Great and helpful tip on the Cointracker info. I saw that on Coinbase Pro.
As for the rest of the crypto traders out there. I suggest you do what we have done since 2013.
Make your own Excel spreadsheet. Track your own buys, sells and fees in the spreadsheet.
It's pretty easy to enter individual crypto sales into TurboTax Premier 2020. We were actually impressed that the software seemed to know what crypto was this year.
Luckily for us, it was only 4 sales to report, which was not tedious. Two BTC and two XLM.
If you have not held your crypto for at least one year prior to the date of the sale, it is a short term gain or loss. A short term gain is subject to 25% federal taxes, but may be offset by other credits this year.
A long term gain (owned for 365 days or more) is subject to 0-15% federal income tax, less any other tax credits you may deserve.
In any case, the information needed for your spreadsheet is very simple. Here is our Bitcoin spreadsheet header. Ours is a bit complex, so you can simplify for your needs. We use a separate TAB for each cryptocurrency coin.
Each word below is a column header.
Trans Date
Broker
Currency
Trans. Type
QTY
Price/BTC
Transaction Total
(-Fee)
Net Cost
BAL FWD
Cost Basis
Gain (Loss)
Balance Forward is just a count of the coins or fractional coins you have accumulated. It comes in handy when you have more than just one or two coins. Cost basis is very simple. It is the cost of the purchase plus any fees, plus the sale fee. So, if you bought 1 BTC at 50,000.00 and paid a $150 fee, then later sold it the next week for $55,000 for $200 fee, your cost basis is $50,000 + $150+$200 = $50,350. Your short term gain in the Gain/Loss column is $55,000 - $50,350 = $4,650. And, since you were doing some "week trading" your gain is short term at a 25% tax federal rate.
That later part is calculated by TT Premium. All you need is the buy dates, amounts, qtys, buy fees, sale dates, sale fees.
It's the same info you would plug in if you sold vacant lots, expensive art works, or classic cars. So, don't let the fact that it is crypto make your head explode. It is the sale of personal property, just like the others above.
Just don't be foolish and think you don't have to report it because its crypto. You do. If you are smart enough to buy and sell crypto, you can do a simple spreadsheet, and not have to depend on Coinbase, TurboTax or CoinTracker to do your taxes.
