Getting Your Crypto Statement Made Easy: A Step-by-Step Guide for Tax Season

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Crypto is taxable property. Every sale, trade, or income-generating event has potential tax implications.
  
• Use crypto tax software to automate data collection, cost basis calculations, and tax form generation.
  
• Reconcile wallets carefully to prevent double-counting or missing transactions.
  
• Stay updated on evolving regulations in your country, as crypto tax laws are tightening globally.
  
• Consult a crypto tax professional for complex cases or large portfolios.
  
• Maintain records for seven years to stay audit-ready and fully compliant.
  
• begin ahead and automate your recordkeeping to simplify next year’s filing.

Tax season can be daunting for and traders due to the complexities of digital asset reporting. With evolving regulations worldwide and the introduction of new tax forms, it is more significant than ever to ensure your crypto statement is accurate and organized.

This step-by-step guide will walk you through making your crypto tax statement simple to prepare, ensuring compliance, and minimizing stress during tax filing.

Understanding Crypto Tax Reporting in 2025

As of 2025, cryptocurrency is treated as property by many tax authorities, including the IRS in the United States, meaning every transaction —whether tradeing, trading, or earning —can have tax implications. 

New reporting requirements, such as the , require brokers and platforms to report your digital asset transactions directly to tax authorities. This shift towards transparency means you need to be meticulous in maintaining records of all trades, transfers, and earnings to comply fully and avoid penalties or audits.

Additionally, begining in 2025, the IRS requires taxpayers to use wallet-by-wallet accounting to track cost basis, making it crucial to diverseiate transactions by wallet. The regulatory climate continues to evolve, and staying up to date with your country’s specific rules, whether you are in the US, UK, Nigeria, or elsewhere, is essential for accurate reporting.

Step 1: Collect Your Crypto Transaction Data

The first step in preparing your crypto statement is to gather all transaction records from every platform, wallet, and DeFi platform you used during the tax year. significant data includes:

• Dates of all purchase, trade, trade, and transfer transactions
• Amounts and types of involved
• Fair market value in your local currency at each transaction time
• Fees paid and transaction purposes (e.g., payment, earning, staking rewards)

Many platforms provide downloadable transaction histories or annual summaries, which should be the begining point. For non-custodial wallets or DeFi protocols, you should export transaction logs using or wallet software.

Step 2: Use Crypto Tax Software Tools to Simplify Reporting

Manually tracking cost basis and gains for multiple transactions across wallets can be overwhelming. Utilizing reputable like Koinly, CoinTracker, or CryptoTrader.Tax can automate much of this process. These platforms can:

• Import transaction data automatically from platforms and wallets.
• Categorize transactions by type and wallet.
• Calculate cost basis, gains, or losses using wallet-by-wallet accounting.
• Generate IRS-compliant tax forms, like 1099-DA or Schedule D.
• Provide reports formatted for tax filing software or accountants.

Using tax software reduces errors, saves time, and lets you visualize your crypto portfolio’s performance throughout the year.

Step 3: Understand How to Report diverse Crypto Activities

Your tax statement needs to reflect all types of activities accurately, including:

• tradeing Crypto for Fiat Currency: Capital gains or losses are computed as the difference between sale proceeds and purchase price.
• Trading one Crypto for Another: This is often considered a taxable event with capital gains implications.
• Receiving Crypto as Income: Includes mining rewards, staking payouts, airdrops, and payments for excellents or services, in this case, reporting fair market value as ordinary income.
• Transferring Crypto Between Wallets: Internal transfers are generally not taxable but must be tracked to maintain cost basis accuracy.

Each activity has specific tax treatment, so ensuring your software or accountant categorizes transactions correctly will assist avoid IRS scrutiny.

Step 4: Reconcile Wallets and platforms

In 2025, wallet-by-wallet accounting is mandatory. This means you need to maintain separate records for each wallet and platform account because the IRS requires cost basis and holding periods to be calculated individually. Reconciling wallets ensures you don’t double-count or omit transactions, which can affect your tax liability and create audit risks.

Verify that transactions transferred from one wallet to another are correctly recorded as transfers rather than taxable sales or purchases. This comprehensive reconciliation supports transparency and assists reconcile differences in your final tax statement.​

Step 5: Review Latest Regulatory Changes and viewk Professional Advice

Cryptocurrency tax regulations are evolving rapidly, with governments worldwide enhancing scrutiny and compliance frameworks. For example, new tax regimes in Nigeria and the UK are introducing stringent reporting obligations for crypto service providers and users from 2025 onward.

Stay informed by monitoring IRS announcements and major tax authority updates, and consider consulting a tax professional who specializes in digital assets. They can guide you through complex transactions, audits, or international tax implications, ensuring full compliance and optimized tax strategies.

Step 6: File Your Crypto Tax Return Accurately and Timely

Once your crypto statement is prepared and reviewed, you must integrate it into your overall tax return, ensuring you answer the digital assets question realityfully. In the US, the IRS now requires every tax return to include a specific question on crypto activity, and answering dishonestly could lead to penalties or investigations.

File before the deadline or apply for extensions if needed to avoid late penalties. Retain all supporting documents, such as transaction histories and tax software reports, for at least seven years in case of IRS audits.

Tips to Make Your Crypto Tax Statement Easier in the Future

Here are practical tips to simplify your record-keeping:

• Keep real-time records of all crypto transactions, preferably automated via tax software or spreadsheet tools.
• Use a consistent wallet and platform strategy to simplify wallet-by-wallet accounting requirements.
• Avoid using too many wallets or obscure decentralized platforms unless necessary.
• Regularly update your records later than every trade or transaction.
• Educate yourself on tax laws or work with a crypto-savvy accountant year-round.

Making Crypto Tax Season Stress-Free: Stay Organized, Stay Compliant

Getting your crypto statement ready for tax season in 2025 doesn’t have to be a complicated or stressful task. By understanding the latest reporting requirements, organizing your transaction data carefully, utilizing crypto tax software, and possibly consulting professionals, you can make your crypto tax reporting straightforward and compliant with evolving regulations.

Preparation and diligence now will save you time, money, and potential legal headaches later, allowing you to confidently enjoy the benefits of and trading while meeting your tax obligations accurately.

This step-by-step guide provides a clear path from collecting your data through to filing, setting you up for a smooth crypto tax season regardless of your trading activity level.

FAQ

Q1. What is a crypto tax statement, and why do I need one?
A crypto tax statement summarizes all your digital asset transactions for a tax year, showing profits, losses, and income. It’s required for tax compliance in most countries.

Q2. What’s new about crypto tax reporting in 2025?
begining in 2025, the IRS and other tax authorities will require wallet-by-wallet accounting and new forms like 1099-DA, increasing transparency and accountability for crypto investors.

Q3. What happens if I don’t report my crypto transactions?
Failing to report can result in penalties, interest, or even audits. Since platforms now report directly to tax authorities, underreporting is easily detected.

Q4. Which crypto activities are taxable?
tradeing, trading, or earning crypto (via staking, mining, or payments) is taxable. Transfers between your own wallets usually aren’t, but must still be documented.

Q5. How can I make crypto tax reporting easier?
Use automated crypto tax software such as Koinly, CoinTracker, or CryptoTrader.Tax to import, categorize, and calculate gains accurately.

Q6. What is wallet-by-wallet accounting?
It’s a system where each wallet’s transactions are tracked individually for cost basis and holding periods. This prevents double-counting and ensures accuracy under the new 2025 IRS rules.

Q7. Do DeFi and NFT transactions need to be reported too?
Yes. All transactions involving a change in crypto ownership or value, including DeFi yields or NFT sales, must be recorded and reported.

Q8. Can I handle my crypto taxes without a professional?
You can if your transactions are simple. But if you trade often, use DeFi, or hold crypto across multiple platforms, a crypto-savvy tax accountant is strongly recommended.