Form guide · Digital assets · IRC §6045
Form 1099-DA: The First Year Crypto Got a Tax Form
Brokers began reporting digital asset dispositions on Form 1099-DA for transactions in 2025. The form arrived with gross proceeds and, for most people, no cost basis at all — which is exactly where the expensive mistakes start.
Box 1f is proceeds, not profit.
Gross proceeds sit in Box 1f — the Box 1 series splits across the transaction details (date acquired, date sold, units, and so on), and 1f is the money figure. A 1099-DA showing $48,000 in Box 1f does not mean $48,000 of income. It means $48,000 came out of dispositions. What you owe tax on is that number minus your basis — and for 2025 sales the IRS expects you to supply the basis. File without it and you are effectively volunteering to be taxed on your own principal. Digital assets held for investment are capital assets, so the gain or loss lands on Form 8949 and Schedule D.
One exception: if you created or minted a specified NFT and a broker reports its first sale under the optional NFT method, the proceeds are in Box 11c and Box 1f is blank. That income is often ordinary or business income rather than a capital gain.
The phase-in, year by year
| Tax year | Gross proceeds | Cost basis | Your statement |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 transactions | Mandatory | Voluntary — most brokers omitted it | Furnished to you by February 17, 2026 |
| 2026 transactions | Mandatory | Mandatory for covered digital assets (except sales reported under the optional stablecoin or NFT method, which carry no basis); voluntary for noncovered | Furnished during the 2027 filing season |
Source: 2025 and 2026 Instructions for Form 1099-DA; IRS Fact Sheet FS-2025-06 for the February 17, 2026 furnishing date.
Covered vs. noncovered — the distinction that decides everything
Covered
A digital asset acquired after 2025 in an account where the broker provided custodial services, and held in that same account until the broker effects the disposition.
The broker must report basis unless it reports the sale under the optional method for qualifying stablecoins or specified NFTs, which needs no acquisition date or basis. Check any reported basis against your own acquisition records, and keep those records either way.
Noncovered
Everything else, including:
- Anything acquired before 2026
- Assets the broker did not custody at acquisition
- Assets transferred in from another wallet or exchange
- Assets acquired by an exempt recipient or exempt foreign person
Basis reporting is optional. If it appears, it is voluntary information — verify it against your own records.
The de minimis exceptions that make transactions disappear
- Qualifying stablecoins — $10,000. A broker using the optional stablecoin method need not report designated sales when your aggregate gross proceeds from them, net of allocable transaction costs, stay within the annual $10,000 de minimis amount. A "qualifying stablecoin" must track a single convertible currency 1:1, use an effective stabilization mechanism, and be generally accepted as payment by parties other than the issuer.
- Specified NFTs — $600. Under the optional NFT method, sales go unreported when aggregate gross proceeds net of allocable transaction costs do not exceed $600 for the year. A specified NFT is indivisible, unique, and does not give the holder an interest in certain excluded property.
- Payment processors (PDAP) — $600. A processor of digital asset payments need not report PDAP sales at or under $600 for the year — but once a customer crosses $600, all of that customer's sales become reportable.
None of these thresholds change what is taxable. They only switch off the broker's paperwork.
Rev. Proc. 2024-28: why your basis is now per-wallet
The final broker regulations moved digital asset basis tracking away from a single "universal" pool and onto a wallet-by-wallet, account-by-account footing under Reg. §1.1012-1(j). Taxpayers who had been tracking universally needed a way to land on the new system without inventing basis.
Rev. Proc. 2024-28 was that bridge. It provided a safe harbor under IRC §1012(c)(1) permitting any reasonable allocation of unused basis to the wallets and accounts holding the remaining units — measured as of immediately after the close of December 31, 2024.
It does not apply to assets acquired on or after January 1, 2025. Those are governed by the regulations directly, which is why 2026 covered-asset reporting works and 2025 reporting largely did not.
Where the numbers go on your return
- Form 8949 and Schedule D cover sales and other dispositions of capital assets. Digital assets held for investment are capital assets, so list those dispositions on Form 8949, matching proceeds to the 1099-DA and supplying basis and acquisition date from your own records where the broker left them blank.
- Not every digital asset receipt is a capital transaction. Compensation paid in crypto, rewards, mining and staking income, inventory, and transactions with customers or in a trade or business can produce ordinary or business income reported elsewhere — Form 1040 wages, Schedule 1, or Schedule C — rather than on Form 8949.
- Form 8949 has an exception (Exception 1). You can put totals directly on Schedule D line 1a (short-term) or 8a (long-term) only when the Form 1099-DA shows basis was reported to the IRS (box 2 checked), shows no adjustment in box 1h or 1i, does not have the Ordinary box (box 6) checked, the basis and type of gain need no change, the assets are not collectibles, and no QOF deferral is being elected or ended. Everything else goes on Form 8949 (box H or K when basis was not reported to the IRS).
- Form 8949 totals carry to Schedule D, split between short-term (held one year or less) and long-term.
- Schedule D's net figure flows to Form 1040. Net capital losses deduct against ordinary income only up to $3,000 per year ($1,500 MFS), with the rest carried forward.
- Answer the digital asset question on the front of Form 1040 truthfully — it is a yes for any disposition, regardless of whether a 1099-DA arrived.
If the form is wrong
The IRS cannot correct a Form 1099-DA for you. Contact the broker that issued it and ask for a corrected form. The IRS's own guidance is not to wait: file a complete and accurate return on time using your records, rather than letting a disputed statement push you past the deadline.
Keep the documentation that supports your basis. Acquisition dates, transfer records between wallets, and the allocation you made under Rev. Proc. 2024-28 are the evidence that turns a proceeds-only form into a defensible gain.
Related tools
Frequently asked questions
Why is my Form 1099-DA missing cost basis?
Because for 2025 transactions the IRS did not require brokers to report it. The 2025 Instructions for Form 1099-DA state that brokers 'are not required to report basis information with respect to sales effected in 2025' — reporting basis was voluntary. The IRS said the same thing in Fact Sheet FS-2025-06: most statements 'will not provide the basis of the taxpayers' digital asset transaction(s) for the 2025 tax year. Basis must be calculated by taxpayers before their 2025 tax return can be filed.'
Does a 1099-DA mean I owe tax on the full amount in Box 1f?
No. Box 1f reports gross proceeds — what the disposition brought in, not your gain. Your taxable gain is proceeds minus your cost basis, reported on Form 8949 and carried to Schedule D. If you bought 1 ETH for $3,000 and sold it for $3,400, the 1099-DA can show $3,400 in Box 1f while your actual gain is $400. Getting basis wrong in either direction is the single most expensive mistake on a crypto return.
What does 'covered' mean on a Form 1099-DA?
Per the 2026 instructions, a covered security is a digital asset acquired after 2025 for cash, stored-value cards, other digital assets, or reportable property/services, in an account for which the broker provided custodial services — and held in that account until the broker effects the disposition. Anything acquired before 2026, transferred in from elsewhere, or held without the broker's custody is noncovered, and the broker is not required to report its basis.
I didn't get a 1099-DA. Do I still have to report my crypto?
Yes. The IRS is explicit: 'Whether or not you receive a Form 1099-DA, you must report all income, gains and losses from digital asset transactions on your federal income tax return.' For 2025 the filing requirements generally applied to U.S. brokers, so trades on offshore exchanges often generate no form at all — and remain fully reportable.
What was Rev. Proc. 2024-28 and did I need to do anything?
It was a safe harbor under IRC §1012(c)(1) that let taxpayers reallocate unused pre-2025 basis to specific wallets and accounts, effective as of the close of December 31, 2024. It existed because the final broker regulations moved basis tracking from a 'universal' pool to a per-wallet, per-account method. The allocation had to be made as of January 1, 2025; it does not cover assets acquired on or after that date, which are governed directly by Reg. §1.1012-1(j).
Why did my stablecoin swaps not show up?
Brokers may use an optional reporting method for qualifying stablecoins, and under it they need not report designated sales when your aggregate gross proceeds from those sales stay at or under the $10,000 de minimis amount for the year. A parallel $600 de minimis applies to specified NFTs, and a separate $600 threshold applies to processors of digital asset payments. None of these thresholds make the income non-taxable — they only switch off the broker's reporting duty.
Sources & References
Primary references used for this content
Digital Asset Proceeds From Broker Transactions
The new broker report for crypto and other digital assets
View on irs.gov
Instructions for Form 1099-DA
Covered vs. noncovered assets and the optional reporting methods
View on irs.gov
Understanding Your Form 1099-DA
What to do with the form, and what to do if it is wrong
View on irs.gov
Digital Asset Basis Allocation Safe Harbor
Wallet-by-wallet reallocation of unused basis as of Jan 1, 2025
View on irs.gov
Sales and Other Dispositions of Capital Assets
Where each reported sale is listed before it reaches Schedule D
View on irs.gov
✓5 primary sources; links re-checked on a weekly rotation by the source watcher
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