How to Track Crypto Transactions for Tax Season

Tracking crypto transactions for taxes is the part nobody wants to do — but doing it right saves you money (by optimizing your cost basis), time (by not scrambling at tax deadlines), and stress (by not worrying about an audit). This guide covers the tools, workflows, and best practices for clean crypto tax records.

Why Manual Tracking Doesn't Scale#

If you made 5 trades on one exchange, a spreadsheet works. But if you're earning crypto on RentAHuman, swapping on Uniswap, transferring between wallets, and occasionally cashing out through Coinbase — you might have hundreds of transactions across multiple platforms. Manual tracking becomes error-prone fast.

The complications:

• Each transaction needs a USD value at the exact time it occurred.
• Transfers between your own wallets shouldn't be counted as sales.
• Gas fees need to be tracked and attributed correctly.
• Different cost basis methods produce different tax amounts.
• DeFi interactions create complex chains of taxable events.

Recommended Tax Software#

These tools connect to your exchanges and wallets, import your history, and generate tax-ready reports:

Koinly#

• Supports 800+ exchanges and wallets including MetaMask, Coinbase, Kraken.
• Automatically classifies transfers vs trades vs income.
• Generates IRS Form 8949 and Schedule D (US), plus reports for 20+ countries.
• DeFi and NFT support.
• Free to import and preview; paid plan for tax reports (~$49–$279/year).

CoinTracker#

• Clean interface, strong Coinbase integration (Coinbase invested in them).
• Real-time portfolio tracking alongside tax calculations.
• Supports tax-loss harvesting suggestions.
• TurboTax integration for direct import.
• Free for up to 25 transactions; paid plans for more.

TokenTax#

• Full-service option: they can do your entire crypto tax filing.
• Handles complex DeFi, margin trading, and lending scenarios.
• More expensive but includes CPA review on higher tiers.

Setting Up Your Tax Tracking Workflow#

1. Connect all your exchanges — use API keys (read-only!) or CSV exports to import your full trade history from Coinbase, Kraken, Binance, etc.
2. Add your wallet addresses — paste your MetaMask and other wallet addresses. The tool reads your on-chain history automatically.
3. Review and classify — the tool will flag transactions it's unsure about. Mark self-transfers, income (RentAHuman payments), and any other edge cases.
4. Choose your cost basis method — FIFO, LIFO, HIFO, or specific identification. Most tools let you preview tax owed under each method. (See our capital gains guide for details.)
5. Generate reports — download Form 8949, Schedule D, or your country's equivalent. Send to your accountant or import into tax software.

What Records to Keep#

For each transaction, record:
  ☐ Date and time (UTC)
  ☐ Type (buy, sell, trade, income, transfer)
  ☐ Amount and asset (e.g., 0.5 ETH)
  ☐ USD value at time of transaction
  ☐ Fees paid (trading fee + gas fee)
  ☐ Transaction hash (for on-chain verification)
  ☐ Exchange or platform used
  ☐ Wallet addresses (sender and receiver)

For RentAHuman earnings specifically:
  ☐ Task description and date completed
  ☐ Payment amount and crypto received
  ☐ Fair market value at time of receipt
  ☐ Transaction hash on blockchain

Common Mistakes to Avoid#

• Treating transfers as sales — moving ETH from MetaMask to Coinbase is not a taxable event. Make sure your tax software classifies self-transfers correctly.
• Ignoring small transactions — that $5 swap and those $0.50 gas fees add up. They also affect your cost basis calculations. Include everything.
• Forgetting airdrops and staking rewards — these are income events even if you didn't sell them.
• Waiting until April — trying to reconstruct a year's worth of transactions on April 14 is painful and error-prone. Set up tracking now and let it run continuously.

For RentAHuman Earners Specifically#

If you're regularly earning crypto through tasks:

• Add your RentAHuman-connected wallet to your tax software on day one.
• Every payment is automatically tracked on-chain — the tool will import it.
• Mark each payment as "income" in the classification step.
• If you immediately convert to stablecoins or fiat, that's a separate taxable event (but likely minimal gain/loss if done quickly).

The best time to set up tax tracking is before your first transaction. The second best time is today. The tools are good enough that importing historical data works — but real-time tracking is always easier.

For the fundamentals of what's taxable, read do I owe taxes on crypto? and how capital gains work.