Should I claim crypto losses?
Yes, you can write off crypto losses on taxes even if you have no gains. If your total capital losses exceed your total capital gains, US taxpayers can deduct the difference as a loss on your tax return, up to $3,000 per year ($1,500 if married filing separately).
Can you write off crypto losses on your taxes? Yes. Cryptocurrency losses can be used to offset your capital gains and $3,000 of personal income for the year.
Much like other capital losses, losses in crypto are tax deductible. This means you can use crypto losses to offset some of your capital gains taxes by reporting such losses on your tax return. Up to $3,000 per year in capital losses can be claimed.
If you sell your crypto for a loss, the IRS allows you to offset losses against other income on your tax return. These so-called “realized losses” can be used to offset other taxable investment profits. When you hear the term “realized,” it usually means that an asset was sold.
What happens if you lose money in crypto? If you lose money in crypto, you will have to sell your assets to cover your losses. If crypto goes negative, you will still have to sell your assets to cover your losses.
US taxpayers who fail to report crypto on their taxes can face serious consequences, including fines and penalties as high as $100,000 and up to five years in prison.
You calculate your loss by subtracting your sales price from the original purchase price, known as "basis," and report the loss on Schedule D and Form 8949 on your tax return. If your crypto losses exceed other investment gains and $3,000 of regular income, you can use the rest in subsequent years, Greene-Lewis said.
Tax savings by claiming crypto losses
Theoretically, there is no limit to how much you can save on your taxes by reporting crypto losses on taxes if you have corresponding capital gains from other assets. US taxpayers can even use crypto capital losses to offset ordinary income, up to $3,000 per year.
Do you need to report taxes on Bitcoin you don't sell? If you buy Bitcoin, there's nothing to report until you sell. If you earned crypto through staking, a hard fork, an airdrop or via any method other than buying it, you'll likely need to report it, even if you haven't sold it.
You can then deduct $3,000 of your losses against your income each year, although the limit is $1,500 if you're married and filing separate tax returns. If your capital losses are even greater than the $3,000 limit, you can claim the additional losses in the future.
Can I write off stolen crypto?
Similarly, theft losses used to be tax deductible. However, theft losses were also affected by the tax reform. They are now no longer tax deductible. So if you've lost your crypto due to a hack or scam, you cannot claim it as a loss and offset it against your gains.
Bankruptcy and Frozen Accounts
If your digital asset investment account is frozen or your digital assets are tied up in bankruptcy proceedings, you can't claim a taxable loss because you don't have a closed and completed transaction.
US taxpayers must report every crypto capital gain or loss and crypto earned as income, regardless of the amount, on their taxes. Whether it's a substantial gain or a single dollar in crypto, if you experienced a taxable event during the tax year, it's your responsibility to include it in your tax return.
Losing more money than you make
It's not that no one has made money off crypto. In fact, our survey finds that of those who've had crypto, 28% sold it for more than it was worth. But a higher rate of investors — 38% — sold their crypto for less than it was worth when they bought it. Another 13% broke even.
Yes, you can experience paper losses in cryptocurrency if the value of the coin decreases, even if you don't sell. The term "paper loss" refers to a loss in the current market value of an asset that has not been realized through a sale.
Can you only lose what you invest in cryptocurrency? It's crucial to understand that you can potentially lose more than what you initially invested in cryptocurrency investments. Any successful and reasonable investor will emphasize the importance of only investing funds that you can afford to lose.
If you are claiming an abandonment loss on a delisted, worthless cryptocurrency you have discarded, enter the amount of the loss using IRS Form 4797, Line 10.
Cryptocurrency is volatile and prices change rapidly. Because you can ignore the wash sale rule, you can sell coins during market declines to reduce losses and then quickly buy back those coins as prices bottom out. You can apply those losses against other capital gains to lower their overall taxable profit.
Attempting to hide cryptocurrency from the IRS is illegal and can result in serious penalties, including fines and imprisonment. Exchanges such as Coinbase, Binance.US, and Crypto.com report customer data to the IRS, while many international exchanges like KuCoin, OKX, and Bitget might not.
When you reinvest your cryptocurrency, you are essentially selling one type of crypto and purchasing another. This is considered a taxable event, even if you do not cash out to fiat currency.
How long can you carry over losses?
In general, you can carry capital losses forward indefinitely, either until you use them all up or until they run out. Carryovers of capital losses have no time limit, so you can use them to offset capital gains or as a deduction against ordinary income in subsequent tax years until they are exhausted.
The IRS allows investors to deduct up to $3,000 in capital losses per year. The $3,000 loss limit is the amount that can be offset against ordinary income. Above $3,000 is where things can get complicated. The $3,000 loss limit rule can be found in IRC Section 1211(b).
If you own a stock where the company has declared bankruptcy and the stock has become worthless, you can generally deduct the full amount of your loss on that stock — up to annual IRS limits with the ability to carry excess losses forward to future years.
Yes, but there are limits. Losses on your investments are first used to offset capital gains of the same type. So, short-term losses are first deducted against short-term gains, and long-term losses are deducted against long-term gains. Net losses of either type can then be deducted against the other kind of gain.
In addition, Bitcoin transactions are irreversible, so there is no way to undo the transaction and get your money back.
