Crypto taxes can be a real headache sometimes, but if you choose the right platform, tax season can be a breeze. To help you do so, I've prepared this CryptoTaxCalculator review!
As the name suggests, the application is crypto tax software designed to simplify the complex process of calculating and filing your crypto taxes. Still, is CryptoTaxCalculator safe? How does it compare to other platforms like Binance Tax and Koinly?
In this review, I'll answer those questions by explaining key information such as its pros and cons and pricing plans. I will also provide a head-to-head comparison to similar platforms, including CryptoTaxCalculator VS Koinly and CryptoTaxCalculator VS CoinTracker.
Verdict at a glance: CryptoTaxCalculator offers an easy-to-navigate interface and a secure platform. However, its cumulative transaction limits can become expensive for active traders. While it lacks a mobile app, it can be a solid choice for those seeking a feature-rich and beginner-friendly crypto tax solution.
Pros
- Intuitive designs with progress bars and guided tours
- Automatically identified tax saving opportunity
- Responsive human customer support
- Supports specific tax rules in 22 countries
Cons
- Cumulative transaction limit
- No mobile apps
Table of Contents
- 1. What is CryptoTaxCalculator?
- 2. CryptoTaxCalculator Review: PROS
- 2.1. Security and Compliance
- 2.2. User-Friendly Portfolio Tracker
- 2.3. Tax Calculation Capabilities
- 2.4. Responsive Customer Support
- 3. CryptoTaxCalculator Review: CONS
- 3.1. Cumulative Lifetime Limit
- 3.2. No Mobile App
- 4. CryptoTaxCalculator Pricing
- 5. How to Sign Up for CryptoTaxCalculator?
- 6. CryptoTaxCalculator Alternatives
- 6.1. CryptoTaxCalculator VS Binance Tax
- 6.2. CryptoTaxCalculator VS Koinly
- 6.3. CryptoTaxCalculator VS CoinTracker
- 7. Conclusions
What is CryptoTaxCalculator?
CryptoTaxCalculator, known as Crypto Tax Calculator or CTC, is crypto tax software designed to help traders and businesses calculate their tax obligations. Many user CryptoTaxCalculator reviews mention its ease of use and comprehensive support for various activities, including decentralized finance (DeFi), staking, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
Founded by brothers Shane and Tim Brunette in 2018, CryptoTaxCalculator started as a personal solution for Shane Brunette to solve his own crypto tax problems.
This Australian-made and owned crypto tax solution has rapidly expanded to support thousands of customers across twenty different countries. Moreover, it has attracted high-profile investors such as Coinbase Ventures and Airtree, and is an official global tax partner of Coinbase and MetaMask.
Although CryptoTaxCalculator is often praised for its automatic categorization, it recognizes that many scenarios fall into grey areas regarding tax reporting. Therefore, the platform highlights areas where you should consider manual input to ensure everything is correct.
“So, its automation works, and manual adjustments sound easy. Does this tool have any drawbacks? Is CryptoTaxCalculator safe?” you might wonder. Let’s find out the answers in the next sections of this CryptoTaxCalculator review!
CryptoTaxCalculator Review: PROS
At the time of writing this CryptoTaxCalculator review, it has earned 4.8 out of 5 stars on Trustpilot based on 508 reviews. In this section, let’s break down the positive aspects of CryptoTaxCalculator that many people appreciate.
Security and Compliance
Ensuring that a website you interact with is secure, especially when it stores your financial data, is important. So, is CryptoTaxCalculator safe? Thankfully, CryptoTaxCalculator has important security measures in place.
First of all, according to its support team (whom I contacted myself), the platform is General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliant.
It offers full data privacy by requiring “read-only” access to your data and never asking for your crypto wallet's private keys. This means CryptoTaxCalculator can access and process your transaction history to calculate your taxes but cannot modify or transfer your sensitive information.
Moreover, the application prioritizes user security by enforcing a strong password complexity standard, ensuring that your profile is protected against unauthorized access.
All user credentials are stored using a secure hashing technique known as salt + bcrypt. Salting involves adding a unique and random value (salt) to each token before hashing to prevent attackers from easily identifying the genuine tokens.[1] Meanwhile, bcrypt helps the platform to be resistant to brute force attacks and remain secure despite hardware improvements.
It is also SOC 2 Type I certified, meaning it performs regular penetration testing and vulnerability scanning to identify potential security risks in accordance with System and Organization Controls 2 created by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). The support team even emphasizes that they are nearing the completion of their SOC 2 Type II certification.
In terms of payment, this crypto tax tool requires all transactions to go through the Stripe platform, which is certified as a PCI Service Provider Level 1, ensuring a high level of security for your financial transactions.
User-Friendly Portfolio Tracker
After comparing several crypto tax calculators, I found CryptoTaxCalculator to have one of the most intuitive designs, which apparently is also appreciated by many users by many user CryptoTaxCalculator reviews.
During the sign-up process, you can immediately select your country of tax residence. Once you do, CryptoTaxCalculator displays the specific tax reports available for your jurisdiction, creating transparency from the beginning and ensuring you receive the most relevant tax information.
Another feature worth mentioning in this CryptoTaxCalculator review is that it has a checklist of guided tours that provides a step-by-step introduction to the platform, ensuring a smooth onboarding experience. The checklist includes:
- Welcome messages and page tour to navigate the site;
- Getting your reports;
- Importing your data;
- Reviewing your transactions;
- Downloading your reports.
The checklist features a progress bar and an estimated time for each step, providing a clear visual representation of your progress and helping you manage your time or avoid feeling overwhelmed.
From this checklist, we can conclude that the developers understand that navigating a new platform can be daunting, especially when dealing with complex tax regulations. They've taken steps to make the process as straightforward as possible, guiding users through each stage of the tax preparation process.
Moreover, the dashboard provides a clear overview of portfolio gains, losses, deposits, and other key financial metrics. The charts and graphs effectively visualize token allocation, winners and losers, and balance trends.
One of the most important concepts worth highlighting in my CryptoTaxCalculator review is that there are two kinds of balances on the platform: reported and calculated balances. That's why you can have different results on the “Portfolio” and “Reports” pages.
"Reported balance" means the amount reported by the wallet, exchange, or blockchain and doesn't include CTC's calculations. Meanwhile, the "calculated balance" refers to all transactions as calculated by the platform, including those manually added or edited. This balance is what you use for tax reports.
If you look at the left-hand sidebar, it offers a well-organized menu with clear categories for easy navigation, allowing you to quickly access your uploaded blockchain, exchange, and manual CSV data. It's nice to see important details at a glance.
At the bottom of the portfolio page, there’s a breakdown of your current holdings. The breakdown includes:
- The names of your currencies;
- The number of assets you have;
- The corresponding price, value, cost, and return on investment (ROI);
- The current unrealized gain/loss.
CryptoTaxCalculator also allows you to add new integrations. Whether through the dashboard's [Add Integration] button or the [Integrations] tab, you can easily connect your exchanges and crypto wallets using CSV import or API keys.
The [Integrations] tab shows exchange, wallet, or blockchain accounts that you've connected, along with their number of transactions, types of assets, and account balances. If you click the [Balance] value, there's a detailed breakdown of the price, amount, and value of each currency. Also, there's a status where you can see whether the wallet or exchange is synced.
Then, moving to the “Transactions” menu, you can see the transactions that have come in and out. Here, you see your transaction history labeled with a certain category: “Trade”, “Transfer”, or “Other”, similar to some other platforms. The “Other” category then lets you specify transactions by choosing a specific action from a long list of options, including “Sell”, “Gift”, and “Staking Reward”.
Moving to the [Transactions] menu, you can see the transactions that have come in and out. Here, your transaction history is labeled with categories like [Trade], [Transfer], or[Other], similar to some other platforms. The [Other] category lets you specify transactions by choosing a specific action from a long list of options, including [Sell], [Gift], and [Staking Reward].
If you import data from API keys or CSV files, CryptoTaxCalculator should categorize the transactions automatically. However, it's possible to add a manual transaction, and the application makes it easy with a progress bar and automatic value converter. This step-by-step approach makes navigation incredibly quick and user-friendly, removing any guesswork about the next action.
To help you locate and reconcile the transactions more efficiently, CryptoTaxCalculator provides various filter options, including category, import type, and account. It also offers several filter methods:
- Filter menu, where you can choose your filter option;
- Filter search bar, which helps you filter transactions by entering a keyword;
- The “And” and “Or” sub-filters to narrow down your search by two specific criteria;
- The “Is” and “Is Not” sub-filters let you include and exclude transactions by selecting “Is” or “Is Not”.
With these advanced filtering capabilities, you can easily pinpoint specific transactions and gain a deeper understanding of your crypto portfolio's performance, which I don't think is available on many crypto tax calculators. Many of these tools, based on my experience, only offer preset filter options without much customization.
It’s also possible to bulk-edit your transactions, allowing you to make changes to several transactions at once rather than updating them individually. Available features to use for bulk editing include:
- Categorizing transactions;
- Editing transaction history or currency;
- Changing asset price;
- Adding comments to transactions;
- Editing the outgoing or incoming account;
- Deleting transactions.
If you want to select a specific type of transaction, use the filters for the ones you'd like to bulk edit. To do so, simply apply the filters and tick the box on the far left-hand side to choose all filtered transactions on the page.
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Tax Calculation Capabilities
While any global user can access CryptoTaxCalculator, it currently supports specific tax rules in 22 countries, including the US, UK, Australia, Canada, and Singapore. At the time of writing this CryptoTaxCalculator review, it offers support for 3,520 integrations (exchanges, wallets, DeFi, and protocols).
You can check and edit all your imported transactions on the [Integrations] and [Transactions] pages. Meanwhile, to start saving on taxes, check out the [Review] tab.
But first, choose the appropriate cost-basis method for your needs (or, as CryptoTaxCalculator calls it, the "inventory method"). Note that the options may differ depending on the country you selected upon sign-up. Compared to Blockpit, another similar platform that only offers FIFO, this tool provides more methods:
- First In First Out (FIFO);
- Last in First Out (LIFO);
- Highest In First Out (HIFO);
- Most Tax Effective;
- Average Cost.
It's always best to work with your local tax professional to decide which method is most suitable for you.
After selecting the method in [Settings], CryptoTaxCalculator recommends connecting all your cryptocurrency wallets and exchange accounts from every year you've traded to ensure the most precise calculation of your tax liability. Many governments mandate the maintenance of comprehensive financial records, so providing complete information is essential.
Once you get all your transactions correct and imported, the tool helps you aggregate all of your short and long-term capital gains, losses, income and expenses. Using its main dashboard, you can view any unrealized gains and potential tax-loss harvesting opportunities in the “Winners and Losers” section. A tax-loss harvesting strategy involves selling assets that have lost value to offset capital gains from other investments to reduce your overall tax liability.[2]
As a result, you can optimize your tax strategies without spending countless hours poring over spreadsheets and complex tax regulations.
Then, it's time to head over to the [Reports] page to download your tax reports. First, specify your financial year period. CryptoTaxCalculator allows users to report all the way back to 2013, so you can download tax reports from previous financial years. It also provides custom date reports where you can simply enter the start and end dates.
Once you select your cost-basis method and financial year period and have all transactions imported, download both CSV and PDF reports. To illustrate the available reports, here's a table that summarizes the report options on CryptoTaxCalculator:
Report Name | Description |
Report Summary | An overview of all your trading activity across the financial year, grouped by currency. |
Capital Gains Report | A breakdown of transactions triggering a capital gains event, with purchase and sale dates. |
Income Report | Details transactions classified as income (e.g., airdrops, staking rewards). |
Derivative Trading Report | Splits out profit from derivatives, margin, and futures trading for separate tax treatment. |
Transactions Report | A complete breakdown of all transactions across the selected period. |
Inventory Report | Start and end-of-year balances, cost, and value, grouped by currency. |
Miscellaneous Expense Report | It lists fees and expense transactions for potential business deductions. |
Trading Stock Report (Country-Specific) | Trading stock details if you're operating as a business. |
Table: Available reports on CryptoTaxCalculator.
Users in specific jurisdictions have the option to download pre-filled forms that they can submit directly to their preferred tax platform or accountant. For instance, if you’re based in the US, you can export your report to the IRS 8949 form or do it to tax software platforms such as TurboTax.
Responsive Customer Support
If you check the five-star user CryptoTaxCalculator reviews, you might notice that most of them highlight its responsive customer support.
You can always reach out to them via the chat icon in the bottom right corner. Message a live agent by selecting [Messages] within the chat button. Select a topic and provide a brief description of your issue. A customer support representative should respond promptly (typically within an hour) to assist you.
There's a notification if the team experiences high volumes. In such a case, you should provide your email address so they can get back to you as soon as possible.
Using this feature also allows you to type in your issues and troubleshoot them yourself by finding the answer in the help center. Alternatively, click the question icon in the top right corner to access the help center.
Did you know?
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CryptoTaxCalculator Review: CONS
Although CryptoTaxCalculator simplifies the often-complex task of tracking and calculating crypto taxes, it does have some limitations. In this section of my CryptoTaxCalculator review, I'll go over some common issues users encounter, helping you see if these might impact your experience and get a balanced view of the platform before you commit.
Cumulative Lifetime Limit
CryptoTaxCalculator's transaction limit system works cumulatively across all tax years. This means the total number of transactions you've made since you started using the platform counts towards your plan's limit, regardless of the year. For instance, if you had 90 trades in 2021 and 11 in 2022, you'd exceed the Rookie plan's 100-transaction limit, necessitating an upgrade to the Hobbyist plan.
As your crypto activities grow over the years, you'll likely need to upgrade your plan to accommodate the increasing number of transactions. This cumulative nature of the transaction limit can make CryptoTaxCalculator a more expensive option in the long run compared to other platforms with annual transaction limits.
This sets CryptoTaxCalculator apart from other platforms that typically calculate transaction limits on a per-tax-year basis. For example, platforms like Koinly and Blockpit often reset their transaction limits at the start of each tax year. This can be more advantageous for users who have a significant number of transactions in one year but fewer in others.
While CryptoTaxCalculator's cumulative limit ensures accuracy in tax calculations, it's important to consider the long-term cost implications, especially for active traders.
Many coupon websites may provide a CryptoTaxCalculator discount code to help you save money, but always check the specific usage terms because these discounts can be limited-time offers or have specific conditions.
No Mobile App
While CryptoTaxCalculator is a feature-rich platform, one notable drawback is the lack of a dedicated mobile app. This can be a minor inconvenience for users who prefer to manage their finances on the go.
Blockpit, for instance, has Android and iOS apps that enable users to do most of the features available on the web version, from getting real-time portfolio insights and categorizing assets automatically to creating a crypto tax report.
Still, it’s important to note that CryptoTaxCalculator is fully accessible through a web browser on mobile devices. I tried it myself using Google Chrome, and it worked just fine to add or check transactions and download tax reports.
Although this provides a functional solution, a native app may offer a more optimized and user-friendly experience, especially for tasks like quick data entry or checking portfolio performance.
CryptoTaxCalculator Pricing
After reading the pros and cons in my CryptoTaxCalculator review, are you interested in subscribing to the paid plan? Before that, I suggest you take a look at the cost implications and see whether the features of this application are worth the cost.
Similar to many other crypto tax platforms, this tool has a tiered pricing structure, from $0 to $499 per year. You pay upfront for the entire year and renew every year unless you cancel. A single subscription gives you access to all financial years, so you're not required to pay for each financial year.
As I mentioned, the transaction limit is cumulative across all financial years. As your trading activity increases, so does the complexity of calculations, storage requirements, and payment processing fees.
It offers a 30-day free trial to let you explore the service and get comfortable with how it works. The free trial allows you to:
- Import data;
- Review transactions;
- See a full breakdown of calculated taxes against each transaction;
- Review the dashboard.
CryptoTaxCalculator doesn’t offer financial year reporting in the free trial.
If you want to access the tax report and subscribe to its paid plan, make sure you check your transaction count and the features you need. For example, some features like a tax-loss harvesting tool and advanced reports are only available on higher plans.
The Rookie plan is a good option for small-time investors. It supports up to 100 transactions with unlimited integrations. Meanwhile, professionals should consider the Trader plan, which comes with a full suite of CryptoTaxCalculator's features and supports up to 100,000 transactions.
How to Sign Up for CryptoTaxCalculator?
If you've weighed the pros and cons I’ve explained in my CryptoTaxCalculator review and feel it’s the right tool for managing your cryptocurrency taxes, the next step is setting up your account. Signing up is a straightforward process, and once you're in, you can connect your wallets, integrate exchanges, and start simplifying your tax reporting.
In this guide, I'll walk you through each step of the registration process so you can get started with CryptoTaxCalculator in no time.
Step 1: Visit the official website of CryptoTaxCalculator and press the [Get started for free] button.
Step 2: Enter your email address, create a password, and click [Get Started]. Alternatively, sign up using a Coinbase, Google, or MetaMask account.
Step 3: Choose your tax jurisdiction to determine the default tax rules and local currency. The tool then shows available reports provided to that specific country, and click [Continue].
Step 4: Select integration. Depending on the exchange, wallet, or blockchain, the process may involve entering your API key or simply clicking a button, like what I did when connecting to Coinbase Wallet. Wait for the exporting process to complete.
Once you finish all the steps, an image indicating the calculations are complete appears. Then, you're redirected to the dashboard with some graphs and a step-by-step onboarding tutorial that guides you to navigate the platform.
CryptoTaxCalculator Alternatives
In this part of my CryptoTaxCalculator review, I'll explore some alternative crypto tax platforms that you might want to consider. While CryptoTaxCalculator is a robust option, it's always beneficial to explore other solutions to find the best fit for your specific needs. Let's dive into some popular alternatives and compare their features and pricing!
CryptoTaxCalculator VS Binance Tax
Users who focus their trading activities on Binance should consider Binance Tax. It simplifies the process of calculating taxes on Binance transactions by providing a clear breakdown of gains and losses.
However, at the time of writing this CryptoTaxCalculator review, Binance Tax only covers transactions within its platform. If you trade on multiple exchanges or engage in complex trading strategies, CryptoTaxCalculator might be a better option because it integrates with various exchanges and wallets, making it easier to import transaction history.
Regarding pricing, Binance Tax is a free product, while CryptoTaxCalculator's pricing plans are tiered based on the number of transactions and the complexity of your tax situation.
CryptoTaxCalculator VS Koinly
Comparing CryptoTaxCalculator vs. Koinly can be challenging because both are popular crypto tax software options and have user-friendly interfaces with advanced features like a tax-loss harvesting tool.
The main difference is the availability of a mobile app. Koinly has iOS and Android apps that allow you to manage your crypto taxes on the go. This can be particularly convenient for users who frequently check their portfolios or need to input transactions quickly. CryptoTaxCalculator, on the other hand, is primarily a web-based platform, which might be less convenient for those who prefer mobile access.
It's also important to compare Koinly's and CryptoTaxCalculator's pricing plans. As I mentioned in a previous section, this tool uses a cumulative transaction limit that causes higher long-term costs for active traders, while Koinly offers annual transaction limits per tax year.
It may be possible to reduce the cost using a CryptoTaxCalculator discount code, but I suggest you check your transaction history to calculate the total amount and avoid unexpectedly spending money on a higher tier.
If you're unsure whether to choose CryptoTaxCalculator VS Koinly, consider their origins, as this can influence their feature set and support. Koinly, being a UK-based platform, is likely more attuned to HMRC regulations and tax practices. Conversely, CryptoTaxCalculator, an Australian company, may offer better support for ATO tax guidelines and Australian tax residents.
CryptoTaxCalculator VS CoinTracker
Besides CryptoTaxCalculator VS Koinly, you may consider CoinTracker, another crypto tax platform that has gained positive user reviews. At the time of writing this CryptoTaxCalculator review, it receives an average of 4.7 stars from more than 1,100 Trustpilot users.
So, what's the difference between CryptoTaxCalculator VS CoinTracker? One noticeable aspect is the pricing plan. Although both offer a free plan, CoinTracker's basic paid plan is pricier than CryptoTaxCalculator's. The plan also has several limitations, such as excluding staking transactions up to $25 and ignoring spam transaction counts, which can impact the accuracy of your tax calculations.
In terms of support, comparing CryptoTaxCalculator VS CoinTracker, the latter seems to prioritize its AI helpbot named Chatoshi, and you may get in touch with its human agent if you log in.
Although I personally find it quite helpful, some users may prefer having interactions with a real person. In such a case, CryptoTaxCalculator might be a better option because you can chat with a live agent even without signing in.
Conclusions
From my CryptoTaxCalculator review, you may consider this tool a strong option for managing your crypto taxes. It has a user-friendly interface, SOC 2 Type I certification, and advanced features like tax-loss harvesting and comprehensive reporting.
However, it's important to check the CryptoTaxCalculator pricing structure, particularly the cumulative transaction limits, which can become costly for active traders. Additionally, the lack of a dedicated mobile app might be a minor inconvenience for some users.
My tip is to check for a CryptoTaxCalculator discount code on coupon websites to potentially save some money on your subscription.
Still, consider looking at alternatives like Binance Tax if you mostly trade with the platform (it’s free!) or Koinly, which has a mobile version. You can also check CryptoTaxCalculator VS CoinTracker to broaden your options.
The content published on this website is not aimed to give any kind of financial, investment, trading, or any other form of advice. BitDegree.org does not endorse or suggest you to buy, sell or hold any kind of cryptocurrency. Before making financial investment decisions, do consult your financial advisor.
Scientific References
1. V. Papaspirou., M. Papathanasaki., L. Maglaras.: 'A Novel Authentication Method That Combines Honeytokens and Google Authenticator';