If you only needed the rule of thumb — what is taxed at all — start with do you pay tax on crypto? This page is the filing walk: what you gather, what you click, and what the IRS already knows.
The job
What you are actually filing
You are not sending the blockchain to the IRS. You are reporting dollar amounts: what you received when you sold or swapped, what you originally paid (your cost basis), and crypto you earned as income.
A swap of Bitcoin for Ethereum is a sale of the Bitcoin. Spending coins at a shop is a sale. Moving coins between wallets you own is not.
The yes/no
The digital-asset question
Near the top of Form 1040 there is a yes/no about digital assets. Read the year’s exact sentence on the form. If you sold, swapped, spent, received, or otherwise disposed of crypto, you typically answer yes. Buying and holding without a disposal can still require a careful reading of that year’s wording — do not skip the question.
Where it lands
The forms, in plain English
| What you did | Where it goes | In one line |
|---|---|---|
| Sold or swapped coins | Form 8949, then Schedule D | Each disposal: proceeds minus basis |
| Earned coins (staking, some airdrops, pay) | Schedule 1 or Schedule C | Income at the dollar value on the day you got them |
| Moved coins between your wallets | Usually nowhere as a sale | Keep the record so basis does not vanish |
Tax software fills these from a transaction list. That is the point of it. You still have to import every venue.
What they already sent
Form 1099-DA — what exchanges already sent
US exchanges report your sales to the IRS on Form 1099-DA — the form the exchange sends the IRS. For 2025 they reported proceeds. From 2026 they also report cost basis. In plain terms: assume they can see the exchange year. File it, and make your return match theirs. Mismatches are what trigger automated letters.
Checked August 2026
Thresholds, form versions, and who must issue a 1099-DA still move. Confirm the current IRS digital-asset page before you file. This box is the dated part; the three-match idea (what you sold, what you paid, what you earned) does not expire.
The walk
How to actually do the work
- 1 List every place coins lived. Each exchange, each wallet, each app that can send.
- 2 Export the year. CSV or a software connection. Include the self-custody wallet, not only Coinbase.
- 3 Fix missing basis. Old deposits without a cost make a sale look like 100% profit.
- 4 Let software build Form 8949. Then glance at a few large trades. If one looks impossible, the import is wrong.
- 5 File the 1040 with the digital-asset answer, Schedule D, and income lines complete.
Deadline: calendar-year 2026 activity belongs on the return due 15 April 2027. An extension gives you time to file the forms, not extra time to pay what you already owe.
Software
When software is worth it
A handful of Coinbase sales can be typed by hand. A year of swaps, on-chain wallets, and two exchanges usually cannot. We compared the main US-oriented tools here: best crypto tax software (2026). That page is a review — it names products. This page is the filing map.
Outside this map
State tax and other countries
Some US states tax gains the same way they tax other income. This guide does not track fifty states. If you live outside the US, stop here and use your country’s rulebook — the IRS forms do not apply.
Sources: IRS — Digital assets · IRS — About Form 8949