American cryptocurrency exchange and wallet service Coinbase has added resources for customers in the United States to claim crypto trades on their taxes, according to an official blog post on Jan. 24.
In addition to adding an educational guide on crypto and taxes, Coinbase has also integrated with popular tax software TurboTax. According to the blog post, users of Coinbase.com and Coinbase Pro will be able to automatically import transactions into a new, crypto-specific section of TurboTax Premier.
Coinbase says that it provided the new resources in order to make the platform easier to use after hearing confusion from the community regarding crypto transactions on their taxes.
The legal definition of cryptocurrency in the U.S. — and by extension the way by which holders are obliged to claim it on their taxes — remains unclear as a slew of regulatory agencies each view cryptocurrencies differently. While the Securities and Exchange Commission considers cryptocurrencies to be securities, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission considers them commodities.
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network classifies crypto as money, while in the view of the Internal Revenue Service — the agency responsible for collecting taxes and distributing refunds — digital assets like Bitcoin (BTC) are property.
Coinbase expanded its offerings significantly in 2018, adding support for several new tokens including Ethereum Classic (ETC), Zcash (ZEC), and Basic Attention Token (BAT). In November 2018, the exchange added an over-the-counter (OTC) trading desk for institutional investors. Christine Sandler, head of sales at Coinbase said:
“We launched our OTC business as a complement to our exchange business because we found a lot of institutions were using OTC as an on-ramp for crypto trading.”
Coinbase has previously launched educational programs to teach users about the basics of cryptocurrencies. In December 2018, the exchange introduced “Coinbase Earn,” a platform wherein users can learn about cryptocurrencies as they earn them. The idea behind the initiative was purportedly to teach users about an asset “while getting a bit of the asset to try out.”
