Will the 2026 tax reporting challenges arrive? A must-know for crypto investors: the new US tax regulations

【Crypto World】2025 has just begun, but for crypto investors, the real test will fully unfold in 2026. Several industry tax experts recently warned that the 2026 tax season will be the most complex in history, as the US crypto asset tax reporting rules will undergo significant adjustments.

The most critical change is the official rollout of Form 1099-DA. Starting this year, US brokers are required to report all crypto asset transaction data to the IRS. This form will first appear on taxpayers’ hands in a large-scale manner next year. But there’s a catch—initial filings typically only include total transaction amounts and may not reflect your purchase costs. If you don’t accurately report your cost basis, the system might assume you bought at zero cost, resulting in all profits being taxable and triggering automatic audits.

There are even more troublesome changes. Previously, cost calculation could use the “pooling” method, combining all transactions. Now, it must be calculated separately by wallet and account, meaning assets on different exchanges and in self-custody wallets must be accounted for individually, not mixed. This means you need to organize all your historical transaction records and rebuild your files. For users who frequently engage in DeFi and operate across multiple platforms, the workload is especially heavy.

Besides these, there are other pitfalls to watch out for:

Multi-platform users must consolidate Form 1099-DA and on-chain data from various exchanges; knowledgeable crypto tax advisors are particularly scarce, and appointments may require waiting in line; currently, crypto assets cannot use the stock “wash sale” rule for tax deductions, but future laws might change this; small transaction tax exemptions are not yet officially approved; how to tax DeFi lending, staking tokens still requires case-by-case analysis; large crypto donations usually require additional compliance assessment reports.

Industry consensus is that 2025 marks the true dividing line for crypto taxation. These new rules are now in place, and when filling out tax forms in 2026, they will all be enforced. Getting your accounts in order early, understanding the new rules thoroughly, and working with a reliable crypto-savvy tax advisor are the key to avoiding penalties.