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How to do your Coinbase taxes in 2022
| Transaction Type | Automatic Import |
|---|---|
| Withdrawals | |
| Deposits | |
| Trades | |
| Trading Fees | |
| Coinbase Earn | |
| Staking Rewards | |
| Advanced Trades |
This guide aims to be a valuable resource for those that have traded crypto on Coinbase and are wondering if and how one should pay taxes on it. You should find the contents of this article helpful when calculating your Coinbase taxes. However, make sure you complement this guide with the crypto tax guide relevant to your country.
Introduction to Coinbase
Coinbase was founded in 2012 around the idea that everyone should be able to trade Bitcoin safely and securely. As of the time of writing, they have 98 million users, representing 13 thousand institutions in over 100 countries. Their platform is made up of $256 billion in assets, with $309 billion traded quarterly last year. It is the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States by trading volume.
Coinbase has two products, Coinbase and Coinbase Pro. Coinbase has historically been targeted more towards the casual user with a limited number of currencies and transactions. Coinbase Pro is marketed toward professional traders with more transaction types and lower fees. It also has more features such as advanced charting and crypto-to-crypto trading pairs. However, recently Coinbase has been shifting their advanced features to Coinbase. If you have been trading on Coinbase Pro, then please see our Coinbase Pro crypto tax guide.
Do I need to pay taxes when using Coinbase?
Depending on the country you pay taxes in and the type of transactions you have made, you may need to pay taxes on your Coinbase crypto transactions. If you are unsure, you can try Divly's Crypto Tax Widget which can give you a better indication based on your country's tax rules.
For more information regarding your country-specific crypto tax guidelines, please see Divly's crypto tax guides. These guides are regularly updated with input from our knowledgeable staff and local experts.
How to export your Coinbase transaction history
If you are required to pay taxes on your Coinbase crypto transactions, you've come to the right place! The first thing you need to do is export your Coinbase transaction history. Exporting your transaction history is required regardless of whether you are calculating your taxes in excel, using a tax calculator like Divly, or employing a tax lawyer to do the work for you.
Coinbase allows you to export your transaction history by downloading a CSV file or by connecting via their API. If you are using a tax calculator like Divly, we highly recommend using the Coinbase API via our Automatic Import. Below you will find a detailed step-by-step guide on how to use both export methods.
Automatic import
Divly provides a very efficient import process for Coinbase users. Only a few clicks are required for Divly to fetch all your transaction data automatically.
Step-by-step guide:
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Log in to Divly and click the button Connect Coinbase. You will be redirected to Coinbase.
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Sign in to Coinbase and authorize Divly to fetch your transaction data.
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You will be redirected back to Divly. Divly will instantly start importing your transactions.
File import
Divly does not support the Coinbase CSV file; however, it can sometimes be useful to compare against the data we import via the Automatic Import. It is also useful if you are calculating your taxes in excel or using a tax lawyer.
Step-by-step guide:
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Sign in to Coinbase.
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Click on your account icon in the top right.
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Click on Reports in the dropdown to navigate to your transaction history.
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On the right side, click the blue button Generate report.
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Once the report is generated, download the transaction report.
If any of the steps above do not work please contact us via our online chat box to seek assistance.
Coinbase transaction types
We have categorized Coinbase transactions and their available export method in the below table. We have also provided information about how these transactions are handled when imported into Divly for relevant users.
Withdrawals
Withdrawals refer to crypto transactions sent out of a Coinbase account. If you sent your crypto to another crypto wallet you own, make sure it is matched as a Transfer to avoid it being treated as a sale. If the withdrawal refers to a P2P trade, gift, buying goods/services, or another transaction type, please label it accordingly when using Divly. The transaction type applied can affect your taxes.
Deposits
Deposits refer to crypto transactions being sent to your Coinbase account. If you received crypto from another crypto wallet you own, make sure it is matched as a Transfer to avoid it being treated as a purchase. If the deposit refers to a received gift, mining income, or another transaction type, please label it accordingly when using Divly. The transaction type applied can affect your taxes.
Trades
Crypto trades refer to crypto being purchased for fiat, crypto being sold for fiat, or trading one cryptocurrency for another. In Coinbase, these transactions are respectively called Buy, Sell, and Convert. Typically a Buy is not a taxable event, yet these transactions are still required to calculate the cost basis. A Sell or a Convert are seen as taxable events in most countries.
Trading Fees
Fees are included in the trade and will be paid in either fiat or a cryptocurrency, depending on the trade. Make sure to apply the fee in your tax calculations, as it can help reduce your taxes. If you use Divly, this will be handled automatically for you.
Coinbase Earn
Coinbase Earn is an educational program provided by Coinbase that rewards participants in crypto. The user watches videos, completes quizzes, and receives rewards in specific cryptocurrencies for correct answers. It is common in many countries for Coinbase Earn transactions to be seen as a form of income for tax purposes. For example, in Sweden a tax payer should declare their Coinbase Earn rewards using a T2 form that represents income from hobby. When imported in Divly, Coinbase Earn transactions are automatically labeled as Reward.
Staking Rewards
Coinbase Staking allows users to automatically receive crypto through the process of staking. Coinbase simplifies the underlying mechanisms of staking, enabling all users that hold relevant cryptocurrencies (e.g., Ethereum, Cardano, Cosmos) in their account to receive staking rewards periodically. As such, the complex steps required to contribute to the Proof of Stake (PoS) networks are abstracted away from the user. When imported in Divly, these transactions are automatically labeled as Staking Reward.
Advanced Trades
Advanced Trading is a recent feature added by Coinbase that gives users more flexibility when trading crypto. The export methods from Coinbase distinguish between trading and advanced trading in their output, yet in regards to taxes, there is no difference between the two.
Coinbase Vault
Coinbase Vault is a feature available for Coinbase users that provides an extra measure of safety. Users can transfer crypto from their wallet into their vault to enable time-locks, multiple approvers, and offline storage. Divly does not import these transactions since they refer to internal transfers and are not taxable events in the countries we support.
Common issues
Importing data from Coinbase using the Automatic Import is a very smooth process and seldom causes any issues. Certain one-off edge cases have occured, but they are very rare. There are no common issues that we have encountered amongst our growing customer base. Nonetheless, it is always prudent to ensure that when doing your Coinbase taxes that all your transactions have been accounted for. This is necessary to ensure that the tax calculations are correct.
If you have any issues with calculating your Coinbase taxes, feel free to contact our support team which is available via the online chat on the bottom right hand corner of our website. Good luck!
Any tax-related information provided by us is not tax advice, financial advice, accounting advice, or legal advice and cannot be used by you or any other party for the purpose of avoiding tax penalties. You should seek the advice of a tax professional regarding your particular circumstances. We make no claims, promises, or warranties about the accuracy of the information provided herein. Everything included herein is our opinion and not a statement of fact. This article may contain affiliate links.