Crypto Tax Forms: What You Need for 2025

What tax forms do I need to fill out as a crypto investor? 

Let’s walk through the forms you’ll need to fill out as a crypto investor. 

Form 8949: On Form 8949, you’ll report every disposal of cryptocurrency (ex. selling or trading away your assets) and the associated capital gain/loss. To fill out this form, you’ll need the following information: 

• A description of the crypto-asset you sold 
• The date you originally acquired your crypto-asset 
• The date you sold or disposed of the crypto-asset 
• Proceeds from the sale (in USD)
• Your cost basis for purchasing the crypto-asset (in USD) 
• Your gain or loss from the disposal 

Schedule D: Once you’re finished calculating your capital gains and losses on Form 8949, you should report your net gain/loss on Form 1040 Schedule D. 

Schedule 1 (for most taxpayers): Form 1040 Schedule 1 is the form most taxpayers will use to report ordinary income from cryptocurrency. This includes income from staking, mining, referrals, and interest. You’ll report your crypto income on line z ‘Other income’. 

Schedule C: If you’re self-employed or earn crypto as income, you should report your income through Form 1040 Schedule C. 

Do I need to answer the crypto tax question on Form 1040? 

In addition to the forms listed above, Form 1040 contains an additional question about cryptocurrency. 

‍“At any time during 2024, did you: (a) receive (as a reward, award, or payment for property or services); or (b) sell, exchange, or otherwise dispose of a digital asset (or a financial interest in a digital asset)?

If you disposed of cryptocurrency or NFTs or earned income from cryptocurrency, you should answer ‘Yes’ to this question. 

However, there’s no need to answer ‘Yes’ if you had no cryptocurrency income or disposals — for example, if you only bought or held cryptocurrency in 2024. 

Remember, you are required to answer truthfully. Intentionally filling in the wrong answer is considered tax fraud and could lead to criminal penalties. 

What records should I keep to make sure I can fill out my crypto tax forms?

Accurate record-keeping is essential for filing your crypto taxes correctly and avoiding potential penalties. Here are 5 tips to ensure you have accurate crypto tax records for any situation: 

1. Maintain Detailed Transaction Logs
   
   • Keep a record of every crypto transaction, including purchases, sales, trades, and transfers between wallets or exchanges. For each transaction, note the date, type of activity (e.g., sale or trade), and amount involved.
2. Record Non-Taxable Events
   
   • Include details of non-taxable transactions, such as transferring crypto between your wallets or buying cryptocurrency without selling or trading. While these aren’t taxable transactions, they do make it easier to calculate capital gains and losses.
3. Track Wallet and Exchange Activity
   
   • Document wallet addresses and exchanges you’ve used. 
4. Save Receipts and Supporting Documents
   
   • Keep supporting documents on cryptocurrency purchases, such as invoices, email confirmations, and bank transfers. These documents can be used to verify cost basis and ownership in the case of an audit. 
5. Archive Historical Data
   
   • Download your complete transaction history from exchanges and wallets at the end of each year. Some platforms limit how long records are accessible, so regularly downloading your information is important. 

Do I need to report crypto on my taxes? 

Yes, you’re required to report crypto activity on your taxes. Cryptocurrency is subject to capital gains tax and income tax. 

Here are some examples of taxable crypto transactions: 

• Selling crypto for cash
• Trading one crypto for another
• Spending crypto on goods or services
• Earning crypto through mining, staking, or airdrops

Remember, major crypto exchanges report your crypto transactions to the IRS, and failing to report your income from cryptocurrency is considered tax evasion. 

How much crypto do I need to report? 

There’s no minimum threshold for reporting crypto transactions. You’re required to report all of your taxable income from cryptocurrency. 

Remember, the IRS can track transactions on blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum. In addition, the IRS has issued John Doe Summons to exchanges like Coinbase and Kraken to hand over customer records. 

Do I get a 1099 for cryptocurrency? 

As of 2025, you may receive the following 1099 forms for cryptocurrency: 

• Form 1099-MISC: Issued for staking rewards, airdrops, or other miscellaneous crypto earnings. Most exchanges issue this form if you’ve earned more than $600 of ordinary income from cryptocurrency. 
• Form 1099-B: Summarizes gains and losses from crypto trades. While a few select crypto exchanges issue this form, most exchanges currently don’t send tax forms for capital gains. 

When you receive a 1099 form from your exchange, an identical copy is issued to the IRS. 

Remember, 1099 forms may be inaccurate if you’ve transferred crypto into or out of an exchange (more on this later). 

Starting in 2026, all cryptocurrency brokers — including centralized and decentralized exchanges — will be required to issue Form 1099-DA. This form reports all of your capital gains and losses from digital assets. 

What happens if I don’t receive a 1099 form? 

If your exchange doesn’t send you a 1099, you’re still responsible for reporting your taxable income from cryptocurrency. 

Here’s what you can do: 

1. Gather Your Data: Download your transaction history from your exchange. Look out for taxable transactions — such as trades, sales, and income. 
2. Calculate Your Gains/Losses: Calculate your capital gains and losses from each cryptocurrency disposal. You can do this manually or automatically with crypto tax software like CoinLedger. 
3. Report Your Activity: Once you’ve gotten accurate records of all of your cryptocurrency transactions, you can report your gains and losses on Form 8949 and Schedule D. Report your ordinary income on Schedule 1 or Schedule C. 

Why is my 1099 form inaccurate? 

Cryptocurrency exchanges don’t have insight into transactions that take place outside of their platform. If you transferred cryptocurrency into or out of your exchange, your 1099 forms may be inaccurate. Consider the following example. 

In this case, Brooke should have $2,000 of capital gain. However, Exchange B does not know her original cost basis for acquiring BTC. As a result, her 1099 form may report her capital gain as $12,000 and her cost basis as n/a. 

To prevent overpaying her taxes, Brooke will need to provide records of her original purchase. 

What tax forms do I need to complete for foreign crypto holdings? 

If you hold crypto in foreign accounts or exchanges, you may need to fill out the following tax forms:

• FBAR (Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts Report): If the value of your cryptocurrency in a foreign exchange exceeds $10,000 at any point of the year, you may need to fill out FBAR to report your holdings to FinCen. 
• Form 8938: Form 8938 is similar to FBAR — except that it’s reported to the IRS instead of FinCen. In addition, Form 8938 has a much higher reporting threshold. If you’re unmarried, you’ll need to file Form 8938 if the total value of your assets is more than $50,000 on the last day of the tax year, or more than $75,000 during any part of the tax year. 

Examples of foreign exchanges include Bybit, Binance, and KuCoin. 

Remember, both FBAR and Form 8938 are for informational purposes. Neither form will increase your tax liability. 

What happens if I don’t fill out crypto tax forms? 

You are legally required to report all taxable income from cryptocurrency. Failure to do so could result in fines, penalties, an audit, and even potential jail time. 

In conclusion 

Tax season doesn’t need to be stressful. With crypto tax software like CoinLedger, you can automatically import transactions from hundreds of blockchains and exchanges and generate complete crypto tax reports in minutes. 

Get started today.