The rise of the cryptocurrency industry, alongside the high profits that people can earn through the purchase, trade, and investment of digital currencies have encouraged governments throughout the world to update their taxation policies, in order to take crypto-based profits into account.
However, cryptocurrencies are very dynamic, whereas keeping track of all transactions for taxation purposes is bound to be a difficult endeavour. Additionally, regulatory taxation frameworks lack standardization, thus leading to a status-quo that confuses most digital currency holders.
The appropriate philosophy behind taxes is that the process should be streamlined and easy to follow – however, we are in the presence of an emerging market, where financial institutions are still trying to figure out the best approaches towards cryptocurrency taxation. Thus, tax-paying citizens must learn the ropes on-the-go while adapting to potential policy changes.
Luckily, thanks to the presence of digital currency tax software, crypto enthusiasts do not have to do all the heavy lifting, as the process can be vastly improved through the use of specialized taxation platforms.
Top Cryptocurrency Tax Software
Here is a run down of the top crypto tax software currently on the market.
Koinly
Koinly is a widespread cryptocurrency tax software that is well-known for its 20+ country support. Similarly to its competitors, this platform aims at making tax reporting a simple process, through its innovative transaction importing and tax computing tools. Its 6K+ cryptocurrency support, 6+ years of price records, and multiple exchange import options have all contributed towards its rising popularity.
Main features
Like most other cryptocurrency tax platforms, Koinly offers users the possibility to easily track their digital currency assets and the respective taxes owed. The portfolio analysis tool allows users to get a good look at their current holdings, to ensure that smart trading and investment decisions are made. Therefore, there are specific tools that allow for a view on the ROI, invested fiat, income, and profit/loss, and capital gains.
The data import function allows users to save significant time, by no longer requiring tax payers to go back and forth between multiple platforms. As such, Koinly allows users the option to import and sync their transaction data from a number of supported exchanges.
The automated data import is available via either an API exchange connection or by adding cryptocurrency wallet addresses. Data on margin trading, futures trading, staking, lending and DeFi can also be imported. An interesting feature is Koinly’s smart transfer matching, which leverages an artificial intelligence system to detect transfers that are made between your personal wallets, consequently excluding the respective transfers when computing the owed taxes.
Cross-platform compatibility is ensured, given the fact that the software supports 339 exchanges, 8+ blockchains, 73 wallets and 9 other crypto services (such as Purse.io, Nexo, BlockFi, etc.).
Once the data has been imported, the software can be used to create reliable cryptocurrency tax reports. Users can preview their gains and taxes for free, whereas documents can be generated whenever necessary. IRS tax forms such as 8949 can be generated by the platform, but international tax reports are also available for Canada, Germany, Sweden, the UK and a few more countries. Data export to TurboTax and other similar services is provided.
Last but not least, the platform offers several tools designed for error reconciliation. Hence, users can find potential flaws in their record, such as missing transactions and duplicates.
Pricing
Unlike many of its competitors, this platform features a free pricing package, with support for 10,000 transactions, and 50 exchanges, but which lacks the 8949 or schedule D forms, alongside international tax reports, audit reports, or exports to TurboTax. This package is generally suitable for those who want to try out the platform prior to purchasing a plan.
- The HODLER plan is priced at $79 per tax year, and supports 300 transactions, unlimited wallets/exchanges, while offering access to all Koinly features except for priority support, custom reports, and review & import assistance.
- The TRADER plan is priced at $179 per tax year, and supports 3,000 transactions, unlimited wallets/exchanges, and priority support on top of all other platform services.
- The ORACLE plan is priced at $399 per tax year, and supports 10,000 transactions, unlimited wallets/exchanges, priority support, custom reports, review & import assistance, and all other Koinly services.
Bear.Tax
Bear.Tax offers users a quick & easy tax filing and computing software that’s designed for the US market, yet is usable in other countries as well. The platform was designed to ensure compatibility with traders, accountants, fund managers, and other forms of cryptocurrency investors. 50+ exchange support, fairly-advantageous pricing plans, automation, and 24/7 customer support are just a few of the features that make Bear.Tax shine.
Main features
In terms of how it works, Bear.Tax takes on a similar approach to most other market competitors. Thus, users must first import their trades via either an API integration of file upload. The trades can be reviewed and processed via either FIFO or LIFO. Lastly, users can have their tax documents auto-generated and downloaded, for processing.
The platform offers a fully-compatible income classification section, where the following income sources are supported: gifts, staking rewards, airdrops, hard forks, referrals, mining, voting rewards, community rewards, inheritances, crypto payments, and earning programs.
The platform’s smart matching algorithm helps ensure that transactions are recorded and processed without taking fees, and block time delays into account. This helps ensure compliance with the IRS guidance, by correctly recording taxable events, while making sure that you do not over-report.
A transaction review prompt is also offered, where users can search for specific transactions and operate modifications. To make sure that the right cost basis for a specific date and time is assigned, Bear.Tax offers historical pricing for every supported cryptocurrency. The cryptocurrency tax software also supports high frequency traders (HFTs) and bots, which are known for posting thousands of transactions.
When it comes down to importing transactions, the platform offers support for most exchanges and wallets available on the market. Similarly, users can import data from an unlimited number of exchanges and cryptocurrency wallets.
Pricing
Bear.Tax currently provides customers with four payment plans: basic, intermediate, expert, and professional.
- The basic plan is priced at $10 per tax year, and supports up to 20 transactions and unlimited exchanges.
- The intermediate plan is priced at $45 per tax year, and supports up to 200 transactions and unlimited exchanges, while also offering email-based customer support, alongside the other standard features.
- The expert plan is priced at $85 per tax year, and supports up to 1,000 transactions, unlimited exchanges, multiple exchange accounts, and a chat-based customer support service, alongside all other standard features.
- The professional plan is priced at $200 per tax year, and supports an unlimited number of transactions, unlimited exchanges, 24/7 priority chat-based customer support, custom file imports, and even the possibility to connect with a real-life accountant.
CryptoTrader.Tax
At this point in time, this platform represents one of the market’s most popular choices, given the fact that it provides cryptocurrency traders and investors with a lightning fast method of calculating their capital gains, losses, and owed taxes. CryptoTrader.Tax promises up-to-date legislation and tax forms, in an effort to ensure that all clients can accurately calculate and report their taxes.
Main features
To kick things off, the platform offers an easy-to-use tax filer. First off, users must create an account, and import their digital currency transactions via the API import tool, or by uploading the trade history file. The platform integrates with virtually all major exchanges available on the market in order to provide users with a seamless experience.
Following the import of trades, users will have to add their sources of crypto income for the current tax year. So far, the platform is able to compute gains obtained via a variety of alternative sources, including mining, gifts, forks, airdrops, staking. Last but not least, users are prompted to choose the preferred calculation method and tax form.
The downloadable tax file report includes a series of documents, such as the income report, the 8949 IRS form, an audit trail report, a short/long-term sales report, the end-of-year positions report, and the TurboTax online direct import.
Once the report is downloaded, it can be imported into TurboTax or TaxAct, thanks to the cross-platform compatible format.
While the platform is mostly geared towards the US market, international support is also offered. As such, taxes can be calculated for any nation that accepts the FIFO and LIFO standards, in virtually any fiat-based currency.
A tax loss harvesting feature is also available, hence notifying users about cryptocurrencies which offer significant tax saving opportunities, thus leading to better long-term transaction planning.
The CryptoTrader.Tax platform includes a business-oriented service, where companies are provided with the necessary tools required for importing, reviewing, and filing tax reports on behalf of clients. Management and automation tools are, too, provided.
Pricing
At this point in time, the cryptocurrency tax software offers 4 pricing plans: Hobbyist, Day trader, High Volume Trader, and Unlimited.
- Hobbyist is priced at $49 per season, and includes support for 100 trades, free report previews, live chat support, unlimited revisions, IRS forms, cross-platform integration with tax filing software, tax loss harvesting, FIFO/LIFO computing, etc.
- Day Trader costs $99 per season, and offers support for up to 1,500 traders, alongside the other features highlighted above.
- High Volume Trader, which is priced at $199, is meant for professional traders, and therefore features support for 5,000 traders. Package holders also receive priority support, alongside unlimited access to the features provided.
- Unlimited comes with a price tag of $299 per tax season, and offers clients unlimited trades and access to the platform’s tools and services.
ZenLedger
Many people often vouch for ZenLedger as one of the fastest and friendliest tax tools for cryptocurrency traders, investors, and accountants. The website is well-known for its broad coverage, multiple currency/exchange support, IRS friendly integrations, and multiple payment plans. A unique aspect about ZenLedger is its personalized tax service, as the platform facilitates collaborations between clients and tax attorneys and CPAs.
Main features
To kick things off, doing your taxes via ZenLedger is mostly similar to the other platforms available on the market. Users will have to import their historical transaction data using the API or by simply uploading the respective document. Then, the platform will compute the gains/losses and the afferent tax that is owed for the current season, based on up-to-date regulations.
ZenLedger offers several other features, hence differentiating it from the competition.
First off, FinCen reporting represents an integration that alerts users in case their holdings must be reported to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Networks.
The platform is also very well suited to those who deal with EOS, thanks to the EOS ICO to mainnet support, where the tax software accurately tracks EOS coins that were either unstaked, or moved between EOS and ETH wallets.
TurboTax integration is offered, thus ensuring that clients can easily carry out their final tax calculations, for accurate reporting. Via the tax-loss harvesting system, investors can reduce some of their potential losses, by keeping track of unrealized capital losses. An accounting drill-in spreadsheet is offered, which provides users with an in-depth look at each transaction and how the tax has been calculated.
The platform also offers a CPA suite for accountants that collaborate with cryptocurrency holders. As a result, via this interface, CPAs can obtain an integrated overview of their clients’ portfolios, in a tidy manner that’s bound to reduce the workload.
Pricing
ZenLedger comes along with 5 price plans for their cryptocurrency tax software – hobbyist, starter, premium, executive, and unlimited.
- The Hobbyist plan is priced at $69/tax year, and supports 100 transactions, and up to $15K total asset value.
- The Starter plan is priced at $149/tax year, and supports 500 transactions, and up to $50K total asset value.
- The Premium plan is priced at $399/tax year, and supports 1,000 transactions, and up to $300K total asset value.
- The Executive plan is priced at $799/tax year, and supports 4,000 transactions, and up to $1M total asset value.
- The Unlimited plan is priced at $999/tax year, and supports an unlimited number of transactions, with no asset value cap. Priority support is also ensured.
ZenLedger provides customers with the services of licensed tax attorneys, or accountants, available at three pricing plans: Silver ($750), Gold ($1,250), and Diamond ($2,500).
CoinTracking
Similar to most cryptocurrency tax software available on the market, CoinTracking provides customers with proficient tax reporting tools that help ensure regulatory compliance and efficient tax reporting.
CoinTraking’s main selling points include personal portfolio analysis, trade imports, tax declarations, coin charts, coin trends, professional customer support, and effective customer security.
The platform has served over 570K users, alongside 750+ CPAs & corporate clients. It offers coin trends for 7333 digital currencies, whereas the total portfolio value of CoinTracking is estimated at $4.3B.
As we will see later on, the platform is suitable to both crypto traders and crypto companies.
Main features
CoinTracking works by carrying out an analysis of user-imported trades, for the purpose of generating data related to real-time profits, losses, coin value, gains, losses, taxes owed and more.
To put things into perspective, the personal analysis feature includes a series of interactive charts for trades and coins, audit reports for profits/losses, alongside an overview of realized and unrealized gains.
Transactions can be imported from over 70 supported exchanges, either via API integration, or through direct blockchain network sync. Exports can be realized in several formats, including Excel, PDF, CSX, JSON, and XML.
When using the platform for tax declaration, CoinTracking can calculate owed taxes via 12 computing methods, including FIFO, LIFO and AVCO. In other words, the platform is compatible with different tax jurisdiction as well, thanks to its adjustable parameters.
CoinTracking aims to help out traders and investors, through an all-inclusive chart history for over 7,000 coins, updated prices, coin statistics, trends, volumes and analyses. In fact, professional help is also provided, as the platform collaborates with numerous CPAs, and full-service experts, whose services can be utilized for accurate tax reporting.
Last but not least, the software features several verifications, meant to help users discover missing or duplicate transactions.
Pricing
From a pricing standpoint, this service features four plans: free, pro, expert, and unlimited. Bitcoin is accepted as a payment method.
- The free plan offers support for 200 transactions, limited reporting for tax/capital gains, personal exports, coin tracking, and CSV imports. This plan is mostly designed for those interested in trialling out CoinTracking.
- The pro plan is priced at $10 per month, and supports 3,500 transactions, alongside all other standard features provided by the platform, except for prioritized transactions and customer support.
- The expert plan is priced at $15.49 per month, and supports up to 20,000 transactions, alongside all other features provided by the pro plan.
- The unlimited plan is priced at $50 per month, and supports unlimited transactions, while offering clients prioritized transactions and prioritized customer support.
Accointing
Accointing is often advertised as one of the market’s friendliest cryptocurrency tax platforms. The service provides thousands of crypto traders and investors with high-quality tax computing and filing services that ensure regulatory compliance in several countries. The platform is suitable to both crypto traders and crypto companies.
Main features
This platform allows users to get a tax report within a few clicks. Firstly, traders will have to either use the API integration or upload their transaction history on the platform. Following a quick classification and a few parameter settings, the tax report is ready to be exported in PDF and CSV format.
A portfolio tracking feature is provided and available for both desktops and mobile devices. Through this feature, investors can obtain a series of interesting insights by tracking the performance of their portfolio. Price alerts, market trends, and an overview of short-term and long-term investments are also available. Currently, tracking support is available for over 4,500 currencies.
Currently, Accointing offers unlimited exchange and wallet connections for all price plans, unlike some of its competitors. Customer support is offered via a series of channels including Telegram, Email and Reddit. An all-inclusive knowledge page is offered to help answer all potential user questions.
Pricing
Those who are interested in computing their taxes via this platform must know that they are free to choose from 3 payment plans: the Starter Tax Solution, the Advanced Tax Solution, and the Professional Tax Solution.
- The Starter Tax Solution is priced at $50 per year, and includes support for up to 250 transactions, alongside access to most of the platform’s features.
- The Advanced Tax Solution is priced at $130 per year, and includes support for up to 5,000 transactions and most other features.
- The Professional Tax Solution is priced at $260 per year, and includes unlimited transaction support and an advanced holding period.
BitcoinTaxes
BitcoinTaxes represents one of the market’s cheapest options for cryptocurrency capital gains tax reporting and computing. The platform is suitable for traders, investors, businesses, and tax professionals. BitcoinTaxes also provides a unique data processing service, where data analysts can help convert CSVs, import data, analyse results, and more.
Main features
Although Bitcoin.Tax is certainly not the best-looking cryptocurrency tax software, its services are up to speed, and are bound to satisfy most customers. Thus, the platform works by having users upload their cryptocurrency transactions, via the exchange-based API integrations, or through file documents. Then, users must select the appropriate cost-basis computing methodology, from a list that includes LIFO, FIFO, and average costing. Then, the platform generates the capital gains report, where users can learn more about the cost basis for every transaction, sale proceeds and gains. Similarly, income, donation, margin and closing reports can be provided, for a better overview of the tax burden.
The platform also connects cryptocurrency traders/investors with professional accountants, in case extra help is needed when filing this year’s taxes.
Reporting is made easy thanks to the TurboTax integration. In fact, by utilizing Bitcoin.Tax, users can even get a discount on the TurboTax rate.
Some of the other relevant features associated with BitcoinTaxes include the ability to import mining/spending/margin trading income from numerous exchanges, multi-year support, the ability to calculate tax rates and years for multiple countries (US, Canada, UK, Germany, and Australia), downloadable IRS forms, crypto swaps support, and more.
Pricing
There are a series of payment plans that users can opt for, depending on their usage requirements. All plans include the standard features.
- The free plan supports up to 20 trading transactions
- the premium plan ($39.95/tax year) supports up to 1,000 transactions
- the premium extra plan ($49.95/tax year) supports up to 5,000 trading transactions,
- whereas the deluxe plan ($59.95/tax year) supports up to 10,000 transactions.
Traders can consider the following plans, depending on their number of transactions: 50K ($129/year), 100K ($189/year), 250K ($249/year), 500K ($379/year), 1M ($499/year). An unlimited plan is also provided at a negotiable rate. Tax professionals can choose between two yearly plans. Lastly, data processing services are available at a cost of $100 per hour.
TaxBit
TaxBit is a popular cryptocurrency tax platform that was designed by a series of tax attorneys and certified public accountants. Over its years of service, the platform has served thousands of users, thanks to its array of features that include a full audit trail, optimized taxes, the ability to claim capital losses, and more.
Main features
TaxBit offers an all-inclusive tax computing engine, which supports over 4,200 digital currencies, commodities, equities, and fiat currencies. The platform works by having users link their exchange accounts. After this, the engine automatically computes all transactions, while ensuring complete accuracy.
The platform is up-to-date with all regulatory requirements, so users can rest-assured that they are respecting the law.
Apart from the tax computing engine, TaxBit also features a series of portfolio analytic tools. With this in mind, your crypto-based investment portfolio can be tracked 24/7, as the platform displays live metrics, based on data collected from your exchange accounts.
In other words, users are able to see their tax figures at all times, but are also able to access data on historical performance. This allows for successful tax loss harvesting, thus ensuring increased profitability.
TaxBit’s full cryptocurrency tax audit trail makes sure that accountants or even IRS representatives can easily find specific transactions, in order to determine whether gains and losses were reported accurately.
The platform also features personalized tax rates, meaning that it displays the total taxes owed, alongside the amount of money that you are eligible to receive in the form of state tax refunds. Additionally, the platform can easily compute state and federal taxes according to their respective rates, thus granting users an overview of their tax liability or potential refund.
Last but not least, TaxBit comes along with IRS 8949 cryptocurrency tax forms, which can be completed within a few clicks. A series of formats are available, in an effort to ensure cross-platform compatibility with other services such as TurboTax, TaxSlayer, TaxAct and H&R Block.
Pricing
At press time, TaxBit offers three payment plans: basic, plus and pro. These plans offer users access to CSV imports, 2,500+ currency support, IRS forms, CPA audit trails, real-time tax/portfolio tracking, and CSV export to TurboTax.
- The basic plan is priced at $50/year, and offers support for 250 transactions, 10 exchanges/wallets and the current year’s tax form.
- The plus plan is priced at $175/year, and offers support for 2,500 transactions, unlimited exchanges/wallets, all tax forms, optimization tools, and more.
- The pro plan is priced at $500/year, and offers support for 25,000 transactions, unlimited exchanges/wallets, all tax forms, CPA review, tax optimization tools, mining income/expenses reporting, and more.
Bottom Line
Based on everything that has been highlighted so far, our analysis has shown that most of the market’s cryptocurrency tax services are similar in terms of their features, coin support, and pricing plans. The platforms mentioned as part of this article have all been vouched for by their users, and hold numerous positive customer reviews.
As such, general users will likely be happy when choosing either of these services. On the other hand, day traders, tax professionals and large-scale investors will likely need to choose a platform that offers unlimited transaction processing and dedicated customer support. Similarly, those who live in different jurisdictions from the US will have to pick a platform that ensures local regulatory compliance.
Last but not least, it is essential for cryptocurrency traders to carry out their due diligence by carefully reading each platform’s terms and conditions.
