for stablecoin transactions that meet certain requirements.

At the core is a change in the tax standard. The amendment would require no gain or loss to be recognised even if regulated payment stablecoins are sold, when a taxpayer’s cost basis is at least 99 percent of the token’s redemption value. The aim is to ease a structure that triggered taxable events for each small payment and to treat stablecoins closer to cash payments.

The amendment was refined based on discussion drafts released in December and on March 26. The earlier draft included a $200 de minimis tax-free threshold for payments made with regulated payment stablecoins, but that structure was removed in the March draft. Instead, the amendment shifts the framework to determine taxability based on a cost basis relative to redemption value rather than a minimum transaction amount.

It also adds a rule that applies a deemed $1 cost basis to exchange transactions, treating them separately from stablecoin sales. Under existing U.S. tax law, paying with USDC or USDT could be taxable even if price moves were minimal, and the move is seen as an effort to reduce that burden.

Not all stablecoins would benefit. The special treatment would apply only to assets regulated under the GENIUS Act and that maintain a peg within 1 percent of $1. The bill also clarifies eligibility by requiring gain or loss recognition only when redemption value falls below 99 percent.

The taxation of staking rewards was also revised. The amendment distinguishes passive staking from other activities such as trading and would allow taxpayers to choose whether to record staking rewards at the time of receipt or after a deferral period of up to 5 years. It would let taxpayers decide when to recognise staking rewards. The revision also includes changes to wash-sale rules for digital assets.

The tax discussions are moving in tandem with other cryptocurrency legislation. As debate continues over the CLARITY bill, Senator Cynthia Lummis warned that if the Senate does not act before the 2026 election, related legislation could be delayed for a prolonged period.

Separately, amid debate over offering yields on stablecoins, the White House said the impact would be limited. The White House Council of Economic Advisers estimated in a recent report that the measures would affect banks’ loan growth by about 0.02 percent. It also assessed that the burden on community banks would rise by about $500 million. The report said that even banning stablecoin yields would not do much to protect bank lending and could instead limit consumers’ earning opportunities.

Against that backdrop, the PARITY bill amendment is emerging as a key test of whether stablecoins will be recognised as a practical payment method and how a matching tax system should be designed.