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What Crypto Traders Need to Know about Form 1099-DA

This new IRS form reports proceeds — not profits — leaving traders to calculate capital gains on their own.

Holly Jennings's headshot

By

Holly Jennings

Edited by

Matt Miczulski

Updated

Fact checked

Got crypto? A new tax form just hit the market harder than the NFT drop-off in 2021. Starting for the 2025 tax year — which you’ll be filing in the next few weeks or so — you may receive the new Form 1099-DA if you traded crypto or other digital assets.

While brokers and crypto exchanges are required to send you this form, understanding the information it provides and properly reporting it on your taxes is completely your responsibility.

What is Form 1099-DA?

Form 1099-DA, also known as the “Digital Asset Proceeds From Broker Transactions” form, is the latest crypto tax form from the IRS. While it has a fancy title, it’s basically a form that lists any proceeds you received from crypto transactions handled by your broker or exchange.

However, this form is informational only. You’ll need the information it provides to complete Form 8949 + Schedule D in your tax return.

Who receives a Form 1099-DA?

Your brokerage or exchange may provide you with a Form 1099-DA if you completed any of the following transactions:

  • Sold your crypto for cash
  • Traded your digital assets for another
  • Used crypto to pay for goods, services or property, including brokerage fees
  • Disposed of or transferred your digital assets through a broker or exchange

In other words, if you did anything with digital assets in 2025 that resulted in proceeds, you may receive a Form 1099-DA. Your crypto exchange is also required to send this form to the IRS.

Hot tip

Form 1099-DA reports your proceeds — not necessarily your true profit. Accurate cost-basis tracking, a common service provided by crypto tax software like Summ, is still required to avoid overpaying.
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Take Control of Your Crypto Taxes with Summ

Summ helps simplify tax reporting and Form 1099-DA by organizing your crypto transactions and generating IRS-ready reports.

  • Syncs all crypto transactions from your exchanges and wallets and compiles them in one place.
  • Flags missing data and reconciliation issues to reduce filing errors.
  • Exports your reports so you can share them directly with your accountant.
  • Provides a clear audit trail for compliance and record-keeping.

What Form 1099-DA includes (and what it doesn’t)

Form 1099-DA includes a lot of key details about your digital transactions throughout the year, including:

  • Your broker or exchange’s name and details
  • The type of digital asset sold
  • The gross proceeds from the sale (the total amount you received)
  • Backup withholding information

But the form has some serious limits. For the 2025 tax year, here’s what your form won’t provide:

  • Cost basis across multiple wallets or exchanges
  • Any crypto you moved between platforms or wallets
  • Most DeFi, staking or other activity that occurred outside of a broker or exchange
  • How much you actually gained or lost on your transactions
  • The amount you owe in crypto taxes overall

That first bullet is a zinger. Most traders work across several platforms and wallets. And even if you do all your trading on one exchange, you’ll still need to calculate the cost basis to ensure you’re not overpaying on your taxes.

Why cost basis matters for crypto taxes

While the proceeds shown on your Form 1099-DA might be subject to tax, you may not owe taxes on the full amount. The IRS only taxes your capital gains, not your proceeds.

For example, if you bought $1,000 worth of bitcoin and later sold it for $3,000, your capital gain is only $2,000. That’s the amount you’ll get taxed on, not the full $3,000.

However, using the same example, if you received a Form 1099-DA because of this transaction, it would report proceeds of $3,000. It doesn’t account for what you originally paid for the asset.

When filing your return, it’s up to you or your tax preparer to factor in the original purchase cost, plus any fees or commissions you paid. And if you’ve completed multiple transactions through the year, compiling that data on your own can be overwhelming.

How crypto tax software helps with Form 1099-DA

Since Form 1099-DA leaves out some key information, many traders might benefit from crypto tax software to fill the gaps and avoid overpaying on their return.

For example, Summ (formerly Crypto Tax Calculator) provides investors with tools that:

  • Connect and sync all your platforms and wallets
  • Gather and compile your full transaction history
  • Automatically calculate your cost basis, capital gains and overall tax liability
  • Flag missing or inconsistent data
  • Generate additional tax forms, including Form 8949 + Schedule D
  • Identify tax-saving opportunities

If your crypto activity expands across multiple platforms and wallets, and totals dozens or hundreds of transactions in a year, crypto tax software might save you a significant amount of time (and even money) this tax season.

Sources

Matt Miczulski's headshot
To make sure you get accurate and helpful information, this guide has been edited by Matt Miczulski as part of our fact-checking process.
Holly Jennings's headshot
Written by

Deputy Crypto Editor

Holly Jennings is the deputy crypto editor and updates writer at Finder, working with writers across all niches to deliver quality content to readers. She’s edited hundreds of financial articles ranging from credit cards to investments. With empathy at heart, she especially enjoys content that breaks down complex financial situations into easy-to-understand information. Prior to her role at Finder, she collaborated with dozens of small businesses to maximize the reach and impact of their blog posts, website copy and other content. In her spare time, she is an award-winning author for Penguin Random House, writing about virtual reality worlds, magical girls and lasers that go pew-pew. See full bio

Holly's expertise
Holly has written 42 Finder guides across topics including:
  • Cryptocurrency
  • Digital assets
  • Investments
  • Personal Banking
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