US Crypto Tax Calculator — 2025 Tax Year

How US crypto tax works in 2025

The IRS treats cryptocurrency as property, not currency (Notice 2014-21). Every time you dispose of crypto, you realize a capital gain or loss. "Dispose" means more than just selling — it includes:

• Selling crypto for USD on an exchange (Coinbase, Kraken, Gemini)
• Trading one crypto for another (e.g. BTC → ETH on Uniswap)
• Spending crypto on goods or services (yes, buying coffee with Bitcoin)
• Paying someone in crypto (consulting fees, gifts above $18,000)

Moving crypto between your own wallets is not a taxable event. Neither is simply holding it.

Short-term vs long-term — the 365-day line

The single most important number in US crypto tax is your holding period. Measured from the day after acquisition to the day of disposal:

• Short-term (≤ 365 days): taxed at your ordinary income rate, which in 2025 ranges from 10% to 37%.
• Long-term (> 365 days): taxed at 0%, 15% or 20% depending on your total taxable income. These brackets are much friendlier than ordinary income rates.

Example: a $10,000 gain for a single filer with $90,000 of W-2 income.

• If short-term (sold on day 360): the gain stacks on top of income, so most of it falls in the 24% bracket → roughly $2,400 tax.
• If long-term (sold on day 366): the gain falls fully in the 15% long-term bracket → $1,500 tax.

The six-day difference costs $900. This is why tax-loss harvesting and holding-period planning matter.

What is Form 1099-DA and what changed in 2025?

Tax year 2025 introduces Form 1099-DA, a new information return that US crypto brokers (centralized exchanges) must file with the IRS for each customer's disposals.

• 2025 tax year (reports filed Jan 2026): brokers report gross proceeds only — not cost basis.
• 2026 tax year onward: brokers report cost basis for trades where the crypto was acquired on the same platform.

Practical impact: the IRS will have an automated match of exchange-reported proceeds against what you claim on Schedule D. Discrepancies will trigger CP2000 notices. If you traded on multiple exchanges, used DeFi, or transferred between wallets, reconciling the 1099-DAs manually is effectively impossible — this is where tax software earns its keep.

Calculating cost basis when you have multiple lots

The IRS allows three primary methods for matching sold units to purchased lots:

• FIFO (First In, First Out) — default unless you specify otherwise.
• LIFO (Last In, First Out) — often produces lower taxable gains in a rising market.
• HIFO (Highest In, First Out) — maximizes cost basis, minimizes gain. Requires explicit "specific identification" documentation.

Our FIFO vs LIFO vs HIFO guide walks through the math with a real example.

State tax — don't forget the extra layer

Nine states have no state income tax (Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Wyoming). Everywhere else, you owe state tax on top of the federal tax this calculator computes.

• California treats crypto gains as ordinary income — combined federal + state can reach 50%+ for high earners.
• New York rate of 4–10.9% on top of federal.
• Most other states use their standard income-tax schedule.

Net Investment Income Tax (NIIT) surtax

High earners (single > $200,000 MAGI, MFJ > $250,000) pay an additional 3.8% surtax on investment income, including crypto capital gains. This calculator shows federal only — add 3.8% if your MAGI crosses the threshold.

Common mistakes in US crypto tax filing

1. Ignoring crypto-to-crypto trades. Swapping ETH for LINK is a disposal of ETH, even though no USD changed hands.
2. Missing airdrops and hard forks. Receipt is ordinary income at fair market value on the day you gained dominion and control.
3. Forgetting about staking rewards. Taxable as ordinary income when received, with cost basis set at receipt FMV (Rev. Rul. 2023-14).
4. Using the wrong cost basis method across years. You can't switch from FIFO to HIFO mid-portfolio; Specific ID requires documentation at the time of sale.
5. Not reporting losses. Up to $3,000 of net capital losses offset ordinary income. Above that, the loss carries forward indefinitely.

When to use specialised crypto tax software

This free calculator handles one trade perfectly. For anything more, you need tooling:

• You have more than ~20 trades: manual tracking becomes error-prone.
• You used multiple exchanges: cost basis has to follow the coin across platforms.
• You did any DeFi: each swap, LP deposit, yield claim is a separate event.
• You minted or sold NFTs: these have their own classification (collectible rate of 28% sometimes applies).

Our picks for US filers:

• Koinly — best all-round. Imports from 350+ exchanges, handles DeFi and NFTs, generates Form 8949 and Schedule D. Free to try; pay to export reports. $49–$279 per tax year depending on trade volume.
• CoinLedger — strong TurboTax integration, deep US focus, clean UI. $49–$299 per year.
• CoinTracker — native mobile app, also integrates with TurboTax + H&R Block.

We've used all three. See our detailed Koinly vs CoinLedger head-to-head.

Frequently asked questions

When do I pay tax on crypto in the US?

Whenever you dispose of crypto. Buying and holding alone is not taxable. See the "How US crypto tax works" section above for the full list.

What is the difference between short-term and long-term gains?

Holding period of 365 days or less = short-term, taxed at ordinary income rates (10–37%). More than 365 days = long-term, taxed at 0/15/20% preferential rates.

Do I have to report crypto if I didn't sell?

Every Form 1040 now asks a digital-asset question. Answer yes if you received, sent, sold, exchanged, or disposed of any digital asset during 2025. Buying and holding alone is no — but almost any activity triggers a yes.

Is there a wash-sale rule for crypto?

As of 2025, no. §1091 applies only to "stocks or securities" and the IRS has not administratively extended it to crypto. This opens tax-loss-harvesting strategies that are unavailable for regulated securities. Congress has proposed changes annually since 2021; none enacted yet.

What happens if I don't report?

Failure to report can trigger accuracy-related penalties (20%), failure-to-file penalties (up to 25% of unpaid tax), and interest. In egregious cases the IRS can pursue tax-fraud charges. With 1099-DA reporting now mandatory for US exchanges, the audit-trigger risk is much higher than it was pre-2025.