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Crypto Capital Gains Tax Calculator

Selling, swapping or spending crypto is a taxable disposal almost everywhere. Enter what you paid, what you received, whether you held over a year, and your short- and long-term rates — see the estimated tax owed and what you actually keep.

How crypto capital gains tax works

In the US and most jurisdictions, cryptocurrency is treated as property, not currency, for tax purposes. That means every disposal — selling for fiat, trading one coin for another, or spending it on goods and services — is a taxable event. You owe tax on the gain: the difference between your proceeds (what you received) and your cost basis (what you originally paid, plus any fees added to the purchase). Simply holding crypto, or transferring it between your own wallets, is not a taxable event.

The gain is taxed differently depending on how long you held the asset before disposing of it:

• Short-term (held ≤ 1 year in the US): taxed as ordinary income, at your regular marginal tax bracket — often the higher rate.
• Long-term (held > 1 year in the US): taxed at the preferential long-term capital-gains rate, which is lower than most ordinary-income brackets.

That gap is why the holding-period toggle on this calculator matters as much as the price move itself: the exact same dollar gain can owe meaningfully more or less tax purely based on whether you sold on day 364 or day 366.

Cost basis is the number that actually moves this calculation

Your cost basis isn't just the coin's original price — if you bought in batches at different prices, added to a losing position, or dollar-cost averaged in, your effective basis is a blend of every purchase. The average-down calculator and DCA calculator compute exactly that blended cost basis, which is the "cost basis" figure this tool needs. Getting the basis right (and which accounting method — FIFO, LIFO or specific-identification — your jurisdiction allows or requires) matters more to your real tax bill than almost anything else in this calculation.

Losses aren't just bad news

A capital loss isn't purely a cost — it's a tax asset. Losses first offset capital gains dollar-for-dollar; in the US, any leftover loss can also offset up to $3,000 of ordinary income per year, with the unused balance carried forward to future years indefinitely. Deliberately realizing losses on positions you no longer believe in — "tax-loss harvesting" — is a legitimate, common year-end strategy, though wash-sale-style rules for this differ by country and are evolving, so confirm the current rule where you file.

This tool estimates the tax on a single disposal using flat rates you supply — it does not track multiple lots, net gains and losses across a whole year, or apply your actual tax brackets and thresholds. For a full-portfolio tax filing, use dedicated crypto tax software or a professional; use this calculator to sanity-check one trade before you make it.