2026 tax year
Crypto tax calculator
The IRS treats crypto as property, not currency. So every sale is a taxable gain or loss.
Your crypto activity
Updated for 2026 rulesCoin sales
Staking, NFTs and other income
Crypto tax for 2026
Enter your crypto gains, staking and income, then press Calculate.
Selling, swapping or spending crypto is a taxable event: you owe tax on the gain since you acquired it. Held a year or less, it is a short-term gain at ordinary rates; held longer, it is long-term at 0/15/20%. Staking rewards are ordinary income when you receive them. This works out the federal tax across all of it, and, unlike stocks, no wash-sale rule limits your losses.
Worked example, $5,000 short-term, $15,000 long-term, $3,000 staking
A single filer with $90,000 of wages has $5,000 of short-term crypto gains, $15,000 of long-term gains, and $3,000 of staking rewards:
| Component | Tax |
|---|---|
| Wages, staking and short-term gains at ordinary rates | $12,730 |
| Long-term gains ($15,000) at 0/15/20% | $2,250 |
| Total federal tax | $14,980 |
The $15,000 long-term gain is taxed at 15%, $2,250, while the short-term gain and staking are folded into ordinary income at this filer's regular rate. Holding the coins that produced the short-term gain past a year would have moved them to the 15% rate too.
Questions
How is cryptocurrency taxed?
As property. When you dispose of it, sell for dollars, swap one coin for another, or pay for something, you realize a capital gain or loss equal to the change in value since you acquired it. Short-term (≤1 year) is taxed at ordinary rates, long-term (>1 year) at 0/15/20%.
Are staking rewards taxed?
Yes, as ordinary income at their fair market value when you gain control of them, per IRS Revenue Ruling 2023-14, whether or not you sell. That value becomes your cost basis, so a later sale is a capital gain or loss from there. Mining as a business can instead be self-employment income.
Do wash-sale rules apply to crypto?
Not currently. The wash-sale rule that blocks a loss when you rebuy a security within 30 days applies to stocks, not to crypto, because crypto is property rather than a security. You can sell a coin at a loss, claim it, and buy it straight back, a live tax-loss-harvesting advantage, though proposed law could close it.
Is swapping one coin for another taxable?
Yes. Trading Bitcoin for Ethereum is a sale of the Bitcoin at its dollar value that day, and a taxable gain or loss, there is no like-kind exchange for crypto. The same applies to spending crypto on goods.
What about NFTs?
NFTs are property too. A flip within a year is a short-term gain; held longer, long-term. Some NFTs may count as collectibles, which carry a top long-term rate of 28% rather than 20%, a nuance beyond this calculator, so check an NFT's classification if it is a large gain.
Related tools
- Capital gains tax calculator stocks use the same rates
- Cost basis calculator track basis across coin lots
- Quarterly tax calculator no one withholds on crypto gains
Estimate for the 2026 tax year. Pick a state to add its tax, crypto gains use your state's capital-gains treatment, staking is ordinary state income. Not tax advice.