Illinois Enacts 0.2% Digital Asset Tax as Congress Advances CLARITY Act

Illinois and the federal government are moving in opposite directions on cryptocurrency regulation, creating a potential compliance conflict for exchanges operating in the state beginning in 2027.

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker (D-IL) signed a $55.9 billion state budget earlier this summer that includes what the Washington Examiner reported on August 3, 2026, is the first state-level tax specifically targeting digital asset transactions in the United States. The provision, titled the Digital Asset Tax Act (DATA), takes effect January 1, 2027, and imposes a 0.2% levy on cryptocurrency exchanges and related digital asset transactions and services operating within the state.

The Illinois budget was enacted through the state's standard appropriations process. The $55.9 billion total figure is drawn from the signed budget document. The specific 0.2% rate and January 1, 2027, effective date are contained in the Digital Asset Tax Act language included within that budget, as reported by the Washington Examiner. The precise statutory text of DATA, including the full definition of covered entities and transactions, is available through the Illinois General Assembly's public legislative record.

At the federal level, Congress is advancing the CLARITY Act, a bill aimed at establishing a unified regulatory framework for digital assets. The bill's current legislative status — including committee votes, co-sponsors, and a Congressional Budget Office score — is recorded in the official congressional record maintained by Congress.gov. As of the date of this report, no final floor vote on the CLARITY Act has been confirmed in available public records.

The simultaneous state and federal actions raise questions about regulatory overlap. Cryptocurrency exchanges incorporated or operating in Illinois would, under DATA, be subject to the state levy regardless of any federal framework the CLARITY Act ultimately establishes. Whether federal legislation would preempt state digital asset taxes is a legal question not resolved by either bill's current text, based on publicly available summaries.

What remains unknown is the projected annual revenue Illinois expects to collect under DATA, the full list of transaction types subject to the 0.2% levy, and whether the CLARITY Act contains a federal preemption clause that would affect state-level taxes. The Illinois Governor's Office budget projections and the CLARITY Act's enrolled bill text, both of which are public documents, would answer those questions.