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Crypto Tax Calculator

U.S. only tools

The IRS treats virtual currency as property, not currency, so selling crypto is a capital transaction with a gain or loss to work out - and the part that trips most people is the matching. When a wallet holds bitcoin bought at different prices and only some of it is sold, which units were actually sold? Unless you specifically identify them, the IRS assigns the sale to purchases in chronological order from the earliest unit: first in, first out. That choice decides the basis, the gain, and often the holding period, and those decide the tax. This page does the matching for you lot by lot, the way the IRS default does, and then estimates the federal income tax on what falls out.

Crypto Tax Calculator - Danfio

https://danfio.com/tools/crypto-tax-calculator/ - printed from this page

Currency: USD ($) - display only, nothing was converted

One row per lot you acquired. The page matches your sale against them from the earliest date first, which is the IRS default for units that are not specifically identified.

BoughtThe date you acquired the units, from the trade confirmation or the exchange CSV export. It decides the holding period.
UnitsHow many units that lot holds - the quantity on the confirmation, not the dollars you paid for it.
Price per unitPrice per unit on that buy. The lot cost basis is units x price, plus the fee in the next column.
Buying feeThe exchange fee paid on that buy. It is added to the cost basis, so it lowers the taxable gain.

How many units you sold, exchanged or otherwise disposed of this year.

The date of the sale or exchange. Units held for one year or less at this date are short term.

$

What you received per unit in U.S. dollars - for a cash sale the proceeds, for an exchange for goods or another asset the fair market value.

$

Fees paid to effect the sale, taken off the proceeds.

Your filing status. It picks the brackets the gain is stacked into, so it changes the rate on the whole result.

$

Wages and other ordinary income after deductions. Short-term gains are taxed in the ordinary brackets stacked on top of it.

$

Interest, dividends and rent that count towards the 3.8% net investment income tax.

Results update as you type. Nothing leaves your device.

Currency symbol

Symbol only - nothing is converted and no exchange rate is used. Figures quoted in the explanation text stay as the sources publish them.

Estimated federal tax on this year’s crypto

$5,463.83

$7,972.50 short-term and $24,732.50 long-term

Gain after fees
$32,705.00
Short-term gain
$7,972.50
Long-term gain
$24,732.50

The sale, lot by lot (first in, first out)

BoughtUnits soldCost basisProceedsGain or lossTerm
2021-06-010.4$14,430.00$27,197.00$12,767.00Long term
2021-12-010.6$28,830.00$40,795.50$11,965.50Long term
2026-04-101$60,020.00$67,992.50$7,972.50Short term
Sold in total2$103,280.00$135,985.00$32,705.00
Still held2

Units are matched from the earliest purchase date because FAQ Q41 assigns units sold that are not specifically identified "in chronological order beginning with the earliest unit of the virtual currency you purchased or acquired; that is, on a first in, first out (FIFO) basis." Specific identification is possible under FAQ Q39, but it requires the record-keeping FAQ Q40 describes; this page costs the sale on FIFO either way.

Where the tax is estimated

MeasureAmount
Short-term gain (ordinary income rates)$7,972.50
Long-term gain (0% / 15% / 20% ladder)$24,732.50
Room left in the 0% long-term band$0
Ordinary income tax without this gain$7,912.00
Tax on the short-term gain$1,753.95
Tax on the long-term gain$3,709.88
Net investment income tax (3.8%)$0.00
Total federal tax on this year’s crypto$5,463.83
Effective rate on the gain16.7%

Short-term gains ride the ordinary brackets on top of ordinary taxable income; long-term gains ride the preferential ladder on top of both; and gains that push estimated modified AGI past the threshold add the 3.8% net investment income tax. The estimate does not model credits, carryover losses, the alternative minimum tax, gift or donation rules, state income tax, or the wallet-level basis identification rules the IRS describes from 2025 - see the pages this page is anchored to.

The sale of 2 units for $68,000.00 each shows a $32,705.00 gain after a $15.00 selling fee, and the estimated federal tax on it is $5,463.83 — $7,972.50 of it short-term and $24,732.50 long-term, costing 16.7% of the gain. "Virtual currency is treated as property and general tax principles applicable to property transactions apply" (FAQ Q2), so report the capital gain or loss on Form 8949 and summarize it on Schedule D (FAQ Q43), answer the Digital assets question "Yes" on your return (IRS Digital assets page), and keep the records FAQ Q46 lists — receipts, sales, exchanges and fair market value. This is an estimate from the numbers you typed, not a return and not tax advice.

The pages it quotes name what a real filer still has to do: report the capital gain or loss on Form 8949 and carry it to Schedule D, answer the Digital assets question on the return, and keep the records the FAQ lists. Nothing on this page replaces any of that.

About this crypto tax calculator

This page matches each unit sold back to the purchases it came from on the IRS default - the first in, first out rule the IRS virtual currency FAQ describes - and then prices the short- and long-term gain through this site’s shared 2026 tables (Rev. Proc. 2025-32). The matching, the per-unit basis with the buying fee spread over the lot, and the holding period are all computed from the lots you enter; nothing you type leaves the browser.

It is one lane of a crypto tax filing, not the whole return: a net loss is reported rather than carried into another year, the wallet-level basis identification rules the IRS describes from 2025 are not modelled, and state tax, credits and gift rules sit outside it. An estimate, not a return, and not tax advice.

How this crypto tax calculator works

Crypto is property, so a sale is a capital transaction

The IRS is explicit: "Virtual currency is treated as property and general tax principles applicable to property transactions apply to transactions using virtual currency" (FAQ Q2). Selling units for dollars gives you a capital gain or loss equal to "the difference between your adjusted basis in the virtual currency and the amount you received in exchange" (FAQ Q7), and the same shape holds for an exchange for goods, services or another asset, where the amount received is the fair market value.

Ordinary income is a separate lane this page does not walk. Mining, staking and payment for services are taxable as income - the IRS Digital assets page says plainly that "Income from digital assets is taxable" - but they are not a sale, and they are not estimated here.

Basis is what you paid, with the buying fee spread over the units

FAQ Q8 defines basis the way a filer should expect: "Your basis (also known as your “cost basis”) is the amount you spent to acquire the virtual currency, including fees, commissions and other acquisition costs in U.S. dollars." The page turns that into a per-unit number for each lot - price plus the buying fee divided over the units - and takes the selling fee off the proceeds, so the buying fee and the selling fee both land in the arithmetic, each in the column the IRS describes.

A fee belongs to whichever transaction caused it: a buying fee is added to basis, a selling fee is subtracted from proceeds. The page asks for each as a separate number and prints the per-unit result on every line, so the arithmetic is checkable against your own records.

FIFO is the default when units are not specifically identified

The rule that decides which lots are sold: "If you do not identify specific units of virtual currency, the units are deemed to have been sold, exchanged, or otherwise disposed of in chronological order beginning with the earliest unit of the virtual currency you purchased or acquired; that is, on a first in, first out (FIFO) basis" (FAQ Q41). The page sorts your lots oldest first and consumes them in that order until the sale is filled.

Specific identification is possible - FAQ Q39 lets you choose which units are sold "if you can specifically identify which unit or units of virtual currency are involved in the transaction and substantiate your basis in those units" - but it depends on records most wallets do not keep. This page costs the sale on the FIFO default either way, and says so in its results.

Short-term rides ordinary rates; long-term rides 0/15/20

FAQ Q6 draws the line: "If you held the virtual currency for one year or less before selling or exchanging the virtual currency, then you will have a short-term capital gain or loss. If you held the virtual currency for more than one year before selling or exchanging it, then you will have a long-term capital gain or loss." The page marks each lot it touches by whether the sale falls more than a year after that lot’s purchase.

Short-term gains are stacked on top of the ordinary taxable income you type, long-term gains ride the preferential 0% / 15% / 20% ladder above both, gains that push estimated modified AGI over the threshold add the 3.8% net investment income tax, and a net capital loss is reported rather than taxed - the IRS subjects losses to "any limitations on the deductibility of capital losses" (FAQ Q4), and this page stops at the point the IRS pages do instead of guessing the rest.

Worked examples

Each example below was run through the calculator on this page when the site was built, so the numbers match what you see when you enter the same inputs.

Default case: three lots, two units sold

Your purchases: 3 items · Units sold: 2 · Sale date: Sep 20, 2026 · Price per unit at sale: $68,000.00 · Selling fee: $15.00 · Filing status: Single · Ordinary taxable income: $60,000.00 · Other investment income: $0.00

Estimated federal tax on this year’s crypto

$5,463.83

$7,972.50 short-term and $24,732.50 long-term

Gain after fees: $32,705.00 · Short-term gain: $7,972.50 · Long-term gain: $24,732.50

FIFO fills the sale from the 2021 lots first, so both are long term, and the last unit lands in the 2026 lot as short term: a $32,705.00 gain and an estimated federal tax of $5,463.83 - the long-term half on the 15% ladder, the short-term half as ordinary income.

A one-unit sale is still matched to the 2021 lots

Your purchases: 3 items · Units sold: 1 · Sale date: Sep 20, 2026 · Price per unit at sale: $60,000.00 · Selling fee: $15.00 · Filing status: Single · Ordinary taxable income: $60,000.00 · Other investment income: $0.00

Estimated federal tax on this year’s crypto

$2,508.75

$0.00 short-term and $16,725.00 long-term

Gain after fees: $16,725.00 · Short-term gain: $0.00 · Long-term gain: $16,725.00

Selling a single unit still hits the 2021 lots first, so the whole $16,725.00 gain is long term - and with $60,000 of ordinary income it costs $2,508.75 on the 15% ladder, nothing riding the 0% band.

A low-income year keeps the long-term gain in the 0% band

Your purchases: 3 items · Units sold: 1 · Sale date: Sep 20, 2026 · Price per unit at sale: $52,000.00 · Selling fee: $10.00 · Filing status: Single · Ordinary taxable income: $20,000.00 · Other investment income: $0.00

Estimated federal tax on this year’s crypto

$0.00

$0.00 short-term and $8,730.00 long-term

Gain after fees: $8,730.00 · Short-term gain: $0.00 · Long-term gain: $8,730.00

With ordinary income of $20,000, a single filer has room in the 0% long-term band (2026), so the whole $8,730.00 gain is tax free - an estimated $0.00 of federal tax on the sale.

A loss year is reported, not repaid

Your purchases: 3 items · Units sold: 3 · Sale date: Sep 20, 2026 · Price per unit at sale: $30,000.00 · Selling fee: $15.00 · Filing status: Single · Ordinary taxable income: $60,000.00 · Other investment income: $0.00

Capital loss this year

$73,315.00

$60,050.00 short-term, $13,265.00 long-term

Units sold: 3 · Units still held: 1 · Cost basis sold: $163,300.00

Selling three units at $30,000 more than wipes out the earlier gains: the page reports a $73,315 capital loss - $60,050.00 short-term and $13,265.00 long-term - rather than taxing it.

Frequently asked questions

Why does the page match my sale to the oldest purchases?

Because that is the IRS default. FAQ Q41: "If you do not identify specific units of virtual currency, the units are deemed to have been sold, exchanged, or otherwise disposed of in chronological order beginning with the earliest unit of the virtual currency you purchased or acquired; that is, on a first in, first out (FIFO) basis." You can specifically identify the units sold under FAQ Q39, but it takes the per-unit records FAQ Q40 describes, and many people find the oldest-first default is the only basis history they actually have. The page matches FIFO and shows every lot it touched.

Is the cost basis just the price I paid?

Not quite - FAQ Q8: "Your basis (also known as your “cost basis”) is the amount you spent to acquire the virtual currency, including fees, commissions and other acquisition costs in U.S. dollars." The page adds the buying fee to each lot and spreads it across those units, takes the selling fee off the proceeds, and prints the per-unit number on every line so the arithmetic is checkable.

What decides whether a gain is short-term or long-term?

The holding period. FAQ Q6: "If you held the virtual currency for one year or less before selling or exchanging the virtual currency, then you will have a short-term capital gain or loss. If you held the virtual currency for more than one year before selling or exchanging it, then you will have a long-term capital gain or loss." The page counts it per lot - a 2021 purchase sold today is long term even when another unit in the same wallet was bought this spring and comes out short term.

What happens in a losing year?

A capital loss is reported, not taxed. FAQ Q4 recognizes the gain or loss "subject to any limitations on the deductibility of capital losses", and the page prints the loss for Form 8949 and Schedule D rather than carrying it forward - it does not model how much of a loss a particular return could actually use, because that is a whole extra worksheet and a place where the honest answer is to ask a professional.

Is this the whole of my crypto tax filing?

No - this page is one lane. FAQ Q43 has you report "most sales and other capital transactions ... including on Form 8949, Sales and Other Dispositions of Capital Assets, and then summarize capital gains and deductible capital losses on Form 1040, Schedule D, Capital Gains and Losses." The return also asks the Digital assets question, which you answer "Yes" to when you sold, exchanged or otherwise disposed of digital assets, and FAQ Q46 asks you to keep records "sufficient to establish the positions taken on tax returns". The page leaves out state tax, credits, donation and gift rules, the alternative minimum tax, and the wallet-level basis identification rules the IRS describes from 2025. When the number matters, a tax professional is the right next step.

Do I owe tax if I swapped crypto for another coin instead of cash?

Yes - a swap is a disposition. The IRS virtual currency FAQ treats an exchange for another digital asset as a sale where the amount received is the fair market value of what you got, so the same gain or loss has to be figured. This page prices a sale for dollars; a coin-for-coin swap follows the same capital-gains shapes with fair market value standing in for the sale price, so the estimate here carries over in shape, not as a finished number for that trade.

Assumptions and sources

  • Each unit sold is matched to the earliest purchase that still has units - the FAQ Q41 first in, first out default - with basis per unit equal to the price paid plus the buying fee spread over the lot (FAQ Q8) and the selling fee spread over every unit sold (FAQ Q7).
  • Units held for more than a year are long term on the 0% / 15% / 20% preferential ladder (FAQ Q6); the rest are short term and ride the ordinary brackets on top of ordinary taxable income; gains that push estimated modified AGI over the threshold add the 3.8% net investment income tax (IRS Topic no. 559).
  • The 0/15/20 and ordinary tables are this site’s shared 2026 calculation (Rev. Proc. 2025-32). The page estimates only the federal tax on a capital gain and stops where the IRS pages stop: it does not carry a loss into another year, does not model the wallet-level basis identification rules the IRS describes from 2025, and leaves out state tax, credits, and gift rules. Quotes verified against the IRS virtual currency FAQ and the Digital assets page on 2026-09-26.

Last reviewed 2026-10-09. An estimate, not a return, and not tax advice. Read the full disclaimer.

Where a figure on this page comes from an official agency — HUD, IRS, FICO or a state body — the site keeps a dated snapshot of the source page in its sources library, and a scheduled job re-checks that snapshot, so the number can be traced back to the document it came from.

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