How crypto tax reporting works in 2026
A free educational checklist for U.S. taxpayers. This is not tax advice and not a filing service.
What the guide contains
- An overview of the forms people run into: Form 8949, Schedule D and Form 1099-DA.
- What records are usually needed — dates, proceeds, cost basis, fees.
- How to recognise the point where you should talk to a licensed professional.
What it is not
- Not tax, legal or investment advice, and not a review of your own transactions.
- Not a filing service — no forms are prepared or sent to the IRS from this site.
- Not trading guidance, price commentary or a software comparison.
Who this is for
This site is written for people in the United States who already had crypto activity during the year and now have to describe it on a federal return. You bought and sold something, moved balances between accounts, closed an exchange account, or received a form in the mail and are not sure what it means.
It is not a beginner's course on how to buy coins, and it does not cover which assets to hold. If you are looking for what to buy, when to buy it, or what something will be worth, this is the wrong site and I would rather say so on the first screen.
What you will learn
- Why U.S. federal tax rules generally treat digital assets as property rather than as currency, and what follows from that.
- Which everyday actions are commonly described as taxable events, at a general level: selling, trading one asset for another, spending, and receiving income-like rewards.
- How Form 8949 and Schedule D relate to each other.
- What Form 1099-DA is, and why the number on a broker form is not the same thing as a gain.
- Which records are worth gathering before anyone — you or a professional — starts working on a return.
- The difference between what reporting software does and what a licensed professional does.
Read the full guide — about a fifteen-minute read, last updated September 2026.
What you will not get
- A number. Nothing here calculates what you owe or what you might save.
- An answer about your own wallets, exchanges or transactions.
- Preparation, signing or filing of any IRS form, and no representation before the IRS.
- Price forecasts, trading signals, portfolio commentary or recommendations to buy or sell.
- A ranked list of exchanges, wallets or tax software, and no affiliate links.
- A phone call, a consultation or a sales appointment.
I am an individual publisher. I am not a CPA, an enrolled agent, an attorney or a tax preparer, and reading this site does not create any professional relationship.
How the free checklist works
The checklist is a one-page list of documents and records U.S. taxpayers commonly need in front of them before crypto activity can be reported. It is printed in full on the checklist page. There is no signup wall: you can read it, print it, or save it as a PDF straight from the page.
If you would rather have a copy in your inbox, write to contact@albertomartin.digital with the subject Checklist and a copy will be sent back by hand. The email signup form on the site is not connected to a provider yet and says so on the page.
Either way, that is the end of it. No one calls you, no appointment is scheduled, and no one asks to see your transaction history. How an email address is handled is described in the privacy notice.
Before you go further
Everything on this site is general educational information about U.S. federal crypto tax reporting concepts. It is not tax advice, legal advice, accounting advice or investment advice, and it cannot take your own situation into account. Tax rules change, and the only authoritative source for federal rules is the IRS itself at IRS.gov.
For anything that depends on your facts, speak with a tax professional licensed in your jurisdiction. Read the full disclaimer.