The US Department of the Treasury has revealed its plans to boost the 2024 budget and has put forward a proposal to introduce a new tax on electricity used by cryptocurrency mining operations.
The proposed Treasury regulation will mandate that any firm utilizing computing resources leased or owned from others to mine digital assets will be subject to an excise tax equivalent to 30% of the cost of electricity consumed in mining digital assets.
The Ministry of Finance intends to impose this rule on all mining companies, irrespective of whether they receive power from centralized or autonomous sources, such as power plants.
The 30% fee will be determined based on the estimated cost of electricity for each specific case. To implement this new regulation, all mining companies will have to submit reports to tax authorities stating the amount of electricity consumed and its cost.
The US Treasury has proposed to phase in the excise taxes over three years, starting at 10% per year. The proposed rate of 30% will be reached by 2026. However, the Treasury Department’s proposal needs approval from Congress to come into effect.
Previously, the US Department of the Treasury demanded the prevention of the practice of tax residents accounting for losses from fictitious trading in crypto assets in tax returns.