Crypto Tax Calculator
Estimate United States federal capital gains tax on crypto sales. Short-term vs long-term, ordinary income brackets, NIIT, state tax stacking. Free, no signup.
Crypto Tax Calculator
⚠ Disclaimer: Estimates only. Not investment advice. RECATOOLS is not a licensed or registered investment adviser in any jurisdiction. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Trading and investing carry risk of partial or total loss of capital.
IRS treats crypto as PROPERTY. Each sale, swap, or spend is a taxable event — short-term if held 1 year or less (ordinary income rate); long-term if more than 1 year (preferential 0/15/20% LTCG rate). Stacks with NIIT (3.8% high-income surtax) + state tax. Compute the US-federal total tax owed.
How to Use the Crypto Tax Calculator
Use accurate cost basis
What you actually paid INCLUDING fees. If you bought 1 BTC at USD 12,000 plus USD 100 exchange fee = basis USD 12,100. Form 1099-DA from US brokers reports gross proceeds from tax year 2025; cost basis is reported only for assets acquired from 2026 onward, so your own records are the basis source for older lots.
Check the holding period
Day after purchase to day of sale. 1 year + 1 day or more qualifies for long-term rates. If you bought 2024-03-15, you must sell on or after 2025-03-16 for long-term treatment. The 1-day difference can change federal rate from 22-32% (ordinary) to 15% (LTCG) — material.
Include other income for proper bracketing
The federal LTCG rate (0/15/20%) depends on total income including the gain. NIIT applies once MAGI exceeds USD 200K (single) / USD 250K (joint). State tax rate varies — Texas/Florida/Washington = 0%, California = up to 13.3%.
Consider tax-loss harvesting
If you have losses on other crypto, sell them in the same year to offset gains. Wash-sale rule does NOT apply to crypto as of 2026 — you can sell at a loss + immediately rebuy without losing the deduction. This is a major advantage vs stocks/securities.
US Crypto Tax — Property, Not Currency
Why "Property" Treatment Matters
IRS Notice 2014-21 established that virtual currency is treated as property for federal tax purposes. This single classification cascades into every aspect of crypto taxation. Each "disposition" — selling for fiat, swapping coin-A for coin-B, spending crypto on goods/services, gifting (over annual exclusion), receiving crypto as payment — is a separate taxable event requiring gain/loss calculation. The "I didn't cash out, I just swapped" defense doesn't work; the IRS views BTC → ETH as a sale of BTC for fair market value, immediately reinvested in ETH. This creates substantial record-keeping burden for active traders.
Two important consequences of property treatment: (1) Wash-sale rule does NOT apply (as of 2026). You can sell a position at a loss and immediately rebuy without losing the deduction. The "Build Back Better" bill proposed extending wash-sale to crypto but didn't pass; status quo persists. This is a major tax-loss-harvesting advantage vs stocks. (2) Like-kind exchanges DO NOT apply post-2018. TCJA limited §1031 to real property only — you can't defer crypto gains by swapping coins. Every swap is a recognized event.
Short-Term vs Long-Term — A Materially Bigger Spread
For most middle-income crypto investors, the holding-period difference is dramatic. Short-term (held 1 year or less) is taxed at ordinary income rates: 12-32% federal depending on income bracket. Long-term (more than 1 year) gets preferential rates: 0% (up to USD 49,450 single taxable income, 2026), 15% (USD 49,450-USD 545,500), or 20% (above). For an investor in the 24% federal bracket: short-term tax is 24%, long-term tax is 15% — saving 9 points on the gain. For a 32%-bracket investor: 32% short vs 20% long = 12-point saving. Patience to cross the 1-year mark is one of the highest-leverage crypto-tax moves available.
Cost basis methodology matters too. IRS default is FIFO (first-in-first-out — your earliest-acquired coins are deemed sold first). You can elect specific identification ("HIFO" — highest-in-first-out, or specific tax lots) which usually minimizes tax. CoinTracker, Koinly, TaxBit, and ZenLedger automate this and produce IRS Form 8949 + Schedule D for filing. For anyone with 50+ transactions per year, dedicated crypto-tax software (USD 50-200/year) pays back its cost many times over.
"The wash-sale loophole is unique to crypto. Sell BTC at a loss in December for tax-loss harvesting, immediately rebuy — the loss is deductible AND you maintain the position. Same trade in stocks would forfeit the loss. This advantage may not last forever; legislation has been proposed to close it."
What the New 1099-DA Changes
Starting tax year 2025 (filed 2026), US digital-asset brokers must issue Form 1099-DA reporting gross proceeds to both you and the IRS; cost-basis reporting follows for assets acquired on or after 1 January 2026. This dramatically reduces "I didn't know I owed taxes" scenarios — the IRS now sees every disposal on a centralised exchange. The expanded "DeFi broker" rule that would have pulled front-end DeFi services into the same regime was repealed by Congress under the Congressional Review Act (signed 10 April 2025), so DeFi and self-custody activity remains self-reported. Plan for full reporting compliance: keep transaction records, use crypto-tax software for the full picture, and reconcile against any 1099-DA you receive before filing.
Swapping BTC for ETH is a sale, and the IRS calls it property
IRS Notice 2014-21: crypto = property, not currency. Every disposition is a taxable event.
Short-term (held 1 year or less): ordinary income rate 10-37%. Long-term (more than 1 year): 0/15/20%.
Wash-sale rule does NOT apply to crypto as of 2026 (legislation has been proposed to add it).
NIIT 3.8% surtax on crypto gains if MAGI exceeds USD 200K (single) / USD 250K (joint).
Form 1099-DA: US brokers report gross proceeds from tax year 2025; cost basis from 2026 acquisitions. The DeFi-broker extension was repealed in April 2025.
Coin-to-coin swap is taxable. BTC → ETH = sale of BTC at FMV + purchase of ETH.
Mining + staking rewards: taxable as ordinary income at FMV when received.
FIFO is IRS default; specific identification (HIFO, LIFO) typically minimizes tax via tax-lot selection.
Tax software: CoinTracker, Koinly, TaxBit, ZenLedger. Free tiers exist; full crypto pro USD 50-200/year.
Like-kind exchange does NOT apply to crypto post-2018 TCJA. No deferral via coin swap.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Every "disposition" triggers tax: selling for fiat, swapping one coin for another, spending crypto on goods/services, gifting above the annual exclusion, receiving as payment. NOT taxable: buying with fiat (no realized event), moving between your own wallets (still your property), and HODLing without selling. The "I just swapped, didn't cash out" defense doesn't work — IRS views every swap as a sale.
- Holding period is the key variable. 1 year or less = short-term, taxed at your ordinary income rate (10-37% federal). 1 year + 1 day or more = long-term, preferred rates (0/15/20% federal). For middle-income investors, the difference is typically 7-15 percentage points on the gain — patience to cross the 1-year mark is one of the highest-leverage tax moves.
- Use crypto-tax software: CoinTracker (USD 60-200/year), Koinly (USD 50-300), TaxBit (USD 100-500), ZenLedger (USD 50-300). Each connects to your exchanges + wallets via API, reads transactions, calculates cost basis, and outputs IRS Form 8949 + Schedule D ready to file. For high-volume traders (1000+ transactions/year), dedicated software is essentially required.
- Yes. Capital losses offset capital gains dollar-for-dollar. Net capital loss can offset up to USD 3,000 of ordinary income per year (USD 1,500 if married filing separately). Excess loss carries forward indefinitely until used. The wash-sale rule does NOT apply to crypto (as of 2026), so you can sell at a loss and immediately rebuy without losing the deduction — a major tax-loss-harvesting opportunity.
- Both are taxable as ordinary income at FMV when received. Mining: also subject to self-employment tax if it's a trade/business. Staking: taxable income on receipt of rewards. The cost basis of received coins becomes their FMV on receipt — when later sold, additional capital gain/loss applies. This double-tax characteristic (income on receipt + capital gains on later sale) is one of the more controversial aspects of US crypto tax law.
- Multiple ways. (1) Form 1099-DA reporting from US exchanges starting tax year 2025. (2) The Form 1040 "digital asset" question — answering "no" while having transactions is perjury. (3) John Doe summons (IRS has used these to compel Coinbase, Kraken, and Circle to disclose user lists). (4) Blockchain forensics firms (Chainalysis, TRM Labs) trace pseudonymous addresses to KYC'd identities. The "they'll never find me" assumption was reasonable in 2017; it's increasingly untenable in 2026.
- An election to identify exactly WHICH coins you sold (rather than IRS default FIFO). HIFO = highest-cost-first-out — sells your most-expensive coins first, generating smallest gain (or largest loss). Significantly reduces tax in volatile markets where you bought at multiple price points. Requires per-lot record-keeping. Crypto-tax software automates this election. Save the calculation report — you must be able to specifically identify lots if audited.
- No. HODLing has zero tax until you dispose. Moving coins between your own wallets (custodial → non-custodial, or wallet-to-wallet) is not a taxable event — you're still the owner. The 1040 form asks "did you have any digital asset activity" — receiving, sending, gifting, swapping, holding all count as activity even though most aren't taxable. Answer truthfully.
- Similar but with twists. NFTs are property too; gain = sale proceeds − basis. Long-term/short-term distinction same as crypto. EXCEPTION: IRS Notice 2023-27 announced a "look-through" approach — an NFT is a collectible under §408(m) if the right or asset it represents is one (digital art, gems), and long-term gains on collectibles are taxed at up to 28% rather than 20%. Final guidance is still pending. Utility NFTs (gaming items, certificates) likely remain standard property treatment.
- Only roughly. US tax applies to US persons (citizens and residents) regardless of where the crypto is held. For non-US tax residents your home-country rules apply, and they differ enormously. Singapore: no capital gains tax at all, but a disposal judged to be trading rather than investment is taxable as income — IRAS applies the badges of trade, so frequency and intention decide it, not the label you use. Malaysia: the same shape — no capital gains tax, badges of trade decide whether a gain is revenue, and LHDN requires acquisition cost in ringgit on a FIFO basis. Indonesia: a final income tax on the transaction, not on the gain — 0.21% through a domestic exchange and 1% offshore, under PMK 50/2025 effective 1 August 2025, which also reclassified crypto as securities and removed VAT for buyers. Germany: 0% if held over a year. UK: Capital Gains Tax at 18% within the basic-rate band and 24% above it (rates in force since 30 October 2024). Australia: marginal rate with a 50% discount for 12+ month holds. Rates in this area move faster than almost any other; check the authority before you rely on a figure, and take local advice for anything that matters.
Method & sources
How it computes
Gain = proceeds − cost basis. Federal tax = tax on (other income + gain) − tax on other income, bracket by bracket: 0/15/20% for a gain held more than a year, the ordinary brackets otherwise (Rev. Proc. 2025-32 §4.03, §4.01; USTaxKernel.saleTax). NIIT, if selected, is 3.8% of the lesser of the gain and MAGI over USD 200,000 / 250,000. State tax is your flat rate on the gain. A loss is taxed at zero.
What this tool implements
- Tax year 2026 federal thresholds for single and married-filing-jointly filers (Rev. Proc. 2025-32 §4.01 Tables 1 and 3, §4.03), read from the shared us-tax-kernel.js — the same tables federal-tax-bracket-calculator and capital-gains-tax-calculator use, not a page-local copy.
- Holding period of more than one year = long-term; one year or less = short-term (IRC §1222; IRS Topic 409).
- NIIT per IRC §1411 as the IRS states it: 3.8% of the lesser of net investment income and MAGI over USD 250,000 (joint) / 200,000 (single). MAGI is not an input, so other income plus the gain stands in for it.
- Every line is rounded to whole dollars and the total is the sum of the rounded lines, so the figures shown add up.
- No wash-sale rule for digital assets (IRC §1091 covers stock or securities) and no §1031 deferral after 2017 — both stated on the page as of 2026.
- Corrected 2026-10-19: the page kept its own copy of the 2026 bracket tables instead of reading us-tax-kernel.js; NIIT was charged on the whole gain whenever selected; a capital loss printed a negative state tax; the holding-period labels said "1 year or more" is long-term (exactly one year is short-term); the method cited Rev. Proc. 2025-32 §3.01/§3.03, which are the 2025 modifications — the 2026 tables are §4.01/§4.03.
Sources
- IRS. Rev. Proc. 2025-32 — 2026 inflation adjustments, §4.01 tax rate tables and §4.03 maximum capital gains rate amounts: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-25-32.pdf
- IRS. Notice 2014-21 — virtual currency is treated as property: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-14-21.pdf
- IRS. Topic no. 409, Capital gains and losses (holding period): https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc409
- IRS. Net Investment Income Tax: https://www.irs.gov/individuals/net-investment-income-tax
- 26 U.S.C. §1411 (net investment income tax): https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/1411
- 26 U.S.C. §1211 (capital-loss limit, USD 3,000 / 1,500): https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/1211
- 26 U.S.C. §1091 (wash sales of stock or securities): https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/1091
What can make this go out of date
- Digital-asset broker reporting (Form 1099-DA) phase-in and any wash-sale legislation — Treasury/IRS and Congress.
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