US Crypto Income Tax Calculator

Estimate the tax on crypto you earned rather than sold: staking rewards, mining income, airdrops and pay received in crypto, using 2026 federal rates.

Your crypto income

Taxed as ordinary income. Self-employment tax does not apply.

Value in US dollars on the day you received it, added up for the year.

Tax Settings

Your taxable income for the year after deductions, not counting this crypto income.

Your state's income tax rate. Leave at 0 if your state has no income tax.

Your income tax

Fill in your crypto income and choose Calculate Income Tax. Your figures appear here.

Crypto Income

$0.00

Value when you received it

Federal Income Tax

$0.00

2026 ordinary rates

Self-Employment Tax

$0.00

Only on self-employed income

State Tax

$0.00

Income × state tax rate

Total Estimated Tax

$0.00

Income tax + self-employment tax + state tax

Income You Keep

$0.00

Income − total estimated tax

An estimate for the 2026 tax year. It leaves out the qualified business income deduction, credits and any local tax. The value you report as income becomes your cost basis: when you sell, use the US Crypto Tax Calculator for the gain.

How it is calculated

Crypto you earn is taxed as ordinary income at its value on the day you received it.

  • Crypto income = the US dollar value of the crypto on the day you received it, added up for the year
  • Net income = crypto income − business expenses. Expenses count only for self-employed income
  • Federal income tax = this income taxed on top of your other taxable income at 2026 ordinary rates, from 10% to 37%
  • Self-employment tax = 15.3% of 92.35% of net income: 12.4% Social Security on the first $184,500 and 2.9% Medicare on all of it. It applies only to self-employed income, from $400 of net earnings
  • Additional Medicare Tax = 0.9% of self-employment earnings above $200,000, $250,000 for joint filers or $125,000 if married filing separately
  • Deduction = half of the self-employment tax is taken off this income before income tax is worked out
  • State tax = income × the state rate you enter
  • Income you keep = net income − federal income tax − self-employment tax − state tax

Frequently asked questions

Short answers on how crypto you earn is taxed in the United States.

Crypto you receive as a reward or as payment is ordinary income. You report its fair market value in US dollars on the day you received it, and it is taxed at your normal federal rate, from 10% to 37%. This covers staking rewards, mining income, airdrops and pay received in crypto.

Yes. Staking rewards count as income in the year you gain control of them, meaning you are able to sell or transfer them. The amount is their value in US dollars at that time, whether or not you sell.

Only if you mine as a business. Then your net earnings, after expenses such as electricity and equipment, are subject to self-employment tax of 15.3% as well as income tax. If mining is a hobby, the income is still taxable but self-employment tax does not apply, and expenses are generally not deductible.

If you are an employee, crypto wages are taxed like cash wages at their value on the day you receive them, and your employer withholds income tax, Social Security and Medicare. If you are an independent contractor, the value is self-employment income and you pay self-employment tax on it yourself.

Yes. An airdrop is ordinary income equal to the value of the new crypto when you receive it, which means when it is recorded on the ledger and you have control over it.

The value you reported as income becomes your cost basis. When you sell, you have a capital gain or loss equal to the difference between the sale proceeds and that basis. So the same coins can be taxed twice: once as income when received, and once on any gain when sold.

The 12.4% Social Security part of self-employment tax applies only to the first $184,500 of combined wages and self-employment earnings in 2026. This calculator assumes you have no other wages counting toward that limit. If you also have a job, your Social Security part can be lower than shown.

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