Does Coinbase Report to the IRS in 2024?
Wondering whether Coinbase reports to the IRS in 2024? In short, yes, Coinbase reports to the IRS, but the information the exchange reports varies depending on your transactions. Learn about what Coinbase reports to the IRS, including Coinbase 1099 forms, and what the latest impending regulatory changes for crypto exchanges to issue the new 1099-DA form mean for Coinbase IRS reporting.
Key points
Coinbase reports to the IRS using 1099 forms. Whenever Coinbase issues a 1099 form, both you and the IRS will receive it.
The IRS has previously issued a John Doe summons to Coinbase, compelling Coinbase to hand over customer transaction data. This information was used to send out warning letters to investors.
From 2025, Coinbase will likely be required to issue 1099-DA to users and the IRS to report all capital gains and losses.
Does Coinbase report to the IRS?
Yes, Coinbase reports to the IRS to comply with regulations and issues Forms 1099-MISC to the IRS for users with more than $600 in rewards in a financial year. Coinbase is also likely to start issuing Form 1099-DA for crypto gains and losses under new regulations soon.
What's a Coinbase 1099 form?
1099 forms are tax forms that provide information about non-employment-related income to the IRS. The 1099-MISC form reports miscellaneous income to the IRS.Â
When Coinbase issues a 1099-MISC form, it will include information about specific miscellaneous income a user has made on Coinbase exchange (including Coinbase Pro prior to the closure of the platform). This would include transactions classified as income by the IRS crypto tax guidance, like staking rewards, airdrops, and referral rewards.Â
However, Coinbase will only issue a 1099-MISC if you have more than $600 in miscellaneous income in a single financial year (January - December).
Prior to issuing a 1099-MISC form, Coinbase issued a 1099-K form.
Read next: How to Report Crypto on Taxes: Crypto Tax Forms 8949 & Schedule D
Why did Coinbase stop issuing 1099-K forms?
Coinbase began issuing 1099 forms to the IRS in 2017 and, up until 2021, Coinbase issued 1099-K forms before switching to 1099-MISC forms.
Coinbase stopped issuing 1099-K forms as it was creating confusion for users and IRS agents. 1099-K forms are most commonly used by payment settlement networks, and the form details the transaction volume of processed payments to the IRS.
So instead of reporting capital gains and losses, which are the calculations investors generally need for crypto tax reporting, 1099-K instead details your entire transaction volume and reports that figure to the IRS. As you can probably guess, this meant that Coinbase 1099-K forms often hugely inflated the supposed taxable income from crypto transactions.Â
As a result of Coinbase 1099-K forms, a significant number of investors received CP2000 notices from the IRS incorrectly.
Will I get a Coinbase 1099 form?
You may receive a 1099-MISC from Coinbase if:
You are a Coinbase customer AND
You are a US person for tax purposes AND
You earned $600 or more in rewards through Coinbase Earn, USDC rewards, or staking rewards throughout the previous financial year.
What should I do if I receive a Coinbase tax form?Â
If you receive a Coinbase 1099 Form, you must report it (and all other crypto income) on your tax return. For crypto income, how to report depends on your status as a taxpayer and whether you're employed or self-employed.
Employed: Report your Coinbase income as other income on Schedule 1.
Self-employed: Report your Coinbase income on Schedule C.
Please note your Coinbase 1099-MISC only includes miscellaneous income and you are still required to report any capital gains or losses from crypto, as well as any other income, from Coinbase and all other crypto exchanges and wallets you use.
When does Coinbase send 1099?
If you're going to receive a 1099-MISC form from Coinbase, you'll receive it by the end of February of the following financial year at the latest.
How do I get my 1099 from Coinbase?
You can download your 1099 by going to documents, in your Coinbase tax center.
Do all Coinbase customers receive IRS forms?
No. Only selected US customers may receive a 1099-MISC form from Coinbase if they meet certain criteria. International customers - as in - not US residents, will not receive a Form 1099.
Does Coinbase share other information with the IRS?
Even if you don’t receive a 1099 Form from Coinbase, you are still required to report all cryptocurrency transactions to the IRS every tax season - and they might know about your Coinbase investments anyway. Back in 2016, the IRS won a John Doe Summons case against Coinbase, forcing them to share customers' KYC data. In this instance, the IRS asked for records on individuals engaging in transactions of $20,000 or more in a financial year, and more than 10,000 Coinbase customers were contacted warning them they had failed to report additional income or gains.
Does Coinbase report conversions?
No. Your conversions of crypto, whether that's converting crypto to another crypto or selling crypto for USD, won't be included in your 1099-MISC form. However, Coinbase may share this data with the IRS via other means upon request, for example, from John Doe Summons.
When does Coinbase report to the IRS?
The US financial year runs from 1 January to 31 December, Coinbase tax reporting happens after the end of the financial year and before the filing deadline on April 15.
Does Coinbase provide 1099-Bs?
No. Coinbase does not issue Form 1099-Bs.
As part of the Infrastructure Bill, it was originally thought crypto brokers (including centralized exchanges like Coinbase) would have to start issuing 1099-B forms to the IRS in the future. However, the latest IRS crypto reporting requirements confirm both centralized and decentralized crypto exchanges - including Coinbase - will be required to issue the new 1099-DA form instead.
Find out which exchanges issue 1099-B Forms.
Can I use my Coinbase 1099 for tax reporting?
It depends on your investments. Coinbase 1099 forms only describe any income (rewards) an investor has made, and only those generated through the Coinbase platform, so it won't include any capital gains or losses you've made on Coinbase. For traders who use multiple exchanges, a 1099 from Coinbase is not enough to report crypto taxes accurately.
How do I get a complete tax report from Coinbase?
Coinbase will only issue 1099-MISC forms to select customers - and this will only detail miscellaneous income from Coinbase transactions.
For everyone else, traders with multiple exchange accounts, and international customers, you'll need to download your Coinbase transaction history to fulfill your tax filing obligations, or connect to crypto tax software via API and have your transaction history returned automatically.
You can download your Coinbase transaction history by going to reports (in the drop-down menu from your profile icon) and then selecting generate report.
Alternatively, you can use a Coinbase tax calculator to automatically fetch your transaction history in minutes using API.
Your frequently asked questions...
Does Coinbase report to the IRS if you don't sell?
No, it's unlikely Coinbase report to the IRS if you don't sell, swap, spend, or earn any crypto on the exchange. If you've held crypto throughout the financial year but made no disposals or income, the IRS will not be interested in your crypto investment activities. However, if your information was included in the data Coinbase shared with the IRS as a result of the John Doe Summons, the IRS may still have your details.
When does the IRS send a B-Notice?
Coinbase customers may receive an IRS B-Notice if there are any discrepancies with your tax identification number (TIN) and legal name used by Coinbase to file Forms 1099 with the IRS. The B-Notice will:
Prescribe what information is needed to resolve the B-Notice.
Inform you if you are required to provide any additional information beyond updating or correcting your name or TIN
To correct your TIN and/or name, customers will need to contact Coinbase Support. Find out more about the IRS B-Notice.
What happens if you forget to file Coinbase taxes?
The IRS has made it very clear all crypto investments must be reported, and will inevitably be increasing audits as in 2022, the office received a huge budget increase in order to tackle tax evasion, with crypto being singled out as a key focus. Find out more about the penalties for crypto tax evasion.
How are my Coinbase transactions taxed?
Your Coinbase transactions will either be viewed as capital gains (and losses) or as miscellaneous income depending on your transactions. Selling, trading, and spending crypto is viewed as a disposal and therefore you'll have a capital gain or loss as a result of these transactions. Meanwhile, examples of earning crypto as miscellaneous income would include staking rewards and referral rewards. It's important to note your 1099-MISC form from Coinbase will not include your capital gains or losses. Find out more about how to file your Coinbase taxes.
What information does Coinbase send to the IRS?
Coinbase currently issues a 1099-MISC form for users with more than $600 in miscellaneous income. When you receive a 1099-MISC form, the IRS receives an identical copy. In the near future, Coinbase will be required to issue a 1099-DA form reporting capital gains and losses as well.
What does the IRS do with crypto tax documents?
You can think of your Coinbase 1099 form as a notice to the IRS that you’re an active crypto investor. As 1099 forms often aren’t fit for purposes for crypto investors, you are not required to use them to file provided you report your miscellaneous income and capital gains/losses accurately on your tax return. Failure to do so will likely result in a letter or notice from the IRS that you failed to accurately report your income and may increase your likelihood of a crypto tax audit.
Can the IRS see my Coinbase wallet transactions?
In short, yes. While your Coinbase wallet is non-custodial and does not require ID verification, any transactions you make using Coinbase Wallet will be publicly visible on the given blockchain. Anyone with your wallet address and a blockchain explorer will be able to view your transactions.
Of course, the IRS may not be able to associate you with your wallet address. However, given you need to on and off-ramp fiat and this is almost always achieved using a centralized exchange like Coinbase, it is not wise to attempt to hide your non-custodial wallet transactions from the IRS.
As well as this, the proposed 1099-DA form appears to include requirements for centralized and decentralized exchanges to report both wallet addresses and transaction hashes soon too.
What is the Coinbase gain/loss form?Â
The Coinbase gain/loss form is a summary of every disposal of crypto on Coinbase and the resulting capital gain or loss. This form is provided to all Coinbase investors but is not issued to the IRS.
However, if you've transferred crypto to or from Coinbase, your gain/loss form may be inaccurate as Coinbase will be unable to track your cost basis to calculate your subsequent gain or loss accurately.
From the 2025 financial year, it's likely Coinbase will be required to report capital gains and losses to the IRS using form 1099-DA.
Is there a Coinbase tax calculator?
Yes. Koinly is a Coinbase tax calculator.
Not only can Koinly import your Coinbase transaction history directly from Coinbase itself, but Koinly can also calculate your Coinbase taxes in a format that makes sense for the IRS.
