How to file your TrueUSD (TUSD) taxes with Koinly
TrueUSD (TUSD) is a multi-chain stablecoin, pegged to the USD at a 1:1 ratio, available on the Ethereum, Tron, Avalanche, and Binance Smart Chain blockchains. But despite being pegged to the USD and traded as dollars, TUSD is still considered a crypto asset, which means that investing in it may result in a tax liability. Koinly can help you calculate taxes for TUSD as well as for thousands of other tokens, across multiple blockchains. Here’s how.
Sign up to Koinly and choose your country and currency
Connect your blockchain(s) with Koinly to import all your trades safely and securely - including multichain tokens like TUSD.
Koinly identifies the cost basis of all your coins and tokens, as well as your taxable transactions.
Koinly calculates any capital gains, losses, and income from your taxable transactions
Koinly generates your crypto tax report - ready to help you file with your tax office, or hand it over to your accountant.
How are TrueUSD transactions taxed?
Despite effectively working as a tokenized dollar, because your TUSD is a crypto asset, from a tax perspective it's still a kind of property and therefore has distinct tax implications that differ from fiat currencies. The tax implications vary depending on where you live, so read our crypto tax guides for more information. But, generally speaking, two taxes may apply to your TUSD transactions:
Capital Gains Tax: When you sell, swap, or spend TUSD, you may need to pay Capital Gains Tax on any gain you made as a result - even if it’s minimal.
Income Tax: When you earn TUSD tokens - for example, through staking rewards - you may need to pay Income Tax based on the fair market value of your TUSD in your fiat currency at the point you received them.
Can the IRS track TUSD?
Almost all blockchains - excluding private blockchains - are public ledgers. That means anyone, including the IRS, can search and find transactions relating to a specific wallet. After this, all the IRS needs to do is be able to link your identity to a given wallet or transaction.
There are a couple of ways the IRS can do this. One of the more aggressive methods is utilizing John Doe summons to compel centralized crypto exchanges to share customer data, potentially including details on any wallets you’ve transferred to or from using a centralized crypto exchange.
As well as this, in an attempt to comply with current confusing regulations, many centralized crypto exchanges issue what’s known as a 1099 form - a kind of form that reports income from sources other than your employer. You may receive a 1099 form if you’re earning over a certain amount in crypto, or if you’ve traded a certain volume of crypto. But remember, whenever you get a 1099 form, the IRS gets an identical copy.
Learn more about how the IRS tracks crypto.
How to get TrueUSD tax documents
It varies depending on where you live, but you’ll generally need to report your gains, losses, and income from TUSD investments in your annual tax return.
This starts by calculating your TUSD gains and losses - even if they’re negligible - as well as the fair market value of any income from TUSD in your fiat currency on the day you received it. Even though gains and losses from stablecoins like TUSD may be negligible, many tax offices - including the IRS - want you to report every single disposal of crypto, regardless of a gain or loss.
These requirements can make crypto tax painfully time-consuming, which is why most opt to use a crypto and TUSD tax calculator like Koinly. Koinly can calculate your gains, losses, and income for hundreds of thousands of coins and tokens - including TrueUSD.
All you need to do is connect your blockchain to Koinly and it’ll do the rest. Here’s how.
How to import TrueUSD transactions to Koinly automatically
To import your TUSD transactions into Koinly, you’ll need to connect each blockchain you use to interact with TUSD to Koinly. As TrueUSD is a multi-chain token, this means you may need to connect to multiple blockchains in order to import your complete TUSD transaction history, for example, Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, Avalanche, and Tron.
This is really easy to do, you just need your public address from each blockchain - but remember, you’ll need to do this for each wallet you use to interact with TrueUSD in order for Koinly to correctly identify your cost basis, transfers, sales, swaps, and more.
You can find steps on how to connect a variety of popular wallets to Koinly on our integration pages, but here’s an example of how it generally works.
In your wallet
Open or log in to your wallet
Select the blockchain you’d like to connect to - for example, Ethereum or Binance Smart Chain
Copy your public address
On Koinly
Sign up or log in to your Koinly account and go to the wallets page
Search for and select the blockchain you’d like to connect to - for example, Ethereum or Binance Smart Chain
Give your wallet a name - for example - MetaMask or Trust Wallet
Paste your public address
Select import
Important
Remember, you’ll need to do this for every wallet you use to interact with TUSD (and any other tokens!) in order to calculate your crypto taxes correctly. As TrueUSD is multi-chain, you’ll need to add your public address to Koinly from each blockchain (and wallet!) in order to import your complete transaction history.
It’s really helpful to name your wallets when you’re adding them to Koinly. You'll be able to find transactions much more easily later on.
You may also be able to upload your transaction history to Koinly as a CSV file instead of connecting using your public address if you prefer, but this depends on the wallet you’re using. You can search for your wallet on our integration pages to find out more about how to get a CSV file from your wallet.
Your frequently asked questions
What is TrueUSD?
TrueUSD is a mutli-chain stablecoin available on Ethereum, BSC and more. Each TUSD token is pegged at a 1:1 ratio with the US dollar.
How does TUSD work?
TrueUSD is a fiat-collateralized stablecoin. This means for every TUSD in circulation, there is $1 in cash reserves to back it.
Where can I buy TUSD?
You can buy TUSD on centralized exchanges including Binance, Crypto.com, and Kraken, as well as swap tokens for TUSD on decentralized exchanges like Uniswap and PancakeSwap.
What is the purpose of using TrueUSD?
Stablecoins like TrueUSD are popular investments as access to crypto assets and the wider market, without the risk of price volatility (theoretically).
Is TUSD safe?
TrueUSD is backed by unaffiliated third-party companies in the state of Nevada to hold funds and those companies are regulated by a variety of state and federal government agencies. However, as with all crypto assets you should DYOR and understand the risks involved before investing.
Is TrueUSD a stablecoin?
Yes. TrueUSD is a stablecoin pegged at a 1:1 ratio with the US dollar and backed by fully collateralized, fiat reserves.
Has TUSD depegged before?
Yes. TUSD has momentarily depegged before and traded at $0.97 in March 2020 during turbulent market conditions before restabilizing shortly after.
How is TrueUSD different from other cryptocurrencies?
TrueUSD is a collateralized stablecoin. This means it's a crypto asset pegged to the value of another asset - the US dollar. TrueUSD holds 1:1 reserves to maintain this value.
What is the total supply of TUSD?
The total and circulating supply of TUSD at the time of writing is more than 2 billion.
Is TrueUSD regulated?
Sort of. TrueUSD itself isn't regulated, but the financial institutions where it keeps its cash reserves very much are. Escrowed funds are held with third-parties in Nevada and regulated by the Nevada Department of Business & Industry and the Financial Institutions Division.
Can TUSD be used for everyday purchases?
Yes. You can spend TUSD on goods and services like you'd spend a dollar. But spending crypto has very different tax implications to spending fiat currency!
Is TUSD 100% backed?
Yes. TUSD is 100% backed by cash reserves You can view the TUSD Chainlink Proof of Reserve at any time to check the reserves vs. the supply of TUSD.
What blockchain is TUSD on?
TUSD is a multi-chain token, available on several blockchains including Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, Avalanche, and Tron.
Is TrueUSD a good investment?
TrueUSD is a crypto investment growing in popularity as other stablecoins struggle. However, all cryptocurrencies come with risks and you should always DYOR before investing.
Where can I stake TUSD?
You can stake TUSD on centralized exchanges like Huobi Earn, as well as on decentralized protocols like PancakeSwap Farms.
Is TUSD better than USDT, USDC, and other stablecoins?
Like TUSD, other popular stablecoins such as USDT, USDC, and BUSD are all collateralized stablecoins. However, some investors prefer TUSD thanks to its transparency about its reserves, whereas USDT has faced criticism for failing to provide transparent proof of reserves. However, like USDC - TUSD has had some exposure to the collapse of popular fintech banks, specifically Signature Bank, although at the time of writing the FDIC has taken control of the bank and is ensuring all depositors are made whole.
Do I have to pay taxes on TUSD?
Yes. Although you can use TUSD like a dollar, it is a crypto asset and that means the tax treatment is very different. It varies depending on where you live, but selling, swapping, or spending TUSD is generally viewed as a disposal of an asset and any gain subject to Capital Gains Tax. As well as this, earning new TUSD tokens - for example, via staking - may be viewed as additional income and subject to Income Tax upon receipt.
What tax forms do I need to file for TUSD transactions?
This depends on where you live. For example, in the US, taxpayers need to report every single time they sold, swapped, or spent TUSD throughout the financial year - and any gain or loss no matter how minute - in Form 8949 and Schedule D, as well as any crypto income in Form 1040 or Schedule C.
