The IRS has issued a draft of Forms 1040 and 1040-SR for the 2022 tax year that includes new reporting rules for cryptocurrency and other digital assets.

Under the draft rules, released on Oct. 17, the IRS proposed additional details on how to report these assets. Notably, the yes-or-no virtual currency question that has existed on Forms 1040, 1040-SR and 1040-NR has been clarified.

The question on the 2021 Form 1040 reads: “At any time during 2021, did you receive, sell, exchange or otherwise dispose of any virtual currency?” Under the draft, “virtual currency” has been updated to “digital asset,” with more detail on reporting elucidated in a Digital Assets section. That section states that “Digital assets are any digital representations of value that are recorded on a cryptographically secured distributed ledger or any similar technology. … [D]igital assets include non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and virtual currencies, such as cryptocurrencies and stablecoins. If a particular asset has the characteristics of a digital asset, it will be treated as a digital asset for federal income tax purposes.”

"I think that's a good change," Matt Metras, an enrolled agent and cryptocurrency tax specialist at MDM Financial Services in Rochester, N.Y., told CNBC. "People who trade things like NFTs would not think of that as a virtual currency."

Other proposed changes to Forms 1040 and Forms 1040-SR for 2022 include the following:

• The due date of return is April 18, 2023;

• The filing status name “qualifying widow(er)” has been changed to “qualifying surviving spouse”;

• Standard deduction amounts will increase to $12,950 for single or married filing separately, $25,900 for married filing jointly or qualifying surviving spouse, and $19,500 for head of household;

• Student loan debt cancelled by the U.S. Department of Education pursuant to the one-time Student Debt Relief Plan announced on Aug, 24, is not taxable for federal income tax purposes; and

• Credits for sick and family leave for certain self-employed individuals, the health coverage tax credit, changes to the credit for child and dependent care expenses implemented by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP), and child tax credit (CTC) enhancements were not extended.