Cryptocurrency Tax Software: Where to Get Crypto Tax Help

Settling up with the IRS at tax time can be complicated if you've been doing a lot of cryptocurrency trading. Unlike stockbrokers, even the best crypto exchanges aren't always required to file tax forms summarizing your annual activity. It's on you to figure out what you netted last year and what that means for your taxes.

Several software companies have created products to help investors and traders get ready to file taxes for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in recent years.

Generally, these programs use data from your exchange to compile records of your profits and losses. Crypto tax software can help you generate an IRS Form 8949 based on your records.

This document is used to report sales of capital assets, and it is different from the form a stockbroker might send you cataloging your equities sales in the past year.

Crypto tax software providers also tend to offer a suite of other reports and services depending on your needs.

If you lost money on crypto investments during the crypto crash of 2022, you may want to look into a service called tax-loss harvesting, which can help you reduce your taxes when you sell investments for less than you paid.

Below are details on some of the leading crypto tax products, listed in alphabetical order:

Prices start at: Free. However, if you want to actually download your tax forms, you'll have to pay at least $49.

Tax software connections: TurboTax, TaxAct, H&R Block, TaxSlayer.

Summary: CoinLedger (formerly CryptoTrader.Tax) orients its pricing mostly around the number of transactions you plan to use it for. Full-service plans range from $49, for up to 100 trades, to $199, for users with more than 3,000 trades. Every paid plan offers several tax forms, support for DeFi income and live chat support. CoinLedger says it connects to more than 500 exchanges, wallets and other crypto services.

Prices start at: Free, though plans with tax form downloads start at $49 per year.

Tax software connections: TurboTax, TaxAct, H&R Block.

Summary: Koinly offers a free trial for up to 10,000 transactions. The catch is that you'll have to pay $49 to download many types of reports. Plans range up to $179, and are tiered based on the number of transactions you want to include. Koinly offers support for staking and other types of crypto income and says it works with nearly 400 exchanges. Koinly supports tax reports in multiple countries aside from the U.S., including Canada, Australia, UK, Germany, Norway, Denmark and Sweden.

Prices start at: Free

Tax software connections: TurboTax, TaxAct.

Summary: TaxBit has changed its service for this year's tax filing season, expanding its free offering. Now, personal investors can use TaxBit to file for free, regardless of the number of transactions. The service integrates with more than 500 wallets, exchanges and other crypto services, though if your favorites are not among them you may need to upload the data into TaxBit by hand. At the moment, TaxBit also lacks some of the advanced paid support options, such as professional assistance, that are offered by its peers.

Prices start at: $65 per year.

Tax software connections: TurboTax.

Summary: TokenTax has some of the pricier options on the market, but it also offers some unique services for higher-paying customers. Plans begin at $65, and that tier offers up to 500 transactions but only supports automated connections with Coinbase and Coinbase Pro. At $199, plans offer tax-loss harvesting and NFT and DeFi integration, with up to 5,000 transactions from all exchanges. Offerings increase up to about $3,500, which pays for a tax expert to help you with your crypto taxes. All plans include live chat support.

Prices start at: Free, though plans for more than 25 transactions start at $49 per year.

Tax software connections: TurboTax.

Summary: ZenLedger's pricing structure turns heavily on the volume of transactions you intend to process. If you're just an occasional trader looking to process 25 or fewer transactions, ZenLedger's free version might meet your needs. Plans starting at $149 have support for NFTs DeFi and staking. In a notable departure from many competitors, all of ZenLedger's plans offer premium support, including chat and phone. ZenLedger also offers high-tiered professional tax preparation, with multi-year plans going for $6,500

When choosing a crypto tax software, there are a few questions everyone should ask:

Does it connect directly with your crypto exchange?

Many providers generate reports by connecting directly to major exchanges and pulling the data for all your transactions. However, not every software connects to every exchange, and if yours doesn't match up, you may have to download data from your exchange, then upload it on your own.

Does it work with your tax preparation program?

Crypto tax software can often interface directly with the computer programs that help you file your tax returns. While connectivity with TurboTax is typical, other programs have more sporadic coverage.

How many trades did you make?

Some platforms offer tiered pricing based on how many transactions you’ve made in a year. A quick look at your trading history could help you figure out which is the most economical option.

Do you have income from decentralized finance (or DeFi) applications, staking or nonfungible tokens (or NFTs)?

Not all providers include these types of transactions in their basic service.

Do you need crypto tax software at all?

It's possible that you could get by with the offerings laid out by your existing tax software provider. TurboTax, for instance, says it can import data directly from some of the leading cryptocurrency services.