Crypto tax form essentials: what you need to file your crypto taxes in 2025
This article explains everything you need to know about crypto tax forms, including which forms to use, how to fill them out, and the steps to file your crypto taxes in 2025.
Summary
Key crypto tax forms include Form 8949 for reporting trades, Schedule D for summarizing gains and losses, and Form 1040 for income reporting.
Selling, trading, or earning crypto triggers a taxable event.
FIFO accounting and wallet-specific cost basis requirements make accurate tracking more important than ever.
You can connect with a certified financial advisor through Unbiased to simplify your crypto tax filing.
What tax form do I need for crypto?
Four different tax documents can be relevant for crypto taxes. Which ones you need to use depends on your taxable crypto-related activities:
Form 8949: Reports sales and trades of crypto.
Form Schedule D: Summarizes capital gains and losses on crypto sales.
Schedule C: Reports self-employment income received in crypto: mining, staking, airdrops, hard forks, or self-employed payment received for goods and services.
Form 1040: The standard income tax return form.
All of your taxable crypto transactions can be included in these forms.
How do I fill out my crypto tax form?
Filling out your crypto tax form starts with gathering accurate records of all your taxable crypto transactions, including trades, sales, and income.
Your exchange may provide this information in the form of a .csv file you can download. It’s important to double-check your entries to ensure accuracy before filing your return.
One crucial thing to consider before moving forward is the accounting method you will use, such as first in, first out (FIFO).
The accounting method determines how the cost basis for a transaction is calculated, which impacts your gains and losses.
If this isn’t your first year reporting crypto taxes, you’ll have to stick with the method you’ve used previously.
How do I file crypto taxes?
Here are five steps to filing your crypto taxes in 2025:
1. Calculate your gains and losses
To calculate your gains and losses on crypto, subtract your cost basis (the price you paid) from the proceeds for each sale.
Remember to also treat any purchases made with crypto as sales. If you’re using crypto tax software to help with this step, you’ll need to enter these purchases manually.
Make a separate note of any income from payments received, mining, airdrops, hard forks, or staking crypto for later.
2. Complete Form 8949
List every taxable crypto transaction on Form 8949.
Categorize transactions according to long-term or short-term capital gains depending on how long the asset was held. Assets held for one year or more are considered long-term, while those held for less than one year are short-term.
3. Add totals from Form 8949 to Form Schedule D
Move the totals from Form 8949 into Form Schedule D.
Schedule D includes a summary of your net capital gains and losses. This should give you an overview of the total amount of crypto gains you’ll owe capital gains taxes on.
4. Add crypto income to Form 1040
Any crypto-related income not tied to a business (and not reported on Schedule C, a self-employer income tax reporting form) is reported here. This includes:
Airdrops: If not tied to a business.
Hard forks: Treated as "Other Income" if received as an individual.
Staking rewards: If you’re not operating staking as a business.
Mining rewards: For hobby mining or occasional activity.
The dollar value of the crypto at the time you received it is all that’s needed here. The same value will be your cost basis if you decide to sell this crypto later on.
Note that if you’re self-employed and own your own business, any crypto received as payment or as part of your business goes on form Schedule C. These totals then flow into Form 1040, which is the primary income tax form that includes all taxable income.
5. Complete your tax return
Finish filling out the rest of your tax return by including all income, credits, and deductions.
Be sure not to forget anything, as you may owe penalties or have to file an amended return later on if you fail to report transactions you owe taxes on.
What information do I need from my crypto platform?
Taxable events only occur when a profit or loss is realized or if new income is received in the form of crypto. You may not owe any crypto tax if you never sold or received any crypto during the tax year.
If you did sell cryptocurrency during the tax year, you will need a record of all transactions and the associated cost basis for each sale. You’ll also need to know the income you received from crypto staking, mining, airdrops, or any crypto received as payment for goods and services.
Thankfully, most crypto exchanges now provide users with the appropriate tax documents, making filling out a crypto tax form easier. If you had less than $600 in taxable crypto transactions, however, your exchange won’t issue you a form like a 1099. Still, you must report anything you owe taxes on.
How to calculate cryptocurrency gains and losses?
To calculate crypto gains and losses, you need to know the price at which you bought and sold each unit of cryptocurrency.
The gain consists of the money received when sold minus the cost basis (the price you paid for the crypto). Making these calculations manually can be quite a hassle for those with many transactions.
Free online tools can help calculate gains and losses, and paid software programs connect your exchange accounts and automatically complete the required crypto tax forms.
Crypto income is treated as regular income. There’s no need to calculate gains unless you sold, traded, or spent the crypto in the same year you received it.
Get expert financial advice
Are you stressed about filing taxes this year?
Unbiased can connect you with a professional financial advisor who can handle the heavy lifting for you.
Content Writer
Brian Nibley is a copywriter and journalist who has been writing about cryptocurrency and finance-related topics since 2017. His work has appeared in publications such as MSN Money, Business Insider, Cointelegraph, BitPay, and Finance Magnates. He is also an avid social media content creator on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and YouTube