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How to Use Koinly for Coinbase: Complete Tax Setup Guide (2026)

If you traded, sold, or received Bitcoin on Coinbase in 2025, you owe taxes. The IRS requires you to report every crypto transaction, and doing it manually is a nightmare. Koinly automates the entire process—syncing your Coinbase transactions and generating IRS-ready tax forms in minutes.

This guide walks you through setting up Koinly for Coinbase, syncing your transactions, and generating Form 8949 for your 2025 tax return. Whether you made $100 or $100,000 in crypto trades, you need accurate tax reporting.

Why You Need Koinly for Coinbase Taxes

Coinbase provides transaction history, but it doesn't give you the tax forms the IRS requires. Here's why you need crypto tax software:

• The IRS requires Form 8949: You must report every sale, trade, and conversion of cryptocurrency. Coinbase doesn't generate this form for you.
• Manual calculation is error-prone: Calculating cost basis, capital gains, and wash sales manually takes hours and is easy to mess up.
• Koinly automates everything: It imports all your Coinbase transactions, calculates your gains/losses using IRS-approved methods, and generates the exact forms you need.
• Supports multiple exchanges: If you also use Kraken, Binance, or hardware wallets, Koinly consolidates everything into one tax report.
• Saves time and money: A $49-99 Koinly subscription is cheaper than paying a CPA to manually reconcile your trades, and it's done in minutes instead of days.

If you moved your Bitcoin to cold storage after trading on Coinbase, you still owe taxes on those trades. Check out our Coinbase to Ledger guide for securing your holdings after filing taxes.

What You'll Need

Before starting, make sure you have:

• Coinbase account access: You'll need to log in to export data or create an API key
• Koinly account: Sign up for free at Koinly (paid plan required to download tax forms)
• 2025 transaction history: All your Coinbase trades, buys, sells, and transfers from January 1 - December 31, 2025
• 15-20 minutes: To set up and verify everything is correct

Koinly offers a free plan that lets you preview your taxes. You only pay when you're ready to download your tax forms.

Step-by-Step: Set Up Koinly for Coinbase

1 Create Your Koinly Account

1. Go to Koinly.io
2. Click "Get Started" or "Sign Up"
3. Enter your email and create a password
4. Verify your email address
5. Select "United States" as your tax country (Koinly supports 100+ countries)
6. Choose your tax year: 2025

Once you're logged in, you'll see the Koinly dashboard. This is where you'll add your exchanges and wallets.

Koinly dashboard - Image source: Koinly.io

2 Add Coinbase to Koinly

You have two options to connect Coinbase to Koinly:

Option A: API Integration (Recommended)

API sync is automatic and updates your transactions in real-time. Here's how:

1. In Koinly, click "Add Wallet"
2. Search for "Coinbase" and select it
3. Click "Auto-Sync via API"
4. You'll be redirected to Coinbase to authorize the connection
5. Log into your Coinbase account
6. Review the permissions (Koinly only needs read access to transaction history)
7. Click "Authorize"
8. You'll be redirected back to Koinly

Koinly will immediately start importing your transactions. This can take 1-5 minutes depending on how many trades you have.

Option B: CSV Import (Manual)

If you prefer not to use API access, you can manually upload CSV files:

1. Log into Coinbase
2. Go to "Settings" → "Statements"
3. Select "Generate Report"
4. Choose date range: January 1, 2025 - December 31, 2025
5. Select "Transaction History"
6. Download the CSV file
7. Go back to Koinly and click "Add Wallet" → "Coinbase"
8. Select "File Import"
9. Upload your CSV file

CSV import is a one-time sync. If you make more trades, you'll need to re-download and upload the CSV again.

3 Review Your Transactions

Once Koinly imports your Coinbase transactions, review them for accuracy:

1. Go to the "Transactions" tab in Koinly
2. Scroll through your 2025 transactions
3. Look for any transactions flagged with a warning icon (yellow or red)
4. Common issues Koinly flags:
   • Missing cost basis: Usually happens with transfers from other wallets
   • Missing purchase date: Koinly can't determine when you originally bought the crypto
   • Untagged transactions: Transfers, rewards, or staking income that need manual categorization

For most Coinbase-only users, Koinly will auto-categorize everything correctly. But if you transferred crypto in from other wallets, you may need to manually tag those transactions.

4 Handle Missing Cost Basis (If Applicable)

If you see warnings about missing cost basis, here's how to fix it:

1. Click on the flagged transaction
2. Select "Edit"
3. Enter the original purchase price and date if you remember it
4. If you don't remember, check:
   • Your old exchange transaction history (Binance, Kraken, etc.)
   • Your old wallet records
   • Historical price on the date you bought (use CoinGecko or CoinMarketCap)
5. Click "Save"

Missing cost basis can result in higher taxes (the IRS assumes $0 cost basis if you can't prove otherwise), so it's worth tracking this down.

5 Generate Your Tax Report

Once all transactions are imported and reviewed, generate your tax forms:

1. Click on the "Tax Reports" tab in Koinly
2. Select "2025" as the tax year
3. Choose your accounting method:
   • FIFO (First In, First Out): IRS default method, sells oldest coins first
   • LIFO (Last In, First Out): Sells newest coins first (can reduce taxes in some cases)
   • HIFO (Highest In, First Out): Sells highest-cost coins first (minimizes capital gains)
4. Most people use FIFO because it's the IRS default and simplest
5. Click "Generate Report"

Koinly will calculate:

• Your total capital gains and losses
• Short-term vs. long-term gains (held <1 year vs. >1 year)
• Ordinary income from staking, rewards, airdrops
• Wash sale adjustments (if applicable)

You'll see a summary showing your tax liability. This is a preview on the free plan.

6 Download Your Tax Forms

To download your tax forms, you need to upgrade to a paid Koinly plan:

1. Click "Download Tax Report"
2. Choose your plan based on transaction volume:
   • Newbie: $49 (up to 100 transactions)
   • Hodler: $99 (up to 1,000 transactions)
   • Trader: $179 (up to 3,000 transactions)
   • Pro: $279 (up to 10,000 transactions)
3. Complete payment
4. Download your forms:
   • Form 8949: Complete list of all capital gains/losses
   • Schedule D: Summary of capital gains for your 1040
   • Complete Tax Report PDF: Full breakdown of all transactions

You can also export directly to TurboTax, H&R Block, TaxAct, and other tax filing software.

7 File With Your Tax Return

Once you have your Koinly tax forms:

1. Option 1 - Import to TurboTax/H&R Block: Upload your Koinly file directly to your tax software
2. Option 2 - Give to Your CPA: Hand your CPA the Form 8949 and Schedule D from Koinly
3. Option 3 - File Manually: Attach Form 8949 to your 1040 when you file with the IRS

Make sure to keep a copy of your complete Koinly tax report for your records. The IRS can audit crypto taxes up to 6 years later, so save all documentation.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. Not Reporting Staking Rewards or Coinbase Earn

Any Bitcoin or crypto you received as staking rewards, Coinbase Earn, or referral bonuses is taxable income at the time you received it. Many people forget this. Koinly automatically categorizes these as income.

2. Forgetting About Transfers to Hardware Wallets

Transferring Bitcoin from Coinbase to your Ledger or Trezor is not a taxable event. But if you forget to add your hardware wallet to Koinly, it might look like you sold those coins. Make sure to track transfers. See our Coinbase to Trezor guide for more on cold storage.

3. Using the Wrong Accounting Method

Once you choose an accounting method (FIFO, LIFO, HIFO), you must use it consistently. Switching methods can trigger an IRS audit. Stick with FIFO unless your CPA recommends otherwise.

4. Not Reconciling All Your Exchanges

If you used Coinbase and Binance and Kraken, you need to import all of them into Koinly. The IRS wants to see your complete crypto activity, not just one exchange.

5. Missing the Tax Deadline

Filing late can result in penalties of 5% per month (up to 25%) plus interest. If you can't file by April 15, file for an extension—but you still have to pay estimated taxes by April 15.

6. Not Keeping Records

Keep your Koinly reports, Coinbase transaction history, and all wallet records for at least 6 years. The IRS can audit crypto taxes retroactively.

Koinly Pricing & Plans

Koinly offers several pricing tiers based on transaction volume:

• Free Plan: Import transactions and preview your taxes (no download)
• Newbie ($49): Up to 100 transactions, all tax forms included
• Hodler ($99): Up to 1,000 transactions, best for most people
• Trader ($179): Up to 3,000 transactions, for active traders
• Pro ($279): Up to 10,000 transactions, for very active traders

Most Coinbase users fall into the Newbie or Hodler tier. If you're using DCA strategies (see our DCA calculator), you probably have fewer than 100 transactions per year.

Frequently Asked Questions

Alternatives to Koinly

While Koinly is our top recommendation, here are other crypto tax software options:

• CoinTracker: Similar features, slightly higher pricing ($59-$999)
• CryptoTrader.Tax: Budget option ($49-$199), fewer features
• ZenLedger: Good for complex portfolios, $49-$999
• TokenTax: Offers CPA review service, $65-$3,500

We recommend Koinly because it has the cleanest interface, supports the most exchanges (700+), and has the best customer support.

Final Thoughts

Filing crypto taxes doesn't have to be painful. Koinly automates 95% of the work—you just need to import your Coinbase transactions, review for accuracy, and download your forms.

Key takeaways:

• The IRS requires you to report all crypto transactions on Form 8949
• Koinly syncs with Coinbase automatically via API or CSV upload
• Most users can file taxes for $49-99 depending on transaction volume
• Don't forget to report staking rewards, Coinbase Earn, and other income
• File by April 15, 2026 to avoid penalties

If you're holding Bitcoin long-term, file your taxes now and then move your holdings to cold storage. Check out our Bitcoin storage guide to learn about hardware wallets and proper security.

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