KPMG webcast spotlights bank tax, digital assets and SALT risks

Final broker reporting regulations for digital assets arrived from Treasury and the IRS in December 2024, and bank tax teams can no longer treat digital assets, SALT and controversy as separate lanes. KPMG’s June 24 Quarterly Bank Tax Update for banking and capital markets professionals made clear that the next round of client pressure is about implementation, not awareness. Tax leaders now need people who can follow federal legislation, decode state moves and manage disputes in the same conversation.

Digital assets are moving from legislation watch to workflow

Jennifer Acuna and Joshua Tompkins handled the federal legislative piece of the webcast. Treasury and the IRS issued final broker reporting regulations for digital assets in December 2024, with gross-proceeds reporting starting in 2026 for sales made in 2025 and basis reporting beginning in 2027 for sales made in 2026. The IRS then told tax professionals in September 2025 to get ready for Form 1099-DA, and in January 2026 it said taxpayers who sold or disposed of digital assets through a broker may receive that form.

Digital assets now pose an operating issue for banks and other brokers, not just a policy topic. Treasury and the IRS proposed in March 2026 to make it easier for digital asset brokers to furnish 1099-DA statements electronically, which adds a systems and delivery question on top of the reporting rules. Congress is also still considering H.R. 3633, the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025, while the Congressional Research Service has described cryptocurrency as a multi-trillion-dollar industry. Clients will not just ask what the rule says; they will ask how quickly their data, onboarding and reporting processes can support it.

SALT is no longer a single-state conversation

Justin Hill handled the SALT legislative segment. Tax Foundation says forty-three states will open 2026 with notable tax changes, and it has flagged conformity debates and other tax changes as lawmakers move through the year. At the federal level, the SALT deduction cap remains unsettled ahead of its scheduled expiration in 2026, keeping the issue alive for bank and capital-markets clients with footprints in multiple states.

State tax questions are likely to reach KPMG teams in clusters, not one jurisdiction at a time. A bank with customers, payroll, sourcing or entity structures spread across several states may have to revisit the same question under different rules, and the federal SALT cap debate adds another layer of uncertainty. Jennifer White handled SALT controversy insights, with legislative changes likely to turn into disputes, refunds, or exam positions quickly enough to affect this quarter’s workload.

Controversy is sitting beside planning, not after it

KPMG split the controversy work between Doug O’Donnell and Justin Donatello for IRS insights and controversy considerations, then gave Jennifer White the SALT controversy lane. Controversy is not an end-stage clean-up task anymore. It is part of planning from the start, especially when federal reporting rules, state conformity and broker-level data requirements are all changing at once.

KPMG has been emphasizing that posture for months. Its March 2026 tax controversy webcast focused on the current tax controversy environment and IRS organization updates. KPMG’s SALT services also emphasize constant monitoring of laws and regulations and helping clients resolve controversy efficiently. In practice, that means controversy specialists are likely to be pulled into client calls earlier, before a position hardens into a filing problem.

What KPMG teams should change now

The three pressure points in the webcast point to the same operational response:

• Bring digital-asset specialists into bank tax calls before 2025 transaction data starts driving 1099-DA issues. The first gross-proceeds wave is tied to sales made in 2025, so reporting readiness is already a current-year problem.

• Rebuild SALT issue maps around the fact that forty-three states are changing tax rules in 2026. One-state playbooks will not be enough for clients with broad regional exposure.

• Treat controversy as a planning input, not a cleanup stage. IRS insights, SALT controversy and federal legislative updates are now being discussed together because clients will feel them together.