Your Coinbase taxes come from your gains and rewards, and Form 1099-DA reports your sales to the IRS.
Coinbase says it issues Form 1099-DA to all US customers with crypto sales, starting with tax year 2025. The 2025 form shows your proceeds but no cost basis, so the gain on each sale is yours to work out. Staking rewards are income too, valued when you can first sell them.
Updated · Sources
Coinbase tax forms, 2025 and 2026
- Mar. 19
- was the date in 2026 by which Coinbase said your 2025 Form 1099-DA would be ready.
- 2026
- is the first tax year Coinbase’s 1099-DA reports cost basis, and only for some of your crypto.
- H or K
- is the Form 8949 box for a 2025 Coinbase sale. Use H for crypto held a year or less, and K for crypto held longer.
Coinbase tax forms cover your Coinbase.com account and leave out Coinbase Wallet.
Your forms are in Coinbase Taxes, the Coinbase tax center in your account. Open Documents there to download each form. Coinbase emails you when your 1099-DA is ready. You can choose paper or paperless delivery in the Settings tab of Coinbase Taxes.
Form 1099-DA, if you sold or traded crypto
Coinbase issues Form 1099-DA if you sold crypto on Coinbase.com for dollars or swapped one coin for another. Small trades count too.
Form 1099-MISC, if your rewards pass the threshold
Coinbase reports staking rewards, incentives and other miscellaneous income on Form 1099-MISC. You get one when the year’s total meets the threshold: more than $600 for 2025, and at least $2,000 for 2026.
Form 1099-B or 1099-DIV, for other investments
Futures and securities you sold through Coinbase go on Form 1099-B. Dividends over $10 go on Form 1099-DIV.
No form for Coinbase Wallet
Coinbase Wallet is a self-custody wallet, where you hold your own keys, so Coinbase is not your broker there. No Coinbase form reports its trades on decentralized exchanges, so you report them yourself.
From tax year 2025, Coinbase no longer provides Form 8949. It points customers to crypto tax partners such as CoinTracker instead. For your own Coinbase tax report, Coinbase Taxes still has a gain/loss report.
Adding your Coinbase cost basis can cut the tax on a sale by more than half.
For crypto you bought, your cost basis is what you paid, fees included. For staking rewards, it is generally the value you reported as income.
Basis left out, held over a year
$11,900
The whole $50,000 is taxed as long-term capital gain, at 20% plus 3.8%.
Basis added, held a year or less
$8,160
The $20,000 gain is taxed as ordinary income, at 37% plus 3.8%.
Basis added, held over a year
$4,760
Only the $20,000 gain is taxed, at the long-term rate of 20% plus 3.8%.
The rates are the 2026 federal rates for taxable income above $640,600. The 3.8% is the net investment income tax, which applies once modified AGI passes $200,000. State tax is extra.
What changes on your Coinbase 1099 for tax year 2026?
From tax year 2026, brokers must report basis, but only for covered crypto. At Coinbase, that means crypto bought or swapped for in your account from January 1, 2026 and kept there until sold.
| Tax year 2025 | Tax year 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Sale proceeds | Reported to the IRS | Reported to the IRS |
| Cost basis and holding period | Not included | Included for covered crypto |
| Crypto bought before 2026, or sent in | No basis | No basis to the IRS Marked noncovered |
| Form ready | By March 19, 2026 The date Coinbase gave | Early 2027 |
Coinbase dates each trade in Eastern Time. A trade at 9:30 p.m. Pacific on December 31, 2025 is 12:30 a.m. ET on January 1, so it goes on your 2026 form.
What your Coinbase tax documents miss is still yours to report.
Crypto you moved in from elsewhere
A blank basis on your Coinbase form does not make your basis zero. For coins you sent in from another wallet or exchange, you report what you paid from your own records. Coinbase Taxes also leaves out Coinbase Pro, so it may lack what you paid there.
Rewards under the 1099-MISC threshold
Staking rewards below the threshold bring no 1099-MISC but are still taxable income, usually on Schedule 1 of Form 1040. Coinbase Taxes shows all the crypto income you earned, so you can find these rewards there.
Which units you sold
Unless you identify the units you sell, the oldest units in your Coinbase account count as sold first (first in, first out). Since 2025, that rule applies account by account, so coins you hold elsewhere do not count. A cost basis method chosen in Coinbase Taxes can serve as a standing order, and Coinbase locks your historical method once you confirm it.
Errors on the form
For a wrong name, Social Security number or state, ask Coinbase support for a corrected 1099-DA. Coinbase corrects an address only when your state of residence changed.
A Valim CPA takes your Coinbase taxes from the 1099-DA to the filed return.
Valim’s CPAs prepare returns for Coinbase customers, matching every sale on the 1099-DA to its cost basis.
- We trace coins you moved to Coinbase from other exchanges and wallets, so each sale carries the basis your records support.
- We report your staking rewards as income on your federal and state returns, including rewards too small for a 1099-MISC.
- We show what each choice of units would cost before a large sale, so you know which to sell.
- We set estimated payments for big Coinbase gains.
- Any IRS or state notice on a return we prepared, such as one questioning your Coinbase basis, gets our reply within the fee.
- Individual return
- from $195
- Business return
- from $495
We quote a flat fee before work starts. We do not bill hourly.
Coinbase tax questions.
Will Coinbase send me a 1099?
Yes, if you sold or traded crypto on Coinbase.com, or earned enough in rewards. Coinbase says it sends Form 1099-DA to all US customers with crypto sales, starting with 2025, and files a copy with the IRS. Staking rewards and other crypto income bring a Form 1099-MISC above $600 for 2025, or from $2,000 for 2026. Coinbase Wallet is self-custody, so no Coinbase form reports its activity. If you also traded crypto on Robinhood, expect a second 1099-DA from Robinhood, inside its consolidated 1099.
Do I have to pay taxes on Coinbase?
Yes, on your gains and income, though holding crypto in your Coinbase account is not taxed. Selling crypto for cash, swapping it for another coin and spending it are all taxable events. Staking rewards are ordinary income once you can sell them. Withdrawing crypto to Coinbase Wallet, or another wallet you own, is not a sale. You owe the tax whether or not Coinbase sends you a tax form.
Coinbase sent me a 1099-DA. What do I do with it?
Use your Coinbase 1099-DA to report each sale on Form 8949, with the cost basis from your own records. The 2025 form shows gross proceeds only, and entering those as your gain would overstate your tax. Crypto held a year or less goes in box H, and crypto held longer in box K. The totals then carry to Schedule D. Because you had a sale, answer “Yes” to the digital asset question on page 1 of Form 1040.
Does my Coinbase 1099-DA show my cost basis?
No, your Coinbase 1099-DA for 2025 shows proceeds only, since the IRS did not require basis for 2025 sales. From tax year 2026, it adds basis for covered crypto. Those are coins you bought or swapped for on Coinbase on or after January 1, 2026 and still held there when you sold. Older crypto, and coins sent in from another wallet, stay noncovered, so their basis is still yours to report. For coins you bought on Kraken and moved to Coinbase, your Kraken transaction history shows what you paid.
Sources
- IRS, Instructions for Form 1099-DA (2025)
- IRS, Digital assets
- IRS, Instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC (2026)
- IRS, Instructions for Form 8949 (2025)
- IRS, Rev. Rul. 2023-14 (staking rewards)
- IRS, Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (2026 inflation adjustments)
- 26 C.F.R. § 1.6045-1, Returns of information of brokers and barter exchanges
- 26 C.F.R. § 1.1001-7, Digital assets
- 26 C.F.R. § 1.1012-1, Basis of property
- IRS, Rev. Proc. 2024-28 (wallet-by-wallet basis transition)
- 26 U.S.C. § 6041, Information at source (1099-MISC threshold)
- 26 U.S.C. § 1411, Imposition of tax (net investment income tax)
- Coinbase Help, Coinbase tax information
- Coinbase Help, IRS Form 1099-DA
Reviewed and updated September 2026. General information, not advice for your situation.