Do I Have to Pay Taxes on Crypto? (Yes, Even if You Made Less Than $600) (2024)

Tax season is upon us, and we urge you to be cautious when it comes to information about your crypto transactions. First and foremost, please double check any information you’re seeing on message boards with a trusted tax source or provider. It’s very important to remember that any cryptocurrency or other digital assets you own might be taxed differently than ordinary income.

Self-employed taxpayers who earn less than $600 might not receive a Form 1099-MISC from their client, but they technically still need to report this income on their tax return, which places the burden of reporting on the taxpayer.

Do I have to pay taxes on crypto?

The short answer is yes.

The more detailed response is still yes; you have to report and potentially pay taxes on any crypto transaction that results in a taxable event with gains or losses.

While not every crypto transaction is a taxable event, many are.

Below, we’ll describe how crypto is taxed and what constitutes a taxable event. Then we’ll provide a number of our resources to help you navigate this tax season.

How is crypto taxed?

The IRS classifies digital assets as property for tax purposes.

As property, cryptocurrency is treated as a capital asset. Taxes on capital assets are pretty straight forward.

When you dispose of a capital asset through a sale for fiat currency or exchange it for other property or for services, you take the amount received for that transaction and reduce it by the amount you paid to acquire the asset—your original purchase price is known as cost basis.

If the proceeds of a crypto transaction exceed the cost, you have a capital gain. Likewise, if the inverse is true, you have a capital loss.

If you hold the asset for under 12 months, it will be treated as a short-term capital gain; if you hold the asset for over 12 months, it will be treated as a long-term capital gain.

What crypto transactions are taxable?

The following crypto activities are taxable events:

  • Selling crypto for cash

  • Trading one type of crypto for another

  • Using crypto as payment

  • Mining or staking crypto

  • Receiving airdropped tokens

  • Getting paid in crypto

When you sell, trade, or use crypto as a form of payment, you dispose of cryptocurrency; that disposal will result in gain or loss depending on your cost basis in the units disposed of and the value of the cryptocurrency at the time of disposal. Regardless of whether you had a gain or loss, these transactions need to be reported on your tax return on Form 8949.

When you receive cryptocurrency from mining, staking, airdrops, or a payment for goods or services, you have income that needs to be reported on your tax return. The amount of income you report establishes your cost basis—the original value or purchase price of each asset used for tax purposes.

What crypto transactions aren’t taxable events?

Not every crypto transaction is taxable.

The following activities aren’t considered taxable events:

  • Buying cryptocurrency with fiat currency like USD

  • Transferring units of a particular cryptocurrency between wallets or accounts you control

  • Gifting cryptocurrency excluding large gifts that could trigger other tax obligations

  • Donating cryptocurrency which is tax deductible

How TaxBit can help

Keeping up with all the paperwork and reporting regulations for digital asset transactions can be laborious and time-consuming. The more complex your crypto portfolio becomes, the more complicated your tax liabilities can get.

That’s why TaxBit is here. Our software helps track your crypto transactions and fills out your tax forms automatically.

Ready to try out the updates for yourself? Create an account or login to start.

Do I Have to Pay Taxes on Crypto? (Yes, Even if You Made Less Than $600) (2024)

FAQs

Do I Have to Pay Taxes on Crypto? (Yes, Even if You Made Less Than $600)? ›

How much do you have to earn in Bitcoin before you owe taxes? You owe taxes on any amount of profit or income, even $1. Crypto exchanges are required to report income of more than $600, but you still are required to pay taxes on smaller amounts.

Do you have to report crypto if you made less than 600? ›

US taxpayers must report every crypto capital gain or loss and crypto earned as income, regardless of the amount, on their taxes. Whether it's a substantial gain or a single dollar in crypto, if you experienced a taxable event during the tax year, it's your responsibility to include it in your tax return.

Do I have to pay taxes on crypto if I didn't make money? ›

You will only report and pay taxes on crypto you've earned or which you purchased and later sold or exchanged for other crypto. To avoid capital gains tax on crypto, consider tax-loss harvesting, donating or gifting crypto, aiming for long-term capital gains, or simply not selling.

What if I earned less than 600 on Coinbase? ›

Less Than $600 Coinbase Transactions, Still Report? Yes, even if you receive less than $600 in therefore you do not receive a 1099-K from Coinbase, you are still required to report your Coinbase transactions that are considered income on your U.S. tax return (if you are otherwise required to file a tax return).

How much do I have to make on crypto to pay taxes? ›

Short-term tax rates if you sold crypto in 2023 (taxes due in 2024)
Tax rateSingleHead of household
10%$0 to $11,000$0 to $15,700
12%$11,001 to $44,725$15,701 to $59,850
22%$44,726 to $95,375$59,851 to $95,350
24%$95,376 to $182,100$95,351 to $182,100
3 more rows
Jan 3, 2024

How do I avoid crypto taxes? ›

9 Ways to Legally Avoid Paying Crypto Taxes
  1. Buy Items on BitDials.
  2. Invest Using an IRA.
  3. Have a Long-Term Investment Horizon.
  4. Gift Crypto to Family Members.
  5. Relocate to a Different Country.
  6. Donate Crypto to Charity.
  7. Offset Gains with Appropriate Losses.
  8. Sell Crypto During Low-Income Periods.
Mar 22, 2024

Will the IRS know if I don't report crypto? ›

Crypto tax evasion and crypto tax avoidance are illegal. The IRS likely already knows about your crypto investments. There are two kinds of tax evasion - evasion of assessment and evasion of payment. Evasion of assessment is willfully omitting or underreporting income.

Do I report crypto if I didn't sell? ›

Do you need to report taxes on Bitcoin you don't sell? If you buy Bitcoin, there's nothing to report until you sell. If you earned crypto through staking, a hard fork, an airdrop or via any method other than buying it, you'll likely need to report it, even if you haven't sold it.

What happens if I don't do my crypto taxes? ›

The IRS has several penalties for the lack of reporting the right forms for crypto and for making mistakes on your tax return regarding digital assets. In the worst-case scenario, investors who fail to report their taxes and are guilty of tax fraud could face fines of up to $100,000 and up to five years in prison.

Which crypto exchanges do not report to IRS? ›

Certain cryptocurrency exchanges and apps do not report user transactions to the IRS. These include decentralized exchanges (DEXs) and peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms that do not have reporting obligations under US tax law.

Can I withdraw 1 million from Coinbase? ›

Withdrawals of fiat currency are limited. Coinbase Exchange account holders have a default withdrawal limit of $100,000 per day.

Do you have to pay taxes on crypto if you reinvest? ›

When you reinvest your cryptocurrency, you are essentially selling one type of crypto and purchasing another. This is considered a taxable event, even if you do not cash out to fiat currency.

What is the IRS minimum for Coinbase? ›

Did you stake any crypto or earn crypto rewards this year using Coinbase? If you earned more than $600 in crypto, we're required to report your transactions to the IRS as “miscellaneous income,” using Form 1099-MISC — and so are you.

Does crypto count as income? ›

With relatively few exceptions, current tax rules apply to cryptocurrency transactions in exactly the same way they apply to transactions involving any other type of asset. One simple premise applies: All income is taxable, including income from cryptocurrency transactions.

Does the IRS tax you for crypto? ›

You may have to report transactions with digital assets such as cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on your tax return. Income from digital assets is taxable.

How is crypto reported to IRS? ›

For example, an investor who held a digital asset as a capital asset and sold, exchanged or transferred it during 2023 must use Form 8949, Sales and other Dispositions of Capital Assets, to figure their capital gain or loss on the transaction and then report it on Schedule D (Form 1040), Capital Gains and Losses.

Do I have to report small amounts of crypto? ›

You must report income, gain, or loss from all taxable transactions involving virtual currency on your Federal income tax return for the taxable year of the transaction, regardless of the amount or whether you receive a payee statement or information return.

Do I have to report small crypto gains? ›

The IRS treats cryptocurrency as “property.” If you buy, sell or exchange cryptocurrency, you're likely on the hook for paying crypto taxes. Reporting your crypto activity requires using Form 1040 Schedule D as your crypto tax form to reconcile your capital gains and losses and Form 8949 if necessary.

What is the reportable minimum for cryptocurrency? ›

If you earn $600 or more in a year paid by an exchange, including Coinbase, the exchange is required to report these payments to the IRS as “other income” via IRS Form 1099-MISC (you'll also receive a copy for your tax return).

Do you have to report small crypto transactions? ›

Any cryptocurrency capital gains, capital losses, and taxable income need to be reported on your tax return. You can report your capital gains and losses on Form 8949 and your income on Form 1040 Schedule 1 or Schedule C depending on your situation.

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