The other source headlines from "Other sources covering this story" — SkimNews
Get the Finance newsletter
Daily finance — markets, central banks, M&A, the prints that move money. Free.
- House Ways and Means Committee approved the bill containing Section 502 by a 38-5 vote, creating a crypto-specific correction track separate from the IRS Voluntary Disclosure Practice, which targets willful violators with potential criminal exposure
- Section 502 sets a two-tier penalty structure: taxpayers who certify under penalty of perjury that violations were non-willful and file within 12 months face 0% penalty on the first $25,000 of annual tax deficiency and 5% above that; non-certifiers face 25% and 40% respectively, with rates rising if they miss the initial window
- Section 502 requires amended returns to be submitted within 24 months of the program being established, and non-certifying participants are protected from criminal referrals based on information they properly disclose
- Sharon Yip, CPA and founder of Crypto Tax Advisors, says common non-willful errors include investors thinking no tax was due until they cashed out, relying on incomplete exchange records, or misclassifying transactions — leaving them without a standardized resolution path
- CoinTracker and Coinbase reported in 2026 that only 49% of crypto users correctly understood that selling crypto is a taxable event, underscoring how widespread the unintentional reporting errors the bill targets really are
- Section 502 attaches penalty-of-perjury consequences to the good-faith certification, prompting Yip to advise taxpayers to reconstruct transaction histories across exchanges and wallets and consult professionals before signing
Why it matters: Section 502 gives the millions of ordinary crypto users who made unintentional mistakes — a CoinTracker/Coinbase survey found only 49% understood selling crypto is taxable — a defined 24-month window to amend returns and pay 0% on the first $25,000 of annual tax deficiency if they self-certify as non-willful within the first year, replacing today's unpredictable amended-return penalty treatment.
Ask SkimNews
