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The Daily Insight

Do you pay taxes on crypto sales?

Author

Sarah Duran

Published Mar 30, 2026

Cryptocurrency is considered “property” for federal income tax purposes. And, for the typical investor, the IRS treats it as a capital asset. As a result, crypto taxes are no different than the taxes you pay on any other gain realized on the sale or exchange of a capital asset.

Do you pay taxes on crypto to crypto trades?

“When you trade cryptocurrencies or when you spend cryptocurrency to buy something, those transactions are subject to capital gains taxes, because you’re spending a capital asset to get something or get another asset,” says Shehan Chandrasekera, CPA, head of tax strategy at CoinTracker.io, a crypto tax software company …

How do you account for cryptocurrency on taxes?

According to the IRS, when a taxpayer successfully “mines” Bitcoin and has earnings from that activity whether in the form of Bitcoin or any other form, he or she must include it in his gross income after determining the fair market dollar value of the virtual currency as of the day you received it.

Are crypto to crypto trades taxable?

Despite profits on each swap, they avoid tax until they sell for cash years later, paying only one tax, ideally as a long-term capital gain. The IRS announced in 2014 that crypto is property for tax purposes.

What is the tax on selling cryptocurrency?

The federal tax rate on cryptocurrency capital gains ranges from 0% to 37%. Your specific tax rate primarily depends on three factors: 1 / The accounting method used for calculating gains. 2/ How long you held the coins before selling (Holding period).

Are you taxed when converting crypto?

The IRS designates cryptocurrencies and other similar virtual assets as property and as such are subject to capital gains tax when certain taxable events occur. You send your BTC to a crypto exchange (Not Taxable) You convert BTC into 0.5 ETH (Taxable)

How are cryptocurrencies taxed in the United States?

The Basics of Crypto Taxes In the U.S., cryptocurrencies like bitcoin are treated as property for tax purposes. Just like other forms of property like stocks, bonds, and real-estate, you incur capital gains and capital losses on your cryptocurrency investments when you sell, trade, or otherwise dispose of your crypto.

How does selling crypto affect your tax return?

Selling crypto for fiat currency is a taxable event. In this example, Emma incurs a $200 capital loss (1,000 – 1,200). This loss gets deducted and actually reduces Emma’s taxable income. 2. Crypto ➔ Crypto

How to report cryptocurrency on taxes TurboTax?

Just select each exchange you’ve used and import your historical transactions from that exchange with the click of a button. CryptoTrader.Tax automatically generates your crypto tax forms based on this data. You can then upload your reports directly into TurboTax or TaxAct to include with the rest of your tax return.

Where is the crypto question on the 1040?

This crypto question was on the 2019 tax return, too, but the new placement is much harder to miss. On the 2019 tax return, the IRS crypto question was located on Schedule 1 of Form 1040, which reports certain types of income and exclusions from taxable income.