Most people who have bought and sold cryptocurrency (such as Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ripple, Ethereum, or Monero) are trading it as an investment.
If you're trading digital currency as an investment, any gains (or losses) are reported on your tax return as a capital gain (or loss), just like stocks or gold.
Here's how you enter your capital gains (or losses):
TurboTax Online instructions
- Select Find from the TurboTax menu
- In the Find window, enter capital gains
- Select Capital Gains and Capital Gains Deduction Profile from the results, then select Go
- On the Your Capital Gains Profile screen, check the Sold stocks option and then select Continue
- On the Capital Gains screen, enter your amounts and select Done
If, like many cryptocurrency investors, you sold less than 1 unit of the currency, leave the # of units for shares or face value field blank. It isn't required.
TurboTax CD/Download instructions
- Select Find from the TurboTax menu
- In the Find window, enter capital gains
- Select Capital gains / losses from the results, then select Go
- On the Your capital gains profile screen, check the Sold stocks option and then select Continue
- On the Capital Gains (or Losses) screen, enter your amounts and select Done
If, like many cryptocurrency investors, you sold less than 1 unit of the currency, leave the # of Shares field blank. It isn't required.
Related information
How do I report income made from day trading?