Crypto Exchange Tax Reporting: What You Need to Know About 1099-DA Forms in 2026
Jan, 7 2026
Starting January 1, 2025, every crypto exchange serving U.S. customers must report your trades to the IRS using a brand-new form: 1099-DA. This isn’t just another paperwork update-it’s the biggest shift in crypto tax reporting since the IRS first started treating Bitcoin as property back in 2014. If you bought, sold, or traded crypto on Coinbase, Kraken, Binance.US, or any other U.S.-based exchange, you’ll get this form by February 15, 2026. And yes, you’ll need it to file your 2025 taxes by April 15, 2026.
What Exactly Is the 1099-DA Form?
The IRS created Form 1099-DA to fix a mess. Before 2025, exchanges used random forms-some sent 1099-B, others sent 1099-MISC, and many sent nothing at all. If you traded on three different platforms, you got three different reports, none of which matched. That made tax season a nightmare. Now, there’s one standard. Form 1099-DA is modeled after the 1099-B used for stocks since 2011. It’s designed to give you the same clarity crypto investors have been begging for.
For the 2025 tax year, exchanges will report only one thing: your gross proceeds. That’s the total dollar amount you received when you sold or exchanged crypto. For example, if you sold 0.5 BTC for $30,000, that’s what shows up. What won’t be on the form yet? Your cost basis-the price you originally paid. That changes in 2026. Until then, you’re still responsible for tracking your purchase prices, fees, and dates yourself.
Who Gets a 1099-DA?
If you used a U.S.-based crypto exchange or payment processor and had any taxable transaction in 2025, you’ll get this form. That includes:
- Selling crypto for USD or another cryptocurrency
- Trading one crypto for another (like ETH for SOL)
- Using crypto to buy goods or services
- Receiving crypto from a staking reward or airdrop (if over $600)
But here’s the catch: if you used a decentralized exchange (DEX) like Uniswap or traded peer-to-peer on platforms like LocalBitcoins, you likely won’t get a 1099-DA. Those platforms aren’t classified as brokers under IRS rules. That means about 15-20% of all crypto activity still falls outside this reporting system. You’re still required to report those trades-even if no form comes your way.
How It’s Different From Old 1099-B Forms
Before 2025, some exchanges used Form 1099-B for crypto. But even those were inconsistent. Some included cost basis, others didn’t. Some listed every trade, others grouped them. The new 1099-DA fixes that. It has a strict format:
- Broker name and taxpayer ID
- Transaction date and type (buy, sell, exchange)
- Gross proceeds in USD
- Asset symbol (BTC, ETH, etc.)
- Unique transaction ID
It’s designed to be machine-readable, so tax software like TurboTax and Koinly can auto-import it. But don’t assume it’s perfect. A 2024 study found 42% of users still had mismatches between their records and what exchanges reported. That’s because exchanges don’t always know your cost basis-especially if you moved crypto from a wallet or bought it years ago on a different platform.
What About NFTs?
NFTs are treated differently. If you sold an NFT on a platform like OpenSea or Blur, you’ll get a 1099-DA-but there are two types:
- One for the first sale of an NFT (the original mint)
- Another for all other sales (resales)
The IRS wants to track creators and collectors separately. That means if you minted an NFT and sold it for $10,000, you’ll get one form. If you later bought it for $15,000 and sold it for $25,000, you’ll get a second form. Both are taxable. You can’t ignore the second one just because you didn’t create it.
What You Still Need to Do (Even With a 1099-DA)
Getting a 1099-DA doesn’t mean you’re done. Here’s what you still need:
- Track your cost basis-the price you paid for each coin, including fees. If you bought BTC on Coinbase in 2021 for $3,000 and sold it in 2025 for $50,000, your gain is $47,000. The exchange won’t tell you that yet.
- Consolidate reports-if you used multiple exchanges, you’ll get multiple 1099-DA forms. You need to combine them into one total.
- Report off-exchange trades-any crypto you bought on a DEX, received from a friend, or mined yourself? You still report it.
- Choose your cost basis method-the IRS defaults to FIFO (first-in, first-out), but you can use specific identification if you keep detailed records.
Without accurate cost basis, you could overpay taxes-or get audited. The IRS now matches 1099-DA data against your tax return. If you report $100,000 in gains but your exchange says $150,000, you’ll get a letter. And those letters don’t come with warnings.
What If You Don’t Get a 1099-DA?
Don’t panic. The IRS says you must report all crypto income-even if you don’t get a form. That’s not a suggestion. It’s the law. If your exchange didn’t send you a 1099-DA, it could mean:
- You didn’t have any taxable transactions
- You used an offshore exchange (like Binance.com)
- The exchange made a mistake
If you traded and didn’t get a form, you still owe taxes. Many people assume no form = no tax. That’s how audits start. The IRS has already matched data from over 100 exchanges and collected $1.2 billion in unpaid crypto taxes since 2022. They’re not guessing anymore.
How Tax Software Helps (And Where It Fails)
Tools like Koinly, CoinTracker, and TurboTax can auto-import your 1099-DA and pull data from your exchange API. That saves hours. But here’s what they can’t do:
- Guess your cost basis if you didn’t track it
- Know about transfers between your own wallets
- Track NFTs bought with ETH from a DEX
Most users who rely solely on software without manual review end up with errors. A 2024 survey found that 31% of people who used tax software for crypto still made mistakes on their cost basis. The fix? Always double-check the numbers. Export your transaction history from every exchange, compare it to what the software imports, and verify every trade.
What’s Coming in 2026 and Beyond
2026 is when things get real. Exchanges will start reporting both gross proceeds and cost basis. That means your 1099-DA will show exactly how much you gained or lost on each trade. It’ll look just like your stock broker’s 1099-B. The IRS expects this to cut crypto tax errors by 40-50%.
By 2027, crypto transactions will appear in a dedicated section of Form 1040. No more Schedule D unless you’re doing something complicated. That’s the end goal: treat crypto like stocks. Simple. Transparent. Auditable.
But the transition won’t be smooth. Experts predict a 25-30% spike in amended returns in 2026 as people discover they underreported gains from previous years. If you’ve been holding crypto since 2020, you’re probably sitting on big gains. The IRS knows it. They’re watching.
What You Should Do Right Now
It’s January 2026. You have less than three months before you file. Here’s your checklist:
- Log into every exchange-Coinbase, Kraken, Binance.US, Gemini-and download your 2025 transaction history.
- Find your cost basis-go back to your purchase records. If you used a hardware wallet, check your blockchain explorer.
- Use tax software-import your data and let it calculate gains. But don’t trust it blindly.
- Check for missing trades-did you swap crypto on Uniswap? Send ETH to a friend? Buy an NFT? Those count.
- Save everything-keep screenshots, CSV files, and wallet addresses. The IRS can ask for proof for up to six years.
If you’re overwhelmed, hire a crypto-savvy CPA. The average cost is $450-less than most people lose by guessing. And it’s worth it. A bad tax return could cost you penalties, interest, or worse.
The era of crypto tax chaos is ending. Form 1099-DA is the start of a new system-one where the IRS finally has the data it needs. That doesn’t mean it’s easy. But it does mean you can no longer pretend you didn’t know. The records are here. The rules are clear. Now it’s up to you to get it right.