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Crypto & tax

Crypto Income Tax Calculator

Coins you were given rather than bought — staking, mining, airdrops, lending interest — are taxed on a completely different footing from coins you sold.

InputsORD-22
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Taxed as ordinary income at your 22% marginal rate — not at capital gains rates — and it creates $5,000 of cost basis.

Tax owed on the rewards22.0% effective
$1,100
income tax at 22% marginal$1,100
self-employment tax$0
cost basis created$5,000
gain or loss since receipt+$0
worth now
$5,000
after the tax
$3,900
marginal rate
22%

Crypto rewards are ordinary income the day you can control them, valued at that day’s price — not capital gains. On $5,000 of staking rewards with $80,000 of other income, that is $1,100 of federal income tax at a 22% marginal rate, and it creates $5,000 of cost basis for later.

Figures are federal income tax for 2026 and exclude state tax. Self-employment tax applies on top only when the activity is a trade or business, which mining usually is and passive staking usually is not.

Two taxable events, not one

This is the part that costs people money, in both directions. Rewards are taxed twice over their life — but on two different amounts:

  • When they arrive: ordinary income tax on their value that day, at your marginal rate. This is the bill this calculator sizes.
  • When you sell: capital gains tax, but only on the change since. The value you already declared is your cost basis and is not taxed again.

Receive $5,000 of rewards and sell them later for $6,000, and the taxable gain is $1,000. People who do not track the basis declare the full $6,000 and genuinely pay twice on the same money. To work out that second event once you sell, run the disposal through FIFO, LIFO or HIFO cost basis.

The trap: a bill fixed on a price that moved

The income is measured on the day the rewards land, and nothing that happens afterwards changes it. $5,000 of rewards that subsequently fell 80% still owe $1,100 while the coins themselves are worth $1,000.

The capital loss that creates does not rescue you either: capital losses offset capital gains, and only $3,000 a year of ordinary income beyond that. So the income tax stands more or less in full while the asset that generated it has gone. See what realising that loss is actually worth — it is usually less than people hope, and worth knowing before you count on it.

The practical consequence, which is not advice so much as arithmetic: the tax on rewards is owed in dollars, and the rewards are not dollars.

Where the rules come from

Two documents do most of the work. Notice 2014-21 established that virtual currency is treated as property rather than currency, which is why general property and income principles apply at all. Revenue Ruling 2023-14 addressed staking specifically: a cash-method taxpayer who stakes and receives validation rewards must include their fair market value in gross income, in the year dominion and control is gained.

Airdrops and mining are not covered by that ruling but follow the same shape as ordinary income at receipt. This calculator applies one treatment across all four kinds and says so rather than implying a precision the guidance does not have.

Common questions

Is staking income taxable?
Yes, as ordinary income, in the year you gain control of the rewards — valued at their fair market value that day. The IRS said so directly in Revenue Ruling 2023-14, which turns on when you have "dominion and control" over the units. On $5,000 of rewards with $80,000 of other income, that is $1,100 at a 22% marginal rate.
Why is this taxed as income and not capital gains?
Because you did not buy it. Capital gains tax applies to the change in value of something you own; this is compensation for an activity, so it is taxed like other income at your ordinary rate. The favourable long-term capital gains rates only start applying to what happens to the coins AFTER you receive them.
Do I get taxed twice when I sell?
No, provided you track the basis. The value you declared as income becomes your cost basis, so a later sale is taxed only on the change since. Receive $5,000 of rewards and sell them later for $6,000 and you owe income tax on $5,000 and capital gains on $1,000 — not on $6,000. Forgetting the basis is how people genuinely do end up paying twice.
What if the token crashes after I receive it?
The tax bill does not fall with it. It was fixed on the day the rewards arrived. On $5,000 of rewards that then fell 80%, the tax is still $1,100 while the coins are worth $1,000 — more tax than asset. The resulting capital loss only offsets capital gains plus $3,000 of ordinary income a year, so it does not cancel the income tax.
Do I owe self-employment tax on this?
Only if it is a trade or business. Mining run as a business generally is, which adds 15.3% self-employment tax on top of income tax. A passive holder staking through an exchange generally is not. The distinction is facts-and-circumstances rather than a checkbox in the law, which is why it is a choice here rather than an assumption.
When exactly is the income recognised?
When you have dominion and control — the point you could actually transfer or sell the units. For rewards locked by a protocol or an exchange, that can be later than the moment they are credited on screen. The date matters because it sets both the amount and the basis.

How we calculate this

The rewards are stacked on top of your other income and the tax is the difference they make — not a rate applied to them in isolation, which would overstate the bill for low earners and understate it for high ones.

Self-employment tax, where it applies, is 15.3% on 92.35% of the amount. Brackets come from the committed 2026 federal data, as of 2026-07-22.

Full methodology & sources →

Where to go next

Rewards create a cost basis, and selling them is a separate taxable event. When you do, work the disposal through FIFO, LIFO or HIFO cost basis — you are taxed only on the change since receipt.

If the token fell after you declared the income, the loss is worth less than people expect — see what realising a crypto loss actually saves, against a $3,000 annual cap on ordinary income.

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Federal only — state tax is excluded and several states tax this income too. Whether an activity is a trade or business depends on facts this calculator cannot see. Guidance on airdrops and mining is thinner than on staking. Estimates for general information only — not financial, tax, or investment advice.