TurboTax, TaxAct, H&R Block: Which is Best for Crypto Taxes?
Let’s face it - the IRS doesn’t exactly make things easy when it comes to filing your annual tax return. That’s why most US taxpayers opt to use a tax platform like TurboTax, TaxAct, or H&R Block to simplify their tax reporting. But can your go-to tax app handle your crypto taxes? Find out more in our best crypto tax app guide.
Best tax apps for crypto taxes
Nobody wants to spend hours filling out paper forms anymore - but that’s the only official route available if you want to file your taxes directly with the IRS. To further complicate things, if you’ve got crypto investments to report, you'll need to fill out even more IRS forms.
You can see our complete guide to how to file crypto taxes with the IRS, but in short:
You need to report all your crypto disposals (anytime you’ve sold, spent or traded crypto) on Form 8949.
You need to report your net capital gains and losses from crypto on Form Schedule D 1040.
You need to report any crypto income (from airdrops, forks, mining etc.) on Form Schedule 1 1040 or on Form Schedule C 1040 if you’re self-employed.
You need to complete Form 1040 (Individual Tax Return) by reporting your net capital gain or loss on line 7, your crypto income on line 8 and by answering yes to the question "at any time during 2021, did you receive, sell, send, exchange, or otherwise acquire any financial interest in any virtual currency?”
Form 8949 alone is hours of work for many crypto investors if you’ve got a lot of sales or trades. Similarly, if you’re receiving crypto income from various sources like crypto mining, DeFi protocols, and more, then calculating and tallying up your crypto income is a pain.
Koinly makes this simple. It can generate a pre-filled Form 8949 and Schedule D - saving you hours of work. It can also generate a Schedule 1 Form to report your crypto income.
You can then upload these files to a tax app like TurboTax, TaxAct or H&R Block to get your taxes - including your crypto taxes - reported in minutes. Koinly can also generate specific reports for a variety of popular tax apps to make this process even faster.
Let’s dive into the best tax apps to get your crypto taxes done (with Koinly) in mere moments.
What are the differences between TurboTax and TaxAct?
With so many tax filing software providers available - how do you know which to pick when it comes to filing your tax return and crypto taxes? What are the differences between TaxAct and TurboTax you need to know about?
The main difference between TurboTax and TaxAct is price. For simple tax returns (not including state or crypto taxes), both services offer a free plan for federal returns. But you'll need the premier package from either to file your crypto taxes. TaxAct's premier package starts at $69.96 (state additional) while TurboTax's premier package starts at $89 (state additional).
Of course, price isn't everything - you should also check out the usability of the platform before you make any decisions. You can see how quick it is to file with either our TurboTax Tutorial or TaxAct Tutorial.
It's important to note, no general tax apps like TurboTax or TaxAct are purpose-built for crypto tax filing. You can file your crypto taxes manually using either - but it's time-consuming and still prone to human error. That's why it's best to use a combination of Koinly with your preferred tax filing software.
TurboTax for crypto tax
TurboTax is the most popular tax app in the US. It offers a great user experience and walks you through filing your taxes step-by-step. They also offer professional tax help as and when you need it, though this comes with an additional cost.
The basic product starts from $59 and goes all the way up to $200. All the TurboTax products are available online, or if you prefer you can grab it in a CD format.
Koinly can generate specific TurboTax reports - so doing your crypto taxes with Koinly and TurboTax couldn’t be easier. You can see our full article on how to do your crypto taxes with TurboTax, or watch the video below and follow our summarized steps.
Set up your Koinly account by syncing all your wallets and downloading the TurboTax Online tax report.
Get the TurboTax Premier Plan and fill out your personal information for your TurboTax account.
Report your crypto capital gains in TurboTax under investments and savings -> stocks, cryptocurrency, mutual funds, bonds, and other. You'll upload your Koinly TurboTax Online Report here.
Report any crypto income in TurboTax under less common income -> miscellaneous income.
Report any crypto related expenses under other deductible expenses. You may also be able to deduct your crypto tax preparation fees too.
Head to the review section in your TurboTax account, skip the option to review each trade (unless you have the time!) and you're done!
TaxAct for crypto tax
TaxAct is another great tax app with a slightly lower pricing tier than TurboTax. Prices start from $24.95 and they also offer professional live support for an additional cost. TaxAct also has a free product, but you’ll still have to pay a fee for state tax returns.
Like with TurboTax, Koinly can generate IRS forms that you can simply upload to TaxAct to get your crypto taxes done in minutes. You can see our full article on how to do your crypto taxes with TaxAct, watch the video below, or follow our summarized steps.
Sync all the wallets, exchanges, and blockchains you use with Koinly.
Head to the tax reports page in Koinly and scroll down to download the Form 8949 and Schedule D. These forms are pre-filled and contain all your crypto disposals and your net capital gains and losses for the financial year.
Now log into your TaxAct account and head to capital gains and losses.
On the Form 8949 Summary page, follow the instructions to add your Form 8949 attachment.
Then head to other income, then summary, and select add schedule 1 form 1040 other income. Work through the other section until you get to miscellaneous income. Then add your totals from your Koinly Schedule D report.
Hit continue to complete and you're done!
H&R Block for crypto tax
H&R Block is an excellent self-filing tax solution, starting from $74.99, and offers a range of affordable packages with support from a tax pro to help you file accurately.
With Koinly & H&R Block you can file easily, just use Koinly to generate your Form 8949 & Schedule D and use these figures to file with H&R Block. Watch our video below to find out how or check out our H&R Block crypto tax guide.
Create a Koinly account.
Sync all the wallets, exchanges, and blockchains you use with Koinly.
Head to the tax reports page in Koinly and scroll down to download the IRS Report (Form 8949 and Schedule D). These forms are pre-filled and contain all your crypto disposals and your net capital gains and losses for the financial year.
Now sign up or log in to your H&R Block account. You'll need H&R Block Online Premium to file your crypto taxes - starting from $74.99 plus $44.99 per state filed.
Fill out your personal data & income as it relates to you. When you get to the question "Did you receive, sell, exchange, or dispose of any cryptocurrency?", select yes.
On the page that says "Here's your income", you'll add your short and long-term capital gains transactions relating to crypto and other investments.
To report crypto income, go to the income tab and add less common income.
You're done!