How To Report Crypto On Form 8949

The US tax filing deadline is almost here. Maybe you’ve already submitted your taxes, maybe you’re rushing around to get the last few documents filled out. Either way, no judgments.

But just in case you’ve left your crypto taxes to the last minute and are now struggling to answer questions like: How do you file your crypto taxes? What is Form 8949 used for? What’s the difference between Form 8949 and Schedule D? Don’t worry – we’ve got you. In this guide we’ll run through everything you need to know about Form 8949 and how to fill it out.

What is Form 8949 Used For?

Form 8949 works together with Schedule D, to provide an overview of your capital gains and losses from your investments, including crypto. Specifically, Form 8949 lists every single taxable transaction where you’ve made a profit or loss – such as selling or swapping coins or NFTs.

Form 8949 is broken down into two sections: short-term transactions involving capital gains and losses (if you owned the asset for less than a year) and long term capital asset transactions (if you held the asset for over a year).

The totals you list on Form 8949 will then be transferred over to Schedule D to determine your overall capital gain or loss.

Step 1: Compile all your crypto disposal events

Gather all of your transactions that involve crypto, stablecoins, or NFTs being disposed of during the tax year. This includes all of your disposals across different wallets and exchanges, no matter how small. For each transaction, you will need to record:

• Whether it was a short-term or long-term transaction
• A description of the asset
• The date the asset was purchased
• The date it was sold
• Sale price
• Cost basis
• Gain or loss

This can be a tedious and time-consuming process, especially when you have hundreds, if not thousands of transactions. It can also be difficult to complete Form 8949 if you haven’t kept details of cost basis or holding period for all your assets. Keep in mind that you can always use crypto tax software like Crypto Tax Calculator to integrate with all your crypto platforms to quickly produce a Form 8949 and make the manual process simple for you.

Step 2: Organize your transactions by investment period

Since Form 8949 is divided into two parts: short-term and long-term, you want to organize your transactions based on holding time. It’s important to note that short-term transactions are taxed at your ordinary income rate (typically between 10-37%), whereas long-term transactions are taxed at a lower rate. This may be 0%, 15%, or 20%, depending on your income level.

With that in mind, it’s crucial to organize your transactions properly by long-term vs short-term, so that they aren't subject to a higher tax rate.

Step 3: Choose the right reporting category

For both the short-term and long-term reporting sections you’ll need to select one of the three categories:

• Basis was reported to the IRS on Form 1099-B (option A in short-term section, option D in long-term section)
• Basis wasn’t reported to the IRS on Form 1099-B (option B in short-term, option E in long-term)
• 1099-B was not issued, and as a result no transactions were reported (option C in short-term, option F in long-term)

Since many crypto exchanges do not currently issue Form 1099-B to customers, option 3 is frequently chosen. If you have been issued a Form 1099-B, choose option 1 or 2 depending on whether cost basis has been included or not.

Select the category for short-term reporting:

Select the category for long-term reporting:

Step 4: Report your individual disposals and calculate totals

Now, it’s time for you to report each individual disposal and then calculate the totals for your short-term and long-term transactions. Start by reporting your short-term disposals in Part 1. This is where you will note each individual taxable crypto transaction as seen below:

You will then calculate the total for short-term proceeds (d), cost basis (e), and gain/loss (h). Each total will be then passed on to Schedule D.

Crypto Tax Calculator tip: You can cross-check your totals against the IRS Form 8949 of the Crypto Tax Calculator Tax Reports. If you have multiple pages of transactions, particularly of the same coin (as can be seen above), Crypto Tax Calculator can create a consolidated Form 8949 for you (as seen below).

Next, complete your long-term disposals in Part 2.

If you do have long-term disposals, calculate the total for proceeds (d), cost basis (e), and gain/loss (h). Each total will be then passed on to Schedule D.

Leave this section empty if you don’t have any taxable assets you’ve held for more than a year.

Crypto Tax Calculator tip: You can cross-check this against the IRS Form 8949 of the Crypto Tax Calculator Tax Reports.

Need help? If you have a lot of crypto transactions, Crypto Tax Calculator can help out by integrating with all of your crypto platforms to consolidate your transactions on Form 8949 for you. And, it will also generate Form 8949 for you, completely filled out.

What Happens After You Fill Out Form 8949?

After you fill out Form 8949, you will move your short and long-term totals for proceeds, cost basis, and profit or loss to Schedule D so you can determine your overall capital gain or loss.

Where you move the totals in Schedule D will depend on which category you initially selected when filling out Form 8949 (as noted on the form in 2: Totals). For example, the short-term transaction totals below will be added to line 3 of Schedule D, since box C was checked.

Tax forms you need to report crypto

There are several different tax forms you may need to use to report your crypto transactions. While we've already mentioned a majority of them, we'll provide a quick summary so you can ensure you've included all the correct forms when you file your income tax return:

• Form 8949: If you sold or otherwise disposed of any crypto in the last tax year, you'll report all information about those transactions on Form 8949, "Sales and Other Dispositions of Capital Assets."
• Schedule D (Form 1040): After completing Form 8949, you'll report all of your short-term and long-term capital gains and losses on Schedule D (Form 1040), "Capital Gains and Losses."
• Schedule 1 (Form 1040): If you had additional crypto income from staking, mining, airdrops, swaps, or compensation, you'll report it on Schedule 1 (Form 1040), "Additional Income and Adjustments to Income."
• Schedule C (Form 1040): If you're self-employed and earned any crypto from clients or other payments, you'll report it on Schedule C (1040), "Profit or Loss From Business."
• Form 709: If you gifted any crypto last year and the value exceeds the current gift tax exclusion set by the IRS, you'll have to report the gift on Form 709, "United States Gift (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return."

Sources

• Instructions for Form 8949 (2024), IRS, 2024 (https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i8949)
• Topic no. 409, Capital gains and losses, IRS, 2025 (https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc409)
• About Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, IRS, 2025, (https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-1040)
• Tax Season 2025: What Forms To Expect From Crypto Exchanges, Forbes, 2025
• IRS Form 8949, Coinbase, 2025 (https://help.coinbase.com/en/coinbase/taxes/forms-reports/8949)