FixMyCryptoTax 1099-DA reconciler

Exchange guide · Kraken

Kraken 1099-DA (2026): What's on It, Why Cost Basis May Be Blank, How to Reconcile

What Kraken's Form 1099-DA reports for 2025 and 2026, why transferred-in crypto shows no cost basis, how to add it in Kraken's Tax Center, which export you need, and how to map each row to Form 8949.

By John Calloway Updated Sources checked Not tax advice

Your Kraken 1099-DA in 5 steps

  1. 01

    Request a Ledgers export now: profile icon, Documents, Create Export, Ledgers, CSV, Generate. Kraken says exports can take up to a week.

  2. 02

    In the Tax Center, open Transactions and filter Status by "Missing Cost Basis". These sales will show proceeds with no basis.

  3. 03

    For each one, select Edit and add the original purchase price and acquisition date from the exchange or wallet the coins came from.

  4. 04

    Check the lot method in Tax Center Settings. FIFO is the default, and a change only applies to transactions on or after January 1, 2026.

  5. 05

    When the 1099-DA arrives, sort each row into Form 8949 box G, H, J or K and enter your own basis wherever box 1g is blank.

The form, box by box

What each box on Form 1099-DA means in plain English. The highlighted boxes are the ones that decide how you fill in Form 8949.

Filer's name, address, TIN Recipient's name, address, TIN Account number
Form 1099-DA Digital Asset Proceeds From Broker Transactions Applicable checkbox on Form 8949G · H · J · K · Y
1a Code for digital asset
1b Name of digital asset
1c Number of units
1d Date acquired
1e Date sold or disposed
1f Proceeds
1g Cost or other basis blank?
1h Accrued market discount
1i Wash sale loss disallowed
2 Check if basis reported to IRS
3a Gross or net proceeds reported
3b Check if proceeds from a QOF
4 Federal income tax withheld
5 Check if loss is not allowed
6 Gain or loss: short-term, long-term, ordinary
7 Check if only cash proceeds
8 Check if broker relied on customer-provided acquisition info
9 Check if noncovered security
10 Reserved
11a-c Optional reporting method (stablecoins, NFTs)
12a Number of units transferred in
12b Transfer-in date
13 Reserved
14-16 State information
Schematic, not the official form: box titles from the IRS Instructions for Form 1099-DA (rev. Apr 30, 2026), checked Oct 1, 2026. The real form is laid out differently and has copies for the IRS, you and the broker.

  1. Box 1b, 1c What was sold

    The coin and the number of units, to 18 decimal places. One row per sale (or per aggregated group under the optional methods).

  2. Box 1d, 1e When you bought and sold

    Box 1d can be blank: the broker leaves it empty when the units were bought on several dates, or for a noncovered sale where it doesn't know the date. Your holding period comes from your own records then.

  3. Box 1f Proceeds

    Gross proceeds, already reduced by the transaction costs of the sale. This is what goes in Form 8949 column (d).

  4. Box 1g Cost basis: the box that is often blank

    The broker may leave it blank when box 9 is checked. Blank means not reported, not $0. You enter your correct basis in Form 8949 column (e).

  5. Box 2 Basis reported to the IRS?

    Checked: the IRS has the broker's basis, so the row goes in Form 8949 box G or J. Unchecked: box H or K.

  6. Box 6 Short-term or long-term

    One year or less is short-term. If the broker can't tell, the "Applicable checkbox on Form 8949" field shows code Y and you decide from your purchase date.

  7. Box 8 Your own numbers

    Checked when the broker used acquisition details you gave it, such as basis you added for coins you transferred in.

  8. Box 9 Noncovered

    Coins bought before 2026, or bought elsewhere and transferred in. For these the broker doesn't have to report basis.

  9. Box 11a-c Aggregated rows

    Qualifying stablecoins and specified NFTs can be reported as yearly totals. If your total is $10,000 or less (stablecoins) or $600 or less (NFTs), the broker doesn't have to report them at all.

  10. Box 12a, 12b Transferred in

    How many of the units sold had been transferred into the account, and when. A filled 12b is a strong hint that the basis lives in another exchange's export.

On Kraken's form, the rows to check first are the ones with box 9 checked and box 1g empty.

Covered vs noncovered on Kraken

Covered basis reported

  • Positions acquired on Kraken in 2026 or later: "we will also begin reporting acquisition costs."

Noncovered basis may be blank

  • Crypto transferred in: "Kraken may not have complete acquisition information."
  • Everything on the 2025 form: "All transactions shown here" were reported as noncovered, gross proceeds only.
  • Crypto bought before 2026 and sold in 2026.

Sources: Kraken Support, Tax forms FAQ; Kraken Support, How to read your 2025 combined Form 1099; IRS, Instructions for Form 1099-DA (2026).

Get your Kraken files

  1. Profile icon (top right)
  2. Documents
  3. Create Export
  4. Ledgers (deposits, withdrawals, fees) or Trades
  5. Date range, CSV
  6. Generate

"Export requests can take anywhere from a few minutes to up to a week to process." There is no email when it's ready; check the Documents page. Tax forms are on the website only, in the same Documents section.

Source: Kraken Support, How to export your account history; Kraken Support, Tax forms FAQ.

Add missing basis in Kraken

  1. Tax Center: Transactions
  2. Status filter: "Missing Cost Basis"
  3. Edit icon on the transaction
  4. Enter cost basis, acquisition date (split lots if needed)
  5. Submit

Source: Kraken Support, FAQs for Kraken's U.S. Tax Center.

Reconciler · Kraken + Coinbase

Drop your Kraken export in. Nothing is uploaded.

The free reconciler reads Kraken ledgers.csv, matches transfers to your other exchange, and lists every sale likely to show a blank basis, with the original cost to enter on Form 8949.

Open the reconciler Try the sample first

The full guide

Not tax advice. This page summarizes IRS instructions and Kraken’s own support pages as of October 1, 2026. Kraken may change its process before forms go out. Check with a tax professional for your situation.

Short version: Kraken reported gross proceeds only for tax year 2025, with every sale marked noncovered. For tax year 2026 it adds acquisition costs, but only for positions acquired on Kraken in 2026 or later. Crypto you moved in from another exchange or wallet, or bought before 2026, can show proceeds with no basis. Kraken’s Tax Center lets you add the missing basis, and your return has to use the basis your records support either way.

What Kraken sends you

FormWhat it coversSource
1099-DASales and other dispositions on Kraken.com, Kraken Pro and the Kraken apps, from tax year 2025Kraken: Tax forms FAQ
1099-MISCStaking rewards, airdrops and referral rewards of $600 or more combined for the yearKraken: Tax forms FAQ
Tax Center reports (not IRS forms)Income report, gain/loss report and transaction history report, from the Summary tabKraken: U.S. Tax Center FAQ

Kraken’s tax forms are on the website only, not in the mobile apps: the Documents section of Kraken.com or Pro.Kraken.com (Kraken). In March 2026 Kraken said forms were delayed by “technical challenges” and were still being generated (Kraken).

2025 vs 2026 on Kraken

Tax yearWhat Kraken reportsWhat that means for you
2025Gross proceeds. “All transactions shown here” reported as noncoveredBasis and gains on the form were “informational only”. You supplied basis for every sale
2026Proceeds, plus acquisition costs “for positions acquired in 2026 or thereafter”Basis can be filled in for coins bought on Kraken from 2026. Everything else may still be blank

Sources: Kraken: How to read your 2025 combined Form 1099; Kraken: Tax forms FAQ. The IRS rule behind it: a digital asset is covered only if it was “acquired after 2025” in an account where the broker provided custody (IRS, Instructions for Form 1099-DA (2026)).

Why your Kraken basis may be blank

  1. You transferred the coins in. “If you transferred digital assets into Kraken from another platform or wallet, Kraken may not have complete acquisition information” (Kraken). For those sales, “we will report the sale of the asset but will not report the cost basis or a gain or loss” (Kraken).
  2. You bought before 2026. Those coins are noncovered even if they never left Kraken (IRS i1099da).
  3. Stablecoin sales of $10,000 or less. Brokers don’t have to report designated sales of qualifying stablecoins when your total for the year is $10,000 or less (IRS i1099da). You still report them.

Kraken’s own warning: users may “incorrectly assume” that a missing basis means a zero-dollar basis, with the entire proceeds reported as a gain (Kraken).

How to add missing basis in Kraken’s Tax Center

Kraken’s steps (Kraken: U.S. Tax Center FAQ):

  1. Open the Transactions page of the Tax Center.
  2. Use the Status filter and select Missing Cost Basis.
  3. Select the Edit icon on the transaction.
  4. In Edit Transaction, enter the original purchase price (cost basis) and acquisition date. Split the lot if the coins came from more than one purchase.
  5. Select Submit. Kraken says manual updates can take up to four hours to show in the Tax Center.

Kraken’s support pages don’t give a cutoff date for edits. The purchase records you need are in the export of the exchange or wallet the coins came from.

Lot method on Kraken

Kraken uses FIFO by default and lists LIFO, HIFO and LOFO as alternatives in the Tax Center’s Settings, on a desktop device. Changes “apply prospectively only” and cover transactions on or after January 1, 2026 (Kraken: Tax lot relief methods). Under IRS rules, if no units are identified at or before the sale, the broker reports the earliest units first (IRS i1099da).

Which Kraken export you need

Kraken offers two account-history exports (Kraken: How to export your account history):

  • Ledgers: deposits, withdrawals, fees and other balance changes. This is the one that shows coins arriving from, and leaving for, other exchanges, so it’s what you need to follow basis across accounts. Our 1099-DA reconciler reads it.
  • Trades: execution details for each trade. Our Kraken tax estimator reads this one for a quick FIFO estimate.

Path: profile icon, Documents, Create Export, choose Ledgers or Trades, set the date range, pick CSV, then Generate. Kraken says an export can take “anywhere from a few minutes to up to a week,” and it doesn’t email you when it’s ready. Start the range at your very first trade so older purchases are included.

Reconciling Kraken’s 1099-DA to Form 8949

Form 8949 has digital-asset boxes (IRS, Instructions for Form 8949):

Your 1099-DA rowHeld 1 year or lessHeld more than 1 yearColumn (e), basis
Basis reported to the IRS (box 2 checked)GJThe basis shown. Corrections go in (g) with code B
Basis blank or not reported (usually box 9 checked)HKYour correct basis
No 1099-DA for the saleILYour correct basis

Column (d) is the proceeds in box 1f, already reduced by transaction costs (IRS i1099da). If the form’s “Applicable checkbox on Form 8949” shows code Y, Kraken couldn’t tell whether the sale is short- or long-term, and you decide from your own purchase date.

Synthetic example (illustrative numbers)

  • Mar 4, 2025: buy 0.20 ETH on Coinbase for $640.00.
  • Feb 10, 2026: send the 0.20 ETH to Kraken.
  • Aug 19, 2026: sell the 0.20 ETH on Kraken for proceeds of $700.00.

On Kraken’s 1099-DA this sale is noncovered (bought before 2026 and transferred in), so box 1g is likely blank. Held Mar 4, 2025 to Aug 19, 2026: more than a year, so long-term, box K. Column (d) $700.00, column (e) $640.00, gain $60.00. Filed with no basis, the whole $700.00 would look like gain.

Background

Sources (checked 2026-10-01)

Common mistakes

  1. Treating "no basis reported" as a $0 basis

    When basis is missing, Kraken "will not report the cost basis or a gain or loss." Kraken notes people may wrongly read that as a $0 basis, with the entire proceeds counted as gain. Enter your real basis on Form 8949. (Kraken Support, FAQs for Kraken's U.S. Tax Center)

  2. Expecting a lot-method change to fix past sales

    Kraken's Tax Center changes "apply prospectively only" and cover transactions on or after January 1, 2026. (Kraken Support, Tax lot relief methods)

  3. Requesting the export at the last minute

    Kraken exports can take up to a week, and Kraken doesn't email you when one is ready. (Kraken Support, How to export your account history)

  4. Relying on the Tax Center alone

    Your return has to use the basis your records support. Editing the Tax Center helps the numbers Kraken shows; the correct basis still goes in Form 8949 column (e) for any sale where the form leaves it blank. (IRS, Instructions for Form 8949)

Questions people ask

Does Kraken report to the IRS?

Yes. Kraken issues Form 1099-DA for sales on Kraken.com, Kraken Pro and its apps starting with tax year 2025, and Form 1099-MISC when combined staking rewards, airdrops and referral rewards reach $600 or more for the year.

Source: Kraken Support, Tax forms FAQ

What is on the Kraken 1099-DA for 2025 vs 2026?

For 2025, gross proceeds only, with every transaction reported as noncovered. For 2026, proceeds plus acquisition costs for positions acquired in 2026 or later.

Source: Kraken Support, Tax forms FAQ

Why is cost basis missing on my Kraken 1099-DA?

Usually because the coins were transferred in from another platform or wallet, or bought before 2026. Kraken reports the sale but not the basis or gain for those.

Source: Kraken Support, FAQs for Kraken's U.S. Tax Center

How do I add missing cost basis in Kraken's Tax Center?

Go to Transactions, set the Status filter to "Missing Cost Basis", select the Edit icon, enter the original purchase price and acquisition date (splitting lots if needed) and select Submit. Kraken says manual updates can take up to four hours to show.

Source: Kraken Support, FAQs for Kraken's U.S. Tax Center

Do I have to fix basis in the Kraken Tax Center before I file?

Kraken's pages don't say so. What the IRS requires is that you enter the correct basis in Form 8949 column (e) when the form doesn't report it, and keep records that support it.

Source: IRS, Instructions for Form 8949

Which lot method does Kraken use?

FIFO by default. Kraken lists LIFO, HIFO and LOFO as alternatives in Tax Center Settings, chosen on a desktop device. Changes apply only to transactions on or after January 1, 2026.

Source: Kraken Support, Tax lot relief methods

Where do I find my Kraken tax forms?

On the website only, not the mobile apps: the Documents section on Kraken.com or Pro.Kraken.com.

Source: Kraken Support, Tax forms FAQ

Which Kraken export do I need, ledgers or trades?

Ledgers covers deposits, withdrawals, fees and other balance changes; Trades covers executions. To follow coins between exchanges you need the ledgers, which is what our reconciler reads.

Source: Kraken Support, How to export your account history

Box 1g (cost basis) is blank. Do I report $0?

No. A blank box 1g means the broker did not report basis, not that your basis is zero. For a noncovered sale with no basis shown, the Form 8949 instructions say to enter the correct basis of the property in column (e). Keep the purchase records that support it.

Source: IRS, Instructions for Form 8949

Which Form 8949 box do I use?

Digital assets use boxes G to L. Basis reported to the IRS: G (held one year or less) or J (more than one year). Basis not reported: H or K. No 1099-DA at all: I or L. The 1099-DA has an "Applicable checkbox on Form 8949" field with the letter the broker expects; code Y means the broker could not tell short-term from long-term, so you decide from your own purchase date.

Source: IRS, Instructions for Form 1099-DA (2026)

Why are some stablecoin sales missing from the form?

Brokers do not have to report designated sales of qualifying stablecoins if your total gross proceeds from them are $10,000 or less for the year. The sales are still yours to report.

Source: IRS, Instructions for Form 1099-DA (2026)

Fix it before you file

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Not tax advice; check with a tax professional for your situation.