Charitable Deductions for Digital Asset Donations Act
HB9173, the “Charitable Deductions for Digital Asset Donations Act,” would amend the Internal Revenue Code to make certain donations of widely traded digital assets eligible for the same appraisal exception currently available for publicly traded securities. In practical terms, donors giving qualifying digital assets to charity would not need to obtain a qualified appraisal solely to support the charitable deduction, so long as the asset meets the bill’s definition and the Secretary of the Treasury has not excluded it to prevent abuse. The change would apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2026.
The bill also creates a detailed set of federal tax definitions for digital assets, traded digital assets, widely traded digital assets, tokenized digital assets, wrapped digital assets, reference digital assets, and stablecoins. It gives Treasury broad regulatory authority to prevent abuse, exclude assets lacking reliable price discovery, address price manipulation risks, and adjust the criteria if market conditions change or if future federal digital-asset market structure legislation is enacted. The bill further provides that nothing in it should be read to determine whether a digital asset is a security, commodity, debt, equity, stock, partnership interest, or trust interest under other laws.
The bill would directly affect federal income tax administration under section 170 of the Internal Revenue Code by expanding the appraisal exception for charitable contributions to include qualifying widely traded digital assets. That would reduce compliance burdens for taxpayers donating certain crypto assets and could make it easier for charities to receive and process such gifts. It would also add new statutory definitions in section 7701 that would shape how the tax code treats digital assets for these purposes, while preserving Treasury’s authority to issue anti-abuse rules and guidance. The measure does not change state law, but it could influence charitable giving practices and tax reporting for donors, charities, appraisers, exchanges, and digital asset issuers.
Based on the bill text and the absence of recorded committee debate or votes, the apparent sentiment is generally supportive of facilitating charitable donations of digital assets while preserving safeguards against abuse. The structure of the bill suggests a policy goal of modernizing tax rules to reflect the growth of crypto markets and to align digital asset donations more closely with donations of publicly traded securities. There is no recorded opposition in the provided materials, but the inclusion of broad Treasury authority indicates an effort to balance taxpayer convenience with enforcement concerns.
The main points of contention are likely to center on how to define which digital assets qualify and how to prevent manipulation or inflated valuations. The bill limits the appraisal exception to “widely traded” assets with substantial market capitalization, readily available quotations, and limited ownership concentration, which may exclude many tokens and newer assets. Treasury is also authorized to exclude assets lacking reliable price discovery or at risk of manipulation, and to revise the rules if market conditions change. Another likely issue is the bill’s interaction with broader digital asset regulation, including stablecoin treatment and whether the tax definitions could be seen as influencing securities or commodities law, though the bill expressly disclaims any such inference.