Cryptocurrency Taxes: How They Work and What Gets Taxed

According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), most cryptocurrencies are convertible virtual currencies. This means that they act as a medium of exchange, a store of value, a unit of account, and can be substituted for real money.

It also means any profits or income from your cryptocurrency is taxable. However, there is much to unpack regarding how cryptocurrency is taxed because you may or may not owe taxes in given situations. If you own or use cryptocurrency, it's important to know when you'll be taxed so you're not surprised when the IRS comes to collect.

When Is Cryptocurrency Taxed?

The IRS treats cryptocurrencies as property for tax purposes, which means:

• You pay taxes on cryptocurrency if you sell or use your crypto in a transaction, and it is worth more than it was when you purchased it. This is because you trigger capital gains or losses if its market value has changed.
• If you receive crypto as payment for business purposes, it is taxed as business income.
• If you successfully mine a cryptocurrency or are awarded it for work done on a blockchain, it is taxed as ordinary income.

How Do Cryptocurrency Taxes Work?

Because cryptocurrencies are viewed as assets by the IRS, they trigger tax events when used as payment or cashed in. When you realize a gain—that is, sell, exchange, or use crypto that has increased in value—you owe taxes on that gain.

For example, if you bought 1 BTC at $6,000 and sold it at $8,000 three months later, you'd owe taxes on the $2,000 gain at the short-term capital gains tax rate. Profits on the sale of assets held for less than one year are taxable at your usual tax rate. For the 2024 tax year, that's between 0% and 37%, depending on your income.

If the same trade took place a year or more after the crypto purchase, you'd owe long-term capital gains taxes. Depending on your overall taxable income, that would be 0%, 15%, or 20% for the 2024 tax year.

In this way, crypto taxes work similarly to taxes on other assets or property. They create taxable events for the owners when they are used and gains are realized. That makes the events that trigger the taxes the most crucial factor in understanding crypto taxes.

Types of Cryptocurrency Tax Events

Taxable events related to cryptocurrency include:

• Sale of a digital asset for fiat
• Exchange of a digital asset for property, goods, or services
• Exchange or trade of one digital asset for another digital asset
• Receipt of a digital asset as payment for goods or services
• Receipt of a new digital asset as a result of a hard fork
• Receipt of a new digital asset as a result of mining or staking activities
• Receipt of a digital asset as a result of an airdrop
• Any other disposition of a financial interest in a digital asset

The following are not taxable events according to the IRS:

• Buying cryptocurrency with fiat money
• Donating cryptocurrency to a tax-exempt non-profit or charity
• Making a gift of cryptocurrency to a third party (subject to gifting exclusions)
• Transferring cryptocurrency between wallets

Examples of Cryptocurrency Tax Events

Make a Purchase With Crypto

Making a purchase with your crypto is easier than ever. However, this convenience comes with a price; you'll pay sales tax and create a taxable capital gain or loss event at the time of the sale. Here's how it would work if you bought a candy bar with your crypto:

• You transfer the crypto to the merchant through your wallet to theirs, including the sales tax.
• If your crypto's value is higher than when you purchased it, you have created a taxable event with a realized capital gain. If it's less, you have a capital loss. Each needs to be reported at tax time.
• Because it's a taxable event, you should log the amount you spent and its fair market value at the time of the transaction for your records.

So, you're getting taxed twice when you use your cryptocurrency if its value has increased—sales tax and capital gains tax.

Buying Cryptocurrency

Say you bought one bitcoin (BTC) for about $3,700 in early 2019. In late February 2022, 1 BTC was worth $38,500. You could have used it to buy a car.

There are tax implications for both you and the auto seller in this transaction:

• The seller must report the transaction as gross income based on bitcoin's fair market value at the time of the transaction.
• The seller must also realize a capital gain or loss when they exchange the bitcoin for fiat currency or use it as payment.
• You must report the transaction as a capital gain because you've cashed out an investment to buy something. The gain is the difference between the price you paid for the bitcoin and its value at the time of the transaction.

Cashing Out Cryptocurrency

When exchanging cryptocurrency for fiat money, you'll need to know the cost basis of the virtual coin you're selling. The cost basis for cryptocurrency is the total price in fees and money you paid. When you exchange your crypto for cash, you subtract the cost basis from the crypto's fair market value at the time of the transaction to get the capital gains or loss.

The amount left over is the taxable amount if you have a gain or the reportable amount if you have a loss.

Cryptocurrency Mining

The rules are different for those who mine cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency miners verify transactions in cryptocurrency and add them to the blockchain. They're compensated for the work done with rewards in cryptocurrency.

Their compensation is taxable as ordinary income unless the mining is part of a business enterprise. If the crypto was earned as part of a business, the miners report it as business income and can deduct the expenses that went into their mining operations, such as mining hardware and electricity.

Cryptocurrency Staking

If you own cryptocurrency that belongs to a blockchain that uses staking, you'll be required to pay income tax on any rewards you receive. Staking is when you lock your cryptocurrency on the blockchain as collateral for becoming a transaction validator and being paid for it. Transactors pay fees to the validators on these blockchains, and any fees you receive are taxed as income in the year you receive them.

Because you're paid in cryptocurrency, you must report any capital gains or losses if you use or convert the cryptocurrency.

Exchanging Cryptocurrencies

Exchanging one cryptocurrency for another also exposes you to taxes. For example, if you buy one crypto with another, you're essentially converting one to fiat and then purchasing another. You'll need to report any gains or losses on the crypto you converted.

Many exchanges help crypto traders keep all this information organized by offering free exports of all trading data. The trader, or the trader's tax professional, can use this to determine the trader's taxes due.

Cryptocurrency Tax Reporting

To be accurate when you're reporting your taxes, you'll need to be somewhat more organized throughout the year than someone who doesn't have cryptocurrency. For example, you'll need to ensure that with each cryptocurrency transaction, you log the amount you spent and its market value at the time you used it so you can refer to it at tax time.

You can do this manually or choose a blockchain solution platform that can help you track and organize this data. For example, platforms like CoinTracker provide transaction and portfolio tracking that enables you to manage your digital assets and ensure that you have access to your cryptocurrency tax information.

Cryptocurrency capital gains and losses are reported along with other capital gains and losses on IRS form 8949, Sales and Dispositions of Capital Assets. If you're unsure about cryptocurrency taxes, it's best to talk to a certified accountant when attempting to file them, at least for the first time.

The Bottom Line

Cryptocurrency taxes are complicated because they involve both income and capital gains taxes. In most cases, you're taxed multiple times for using cryptocurrency. With that in mind, it's best to consult an accountant familiar with cryptocurrency and current practices to ensure you're reporting taxes correctly.

The comments, opinions, and analyses expressed on Investopedia are for informational purposes only. Read our warranty and liability disclaimer for more info. As of the date this article was written, the author does not own cryptocurrency.