Coinbase Tax Forms: What Coinbase Sends and What It Doesn't Cover
Coinbase issues tax forms to eligible US customers - but these forms don't calculate your taxes for you. Understanding what each form covers (and what it misses) is the difference between filing correctly and underpaying.
Your 1099-DA shows the IRS your proceeds. DYOR.tax calculates your actual gain. Upload your Coinbase CSV for a free instant preview with trade-by-trade cost basis.
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For 2025, the key US crypto broker form is Form 1099-DA. Users may also see other tax documents depending on account activity and platform practices:
- Form 1099-DA - new for tax year 2025, covers gross proceeds from crypto disposals
- Form 1099-MISC - covers staking rewards, Coinbase Earn, and referral income over $600
Non-US users generally do not receive tax forms from Coinbase. If you're outside the US, you are responsible for self-reporting based on your country's requirements.
Form 1099-DA - the new broker reporting form
Form 1099-DA is the most significant development for crypto tax reporting in 2025. The IRS now requires all crypto brokers - including Coinbase - to issue it for disposals starting with tax year 2025.
What it reports:
- Gross proceeds from sales and exchanges of crypto assets
- The dates and amounts of each disposal
What it does not include (in 2025):
- Cost basis - for most transactions, this is left blank in the first year of reporting
- Capital gains or losses - you have to calculate these yourself
- Staking rewards, Coinbase Earn, or learning rewards
- Activity outside Coinbase
Why gross proceeds alone isn't enough: If you bought ETH for $1,000 and sold it for $3,000, your 1099-DA shows $3,000 in proceeds. The IRS receives that figure. Your taxable gain is $2,000 - but without your cost basis, you cannot arrive at that number from the 1099-DA. If you report $0 in gains and the IRS sees $3,000 in proceeds, expect a CP2000 notice.
Form 1099-MISC - staking and Earn income
Coinbase issues Form 1099-MISC if you received more than $600 in the following during the tax year:
- Staking rewards
- Coinbase Earn rewards
- Learning Rewards
- Referral bonuses
- Promotional income
The $600 threshold only determines whether Coinbase is required to issue the form. If you received $200 in staking rewards, that income is still taxable even though you won't get a 1099-MISC. All crypto income must be reported regardless of whether a form is issued.
What Coinbase tax forms don't cover
Even after receiving every form Coinbase issues, significant gaps remain:
- Cost basis calculations. The 1099-DA shows proceeds, not gains. You still need to match every disposal to its original purchase price to determine your actual taxable gain.
- Assets transferred in from other platforms. If you moved crypto to Coinbase from another exchange or wallet, Coinbase has no record of your original purchase price. That cost basis history exists only in your other platform's records.
- Crypto-to-crypto conversions. Converting one token to another is a taxable disposal, but the 1099-DA may not capture all the detail needed for your Form 8949.
- Activity on other exchanges, DeFi, or wallets. Tax forms only cover Coinbase. You must account for everything else separately.
- Non-US accounts. Coinbase does not issue tax forms to customers outside the US.
What you still need to do after receiving Coinbase tax forms
- Download your full Coinbase CSV - complete history from account opening, not just the current year
- Calculate cost basis for every disposal - FIFO for US, Section 104 for UK, ACB for Canada
- Separate capital gains from income - short-term vs. long-term, and staking vs. trading gains
- Map figures to the correct forms - Form 8949 and Schedule D for capital gains, Schedule 1 for income
- Include activity from any other platforms - other exchanges, DeFi, wallets
DYOR.tax reads your Coinbase CSV and generates the complete breakdown - including the cost basis calculations that 1099-DA doesn't provide. Upload for a free preview, then download the full filing-ready PDF with your actual gain and loss figures.