CryptoBorne

Taxes · 2026 tax year

Form 1099-DA checker: what the IRS sees, and what you really made

Your exchange tells the IRS how much you sold for. For coins you bought before 2026 or moved in from elsewhere, it does not have to say what you paid. This checker shows the gap — and where each sale goes on Form 8949.

Checked against the 2026 IRS form and instructions on 4 October 20262026 forms reach you by 16 February 2027

Private by design. Nothing you type here leaves your browser. This is an estimate for planning, not tax advice — a tax professional or tax software should prepare the return. Disclosures

Your 2026 tax picture
Wages, interest and other income. Leave out the crypto sales listed here.
Filled with the 2026 standard deduction. Change it if you itemize.

Your sales

These three sales are an example. Replace them with the lines from your own Form 1099-DA, or with sales you expect to see on it.

AssetHeld (box 6)Proceeds (box 1f)What the form showsBasis on form (box 1g)What you really paidReal gainRemove
The checker needs JavaScript to run. The rules and a worked example are below.

One row per line on the form. “What you really paid” is your cost basis from your own records — purchase price plus fees.

The gap

Why the form and the truth can differ

A Form 1099-DA always reports your proceeds (box 1f). It reports your cost basis (box 1g) only when the broker is required to know it. The rule turns on one word:

  • Covered — a digital asset you acquired after 2025, in an account where that broker held it for you, and kept there until the sale. The broker must report the basis.
  • Noncovered — everything else: coins bought before 2026, and coins transferred in from your own wallet or another exchange. The broker ticks box 9 and may leave the basis blank.

For sales made in 2025 — the first year of the form — brokers reported proceeds only. For 2026 sales, basis appears for covered assets, but anyone who bought before 2026 or moves coins between platforms will still see blanks. The IRS receives the same form you do, so on its copy your gain looks like the whole sale price until you say otherwise.

A worked example

You sell bitcoin for $30,000. You bought it in 2024 for $22,000 and have held it at the same exchange since. Because it was acquired before 2026, it is noncovered: box 1f shows $30,000 and box 1g is empty.

  • The gain the IRS can compute from the form: $30,000.
  • Your real gain: $30,000 − $22,000 = $8,000.
  • At a 15% long-term rate, that is $4,500 of tax on the form's figure against $1,200 on the real one — a $3,300 difference that disappears once you enter your basis on Form 8949.

Reading the form

The boxes that matter on the 2026 Form 1099-DA
BoxWhat it showsWhat to check
1fProceedsMatches what you actually received for the sale.
1gCost or other basisBlank means you must supply it. If filled, compare it with your own records.
2Basis reported to the IRSTicked: the IRS has the basis figure too.
6Short-term, long-term or ordinaryDecides Part I or Part II of Form 8949.
9Noncovered securityTicked: the broker was not required to report basis.
12a, 12bUnits transferred in, and the transfer dateCoins that arrived from elsewhere — the broker does not know what you paid.
1iWash sale loss disallowedUsed for tokenised securities only.

Where each sale goes on Form 8949

Your situationHeld 1 year or less (Part I)Held over 1 year (Part II)
1099-DA shows basis reported to the IRSBox GBox J
1099-DA without basis reported to the IRSBox HBox K
No 1099-DA for the saleBox IBox L
  • Basis not reported (boxes H and K): enter your own correct basis in column (e) and zero in column (g).
  • Basis reported but wrong (boxes G and J): enter the form's basis in column (e), code B in column (f), and the correction in column (g).
  • No form (boxes I and L): report the sale yourself from your records.

Sales that never appear on a form

Only custodial brokers send a 1099-DA. A rule that would have extended reporting to decentralised-finance platforms was repealed by Congress in April 2025 and removed from the regulations in July 2025. Sales from a wallet you control, swaps on a decentralised exchange, and sales on platforms that do not issue the form are still taxable — the reporting duty simply falls on you. Small totals can also go unreported by the broker: the instructions set thresholds such as $10,000 a year for qualifying stablecoin sales and $600 for specified NFTs.

Moving coins between your own wallets or accounts is not a sale. But it is how basis gets lost: since 2025, basis is tracked wallet by wallet and account by account, so keep the purchase records for anything you transfer.

Questions

What is Form 1099-DA?

The form a crypto broker — an exchange or other custodial platform — sends to you and to the IRS for each sale or exchange of a digital asset. It reports the proceeds, and in some cases what you paid.

Why is the cost basis blank on my 1099-DA?

Brokers only have to report basis for “covered” assets: those bought after 2025 in that broker's custody and held there until sold. Anything bought before 2026, or transferred in from a wallet or another exchange, is noncovered, and the broker may leave the basis box empty. You then have to supply the basis yourself on Form 8949.

What happens if I just file what the form shows?

Where the basis is blank, the form shows proceeds only. If you report no basis, the whole amount is treated as gain and you pay tax on money that was partly your own cost. The fix is to enter your real basis on Form 8949.

When will I get my 2026 Form 1099-DA?

Brokers must furnish it by 15 February of the following year; because 15 February 2027 is a federal holiday, the date moves to 16 February 2027.

Do I owe tax on sales that have no 1099-DA?

Yes. Sales from a wallet you control, on decentralised exchanges, or on platforms that do not issue the form are still taxable. You report them on Form 8949 under box I (short-term) or box L (long-term).

Sources

Checked 4 October 2026. Tax rates used: the 2026 figures on the tax-loss harvest page.