Crypto Capital Gains Tax Calculator

Cryptocurrency is taxed as property by the IRS (Rev. Ruling 2014-21). Every sale, trade, or use of crypto to buy goods triggers a taxable event where you must calculate your capital gain or loss.

Core formulas: Capital Gain / Loss = Sale Price − Cost Basis Cost Basis = Purchase Price + Fees Paid to Acquire Tax Owed = Capital Gain × Applicable Tax Rate

Holding period determines the rate:

• Short-term (held < 1 year): taxed at your ordinary income marginal rate (10–37%)
• Long-term (held ≥ 1 year): taxed at preferential capital gains rate (0%, 15%, or 20%)

2026 long-term capital gains rates (single filers):

Two things about that table catch people out. The first is that the income figure is your total taxable income including the gain, not the gain by itself. The second is that these are bands, not a single rate: a gain that straddles a line is split between the two rates, and the part of a gain that lands below $49,450 of total income is taxed at nothing at all. The site’s general capital gains calculator shows that split in detail, and this page uses the same band arithmetic so the two agree.

Worked example: Bought 2 BTC for $15,000 in January 2023. Sold for $90,000 in March 2025, so it was held well over a year. Say you have $70,000 of other taxable income.

• Capital gain: $90,000 − $15,000 = $75,000
• Total taxable income: $70,000 + $75,000 = $145,000, which is inside the 15% band
• Long-term tax: $75,000 × 15% = $11,250

Sell the same position at eight months instead and it is ordinary income. Stacked on $70,000, that gain runs through the 22% and 24% brackets and costs about $17,300, roughly $6,000 more for selling four months early.

The gap widens with income. On $500,000 of other income the same $75,000 gain costs $15,575 long-term against $29,100 short-term, both figures including the 3.8% Net Investment Income Tax that kicks in above $200,000.

Additional taxable crypto events:

• Trading one crypto for another (BTC → ETH) is a taxable sale at current value
• Receiving crypto as income or payment: taxed as ordinary income at market value
• Mining rewards: ordinary income at fair market value when received
• Staking rewards: currently treated as ordinary income (subject to ongoing IRS guidance)

Loss harvesting: Capital losses offset gains. If you sold crypto at a loss, deduct it against gains. Up to $3,000 in net losses can offset ordinary income per year; excess losses carry forward.