acalculator

How much crypto tax will I owe?

Type what you paid for the coins, what you sold them for, how long you held them, and any staking rewards. The answer is the extra federal tax your crypto adds to your 2026 return.

Your numbers

Held for
The crypto income stacks on top of it, which sets its rate.
More options
Crypto tax
$2,167.50

Selling for $30,000.00 what cost $10,000.00 gives a $20,000.00 gain; your crypto tax is $2,167.50.

Tax on the sale
$2,167.50
Tax on rewards
$0.00
Gain or loss
$20,000.00
Rate on the gain
10.84%
Net investment income tax part
$0.00
Crypto income after tax
$17,832.50
Rates of tax year
2,026

Crypto tax: $2,167.50. Selling for $30,000.00 what cost $10,000.00 gives a $20,000.00 gain; your crypto tax is $2,167.50.

Crypto tax by sale proceeds

The results are estimates for information only. They are not financial, tax, or legal advice. Check the numbers with your lender or a qualified professional before you decide. Terms of use

How to calculate

Estimates the 2026 federal tax on selling Bitcoin or other crypto (short-term or long-term capital gains, or a loss) and on staking or mining rewards, given your other income.

Example with the default inputs (Cost basis $10,000.00, Sale proceeds $30,000.00, Held for More than 1 year, Staking, mining, and airdrop income $0.00, Filing status Single, Other income $60,000.00, Tax year 2,026): Selling for $30,000.00 what cost $10,000.00 gives a $20,000.00 gain; your crypto tax is $2,167.50.

Method: Gain = proceeds − basis. Tax on rewards = Form 1040 tax with other income + rewards − tax with other income alone. Tax on the sale = tax with the gain added (long-term at 0%, 15%, or 20% by the Qualified Dividends and Capital Gain Tax Worksheet, short-term at the ordinary rates, a net loss limited to $3,000, or $1,500 separately) − tax without it, including the 3.8% net investment income tax. Crypto tax = the two together.

  • An estimate for tax year 2026 (IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32), not tax advice.
  • Other income is ordinary income, with the standard deduction and no credits. Rewards are not from a mining or staking business (a business also owes self-employment tax).
  • One sale, or the net of all your sales of one holding period. Losses carried over from earlier years, the 28% rate on collectibles, and state tax are not included.
  • Swapping one coin for another and paying with crypto are sales too: use the value received as the proceeds.

Machine-readable copies: Markdown, JSON.

Worked examples

Each example is checked against the calculator on every build.

  1. Cost basis $10,000.00, Sale proceeds $30,000.00, Held for More than 1 year, Filing status Single, Other income $60,000.00 gives Gain or loss $20,000.00, Crypto tax $2,167.50, Tax on the sale $2,167.50, Tax on rewards $0.00, Rate on the gain 10.8375%.
  2. Cost basis $10,000.00, Sale proceeds $30,000.00, Held for More than 1 year, Staking, mining, and airdrop income $1,000.00, Filing status Single, Other income $60,000.00 gives Tax on rewards $120.00, Tax on the sale $2,317.50, Crypto tax $2,437.50.Source: Rewards are ordinary income (IRS digital assets page; Rev. Rul. 2023-14): Tax Table $44,900 less $43,900 = $120
  3. Cost basis $15,000.00, Sale proceeds $10,000.00, Held for 1 year or less, Filing status Single, Other income $40,000.00 gives Gain or loss -$5,000.00, Crypto tax -$360.00.
  4. Cost basis $100,000.00, Sale proceeds $200,000.00, Held for More than 1 year, Filing status Married filing jointly, Other income $250,000.00 gives Crypto tax $18,800.00, Net investment income tax part $3,800.00.Source: 15% on $100,000 plus 3.8% net investment income tax on AGI over $250,000 (Form 8960)

How it works

The calculator fills in three 2026 federal returns, each with the standard deduction ($16,100 single or separately, $32,200 jointly or surviving spouse, $24,150 head of household), no credits, and your other income as ordinary non-wage income:

  1. Without crypto: other income only.
  2. With rewards: other income + staking, mining, and airdrop income (ordinary income).
  3. With rewards and the sale: gain = proceeds − basis, added as a long-term gain (held more than one year) or a short-term gain. A net loss counts against other income only down to −$3,000 (−$1,500 married filing separately).

Each return's tax follows Form 1040 line 16: the Tax Table below $100,000 of taxable income (the rate schedule at the middle of the $50 row, rounded to whole dollars), the rate schedule above, and a long-term gain by the Qualified Dividends and Capital Gain Tax Worksheet (ordinary income first, then the gain at 0% up to $49,450 single, $98,900 jointly, $66,200 head of household, $49,450 separately; 15% up to $545,500, $613,700, $579,600, $306,850; 20% above). Each adds the 3.8% net investment income tax on the lesser of the gain (if positive) and AGI over $200,000 ($250,000 jointly or surviving spouse, $125,000 separately).

Tax on rewards = tax 2 − tax 1. Tax on the sale = tax 3 − tax 2. Crypto tax = tax 3 − tax 1. Rate on the gain = tax on the sale ÷ gain.

When the data is out of date

Brackets change every year. After the 2026 filing season the page keeps using the 2026 tables and says so above the result.

Worked examples by hand

Single, $60,000 of other income, coins bought for $10,000 and sold for $30,000 after two years. Without: taxable 60,000 − 16,100 = $43,900, Tax Table row middle $43,925: 1,240 + 12% × 31,525 = $5,023. With: $63,900 taxable, of which $20,000 gain. The 0% rate covers to $49,450: $5,550 at 0%, $14,450 at 15% = $2,167.50.

The same, with $1,000 of staking rewards. Rewards: $44,900 taxable, row middle $44,925: 1,240 + 12% × 32,525 = $5,143, so $120 more. Sale: the ordinary part is now $44,900, so $4,550 at 0% and $15,450 at 15% = $2,317.50. Crypto tax $2,437.50.

Single, $40,000 of other income, a $5,000 short-term loss. Only $3,000 counts: taxable income falls from $23,900 ($2,623) to $20,900 ($2,263). Tax saved $360.

Other questions people ask

How is crypto taxed in the US?

The IRS treats crypto and other digital assets as property, not currency. Selling, swapping, or spending coins is a sale: the gain or loss is a capital gain or loss. Coins you receive from staking, mining, an airdrop, or as pay are ordinary income at their value when you receive them.

What are the 2026 crypto capital gains tax rates?

Held one year or less: short-term, taxed at your ordinary rates of 10% to 37%. Held more than one year: long-term, at 0%, 15%, or 20%. The 0% rate covers taxable income up to $49,450 single or $98,900 jointly (IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32).

Is swapping one coin for another taxable?

Yes. A swap is a sale of the coin you give up, at the value of the coin you get. That value is also the cost basis of the new coin.

Can I deduct crypto losses?

Yes. A net capital loss offsets capital gains, then up to $3,000 of other income a year ($1,500 married filing separately). The rest carries over to later years.

How are staking rewards taxed?

As ordinary income when you gain control of them, at their fair market value then (Rev. Rul. 2023-14). That value becomes their cost basis, so a later sale is taxed only on the change since.

Do I owe the 3.8% net investment income tax on crypto?

Yes, if your modified AGI is over $200,000 single or $250,000 jointly ($125,000 separately). It applies to the lesser of your investment income and the amount over the threshold.

What forms report crypto?

Sales go on Form 8949 and Schedule D. Brokers send Form 1099-DA for sales from 2025 on, with cost basis from 2026. Every Form 1040 also asks whether you had digital asset transactions.