Coinbase Introduces Tax Support Resources for U.S. Customers
Coinbase, one of the largest American cryptocurrency exchanges, has introduced new resources for its U.S.-based customers to claim crypto trades on their taxes, the company announced in a blog post on January 24, 2019.
Filing Crypto Taxes with Help from Coinbase
The notoriously difficult and time-consuming process of filing taxes in the U.S. becomes increasingly confusing when cryptocurrencies are added to the mix. With more and more people in the country owning and trading cryptocurrencies, the problem of filing them becomes a significant one as tax season begins.
Looking to address the problem is Coinbase, one of the largest U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchanges and wallet services. The company has now added new resources to help streamline customers’ experience for this year’s filing.
According to the company’s January 24 blog post, the company integrated TurboTax, a tax-filing software offered by the Intuit Consumer Tax Group. TurboTax Premier will be available to Coinbase and Coinbase Pro users, allowing them to upload their transactions, gains, and losses for the previous year.
(Source: Halt Buzas & Powell, LTD.)
The integration will be available directly through the Coinbase Android and iOS apps, as well as its retail platform, the company explained in the blog post.
What Does this Mean for Coinbase Users?
While using TurboTax Premier will not be free, Coinbase users can now upload up to 100 Coinbase transactions at once and get a discount to TurboTax products. The software will then offer customers help with filing their taxes from the previous year, in this case, 2018.
However, while the additional help with tax filing was welcomed by many, the process remains challenging. The Intuit Consumer Tax Group aims to address this problem by offering Coinbase users access to certified public accountants or enrolled agents at Intuit.
Coinbase is also integrating with Coin Tracker, a crypto and bitcoin tax software manager built by former Google employees. According to the company, Coin Tracker will make it easier to summarize all transaction activity for 2018, no matter what exchanges or wallets were used. The integration will also allow users to track their Coinbase Pro transactions.
A list of transactions that are not taxable was also provided, with the company noting that customers who bought cryptocurrencies and have not yet sold, gifted cryptocurrencies valued at less than $15,000 per recipient, or purchased cryptocurrencies with a Self-Directed IRA or Solo 401(k) will not be able to file tax returns.
The exchange also provided an abundance of educational materials to further clarify the tax filing process. Coinbase also announced the launch of a tax resource center and published a guide for 2018 titled “Crypto and Bitcoin Taxes in the U.S.”
