Form 1099-DA Explained

If you sold, traded or spent crypto through an exchange, you may get a new tax form: Form 1099-DA. Below I explain what it reports, why it may not match your own records, and what to do before you file.

What is Form 1099-DA?

Form 1099-DA, Digital Asset Proceeds From Broker Transactions, is the IRS information return for crypto and other digital assets. Brokers send one copy to you and one to the IRS. Brokers include custodial exchanges, certain hosted wallet providers and crypto kiosks.

The form reports dispositions: selling crypto for dollars or other currency, trading one digital asset for another, spending crypto on goods or services, and using crypto to pay broker fees. Brokers generally must furnish your copy by February 15 of the following year, sometimes as part of a combined year-end statement.

2025 vs. 2026: what's on the form

• 2025 transactions (forms issued in early 2026): brokers must report gross proceeds. Reporting cost basis was optional, so many 2025 forms show proceeds with no basis.
• 2026 transactions and later (forms issued starting in early 2027): brokers must also report cost basis, but only for "covered" assets. A covered asset is one you acquired in 2026 or later in an account where that broker held it for you, and kept there until the sale.
• Everything else is "noncovered": assets bought before 2026, or transferred in from another wallet or exchange. For these, the broker may leave basis blank and check box 9.

One sale can produce several forms, because the broker reports covered and noncovered units separately.

Why your 1099-DA may not match your records

• Transfers between your own wallets and exchanges. When you move coins into an exchange, it doesn't know what you paid for them. Transferred-in units are noncovered, so basis is often missing. Under current rules, a broker can use the purchase details you give it to pick which units were sold, but not to report your basis.
• Self-custody wallets and DeFi. Congress repealed the DeFi broker rule in April 2025, so non-custodial platforms don't issue Form 1099-DA. Those trades are still taxable, and you have to track them yourself.
• Foreign exchanges. For 2025, the rules generally apply only to U.S. brokers, so an exchange based outside the U.S. may not send you a form.
• Transactions excluded for now. Under Notice 2024-57, brokers don't yet have to report wrapping, liquidity pool, staking, lending or short-sale transactions. Staking rewards also aren't reported on Form 1099-DA, but they are still taxable income.
• Different methods and summaries. Proceeds are reduced by fees, and if you don't tell the broker which units you sold, it generally reports the earliest units first, which your software may not do. Small stablecoin and NFT sales may be reported in totals or not at all.

How to report it on Form 8949

Crypto sales go on Form 8949 and then Schedule D. Digital assets now have their own checkboxes: G, H or I for short-term sales and J, K or L for long-term sales. Your 1099-DA has an "Applicable checkbox on Form 8949" field that tells you which one to use.

• Basis reported to the IRS (G or J): if the basis is correct and nothing needs adjusting, you may be able to report totals directly on Schedule D.
• Basis not reported (H or K): enter your own documented cost basis in column (e).
• Basis reported but wrong: enter the broker's figure, put code "B" in column (f), and show the correction in column (g), following the Form 8949 instructions.
• No form at all (I or L): report the sale from your own records.

If the form itself is wrong, for example it shows a sale you never made, ask the broker (the "Filer" on the form) for a corrected form. The IRS can't correct it for you. Keep copies, and don't delay filing while you wait.

The digital asset question on Form 1040

Every Form 1040 asks whether, at any time during the year, you (a) received a digital asset as a reward, award or payment for property or services, or (b) sold, exchanged or otherwise disposed of a digital asset.

Answer Yes if you sold, traded or spent crypto, or received it from staking, mining, airdrops or as pay. You can generally answer No if you only held crypto, only bought it with dollars, or only moved it between your own wallets. If you paid a network fee in crypto, though, that counts as a transaction.

What if you didn't receive a 1099-DA?

You still have to report all income, gains and losses from digital assets, whether or not you get a form. That includes trades on foreign exchanges, in self-custody wallets and on DeFi platforms. For each sale, the IRS expects you to know the asset, the date and time, the number of units, the U.S. dollar value and your basis.

A practical reconciliation checklist

1. Collect every Form 1099-DA, plus full transaction exports (CSV files) from each exchange.
2. List every wallet and account you used.
3. Match transfers between your own accounts so they aren't treated as sales.
4. Rebuild cost basis for transferred-in and pre-2026 assets, wallet by wallet.
5. Compare your totals with each form and note the reason for each difference.
6. Request corrected forms where the broker made an error, and keep your records with your return.

Frequently asked questions