Your 1099-DA, and why box 1g is empty
The first digital-asset broker forms landed in early 2026 for 2025 sales, and the single most alarming thing about them is a blank: the cost box. That blank is not a mistake, and it is not something your exchange can fix. Here is what every box means, which ones may legitimately be empty, and precisely how the correct figure gets onto your return.
Box 1g is empty because your broker was never required to fill it in for coins it did not sell you — anything you moved in from another exchange or a wallet is noncovered, and its cost is yours to prove.
BOX 9 -- printed caption 'Check if digital asset is a noncovered security'. When box 9 is checked, the broker need not complete boxes 1d, 1g, 1h, 1i, and 6 and need not check box 2, and the recipient instructions on the form itself say boxes 1d, 1g, 1h, 1i, 2, and 6 may be blank. Box 2 ('Check if basis reported to IRS') is the confirming signal in the other direction: if box 2 is unchecked, whatever is (or is not) in box 1g was not reported to the IRS.
Every box, in plain English
| Box | Label | What goes in it |
|---|---|---|
| 1a | Code for digital asset | The nine-character Digital Token Identifier Foundation (DTIF) identifier for the asset, or '999999999' if the asset is not registered with DTIF (also used for the specified-NFT optional method). Instructions heading: 'Box 1a. Code for Digital Asset'. |
| 1b | Name of digital asset | The full name of the asset, matching the DTIF registration when box 1a carries a DTIF code; 'Specified NFTs' when the specified-NFT optional reporting method is used. |
| 1c | Number of units | How many units of the asset were sold, exchanged, or otherwise disposed of, carried to 18 decimal places. |
| 1d | Date acquired | When the units sold were acquired, in MM/DD/YYYY. Left blank if the lots were acquired on a variety of dates, if box 9 is checked and the broker doesn't know or chooses not to report it, or under an optional reporting method. |
| 1e | Date sold or disposed | The date of the disposition, in MM/DD/YYYY. (The 2025 instructions head this section 'Box 1e. Date Sold', but the printed caption on the 2025 form face reads 'Date sold or disposed'.) |
| 1f | Proceeds | Gross proceeds from the disposition -- cash plus the fair market value of services, other digital assets, or other property received -- reduced by digital asset transaction costs such as fees, commissions, and transfer taxes. A loss on a closing transaction is shown in parentheses. |
| 1g | Cost or other basis | The adjusted basis of the units sold. Left blank when box 9 is checked and the broker is not reporting basis; an entry of -0- means the asset genuinely had zero basis, not that basis is unknown. |
| 1h | Accrued market discount | Accrued market discount, reported only for digital assets that are covered securities and also debt instruments for federal tax purposes (in practice, tokenized debt). |
| 1i | Wash sales loss disallowed | Loss disallowed under section 1091. This applies to tokenized securities only -- it is mandatory when both the sale and the repurchase occur in the same account with the same CUSIP, and optional otherwise. (2026 form face changed the caption to 'Wash sale loss disallowed'.) |
| 2 | Check if basis reported to IRS | Checked when the broker reported the box 1g basis to the IRS -- i.e., when box 9 is not checked, or when box 9 is checked but the broker reported basis voluntarily anyway. |
| 3a | Reported to IRS: [ ] Gross proceeds [ ] Net proceeds | A two-option checkbox indicating whether box 1f was reduced by option premium ('Net proceeds') or not ('Gross proceeds'); completed when the sale resulted from exercise of an option. |
| 3b | Check if proceeds from: [ ] Reserved for future use [ ] QOF | Checked in the 'QOF' position when the form reports the disposition of an interest in a Qualified Opportunity Fund. The first position is printed but reserved. |
| 4 | Federal income tax withheld | Backup withholding taken by the broker, generally because the customer did not furnish a valid TIN. The taxpayer claims it as tax withheld on the return. |
| 5 | Check if loss is not allowed based on amount in 1f | Checked for an acquisition-of-control or substantial-change-in-capital-structure transaction, where the taxpayer may not take a loss based on the proceeds shown in box 1f. |
| 6 | Gain or loss: [ ] Short-term [ ] Long-term [ ] Ordinary | The broker's holding-period determination, plus an 'Ordinary' checkbox if any part of the gain or loss may be ordinary. A single Form 1099-DA may not show both short-term and long-term. |
| 7 | Check if 1f is only cash | Checked when the only proceeds paid were cash (U.S. dollars or a convertible government/central-bank currency) -- i.e., not a crypto-for-crypto swap. Instructions heading: 'Box 7. Check if Only Cash Proceeds Were Paid in the Transaction'. |
| 8 | Check if broker relied on customer-provided acquisition information | Checked when the customer gave the broker acquisition information that the broker used to identify which lots were sold. Under current law brokers may use that information for lot selection only -- not to report basis or acquisition dates. |
| 9 | Check if digital asset is a noncovered security | The key box. Checked when the asset is a noncovered security; if checked, the broker need not complete boxes 1d, 1g, 1h, 1i, and 6 and need not check box 2. It must NOT be checked for a covered security. |
| 10 | (no printed caption -- reserved) | Reserved for future use; the box number is printed on the form with no caption. |
| 11a | Check if gross proceeds reported in 1f is an aggregate amount for: | Checked when the broker used an optional aggregate reporting method, which tells the reader that box 1f is a yearly total rather than one trade. Instructions heading: 'Box 11a. Reason Digital Asset Is Eligible for an Optional Reporting Method'. |
| 11b | If 11a checked, number of transactions | How many individual transactions are rolled into the aggregate amounts on this form. |
| 11c | For aggregate reporting of specified NFTs, aggregate gross proceeds… | Aggregate proceeds from primary (first) sales by an NFT creator or minter. When 11c is used, box 1f is left blank and a separate Form 1099-DA covers the non-first sales. |
| 12a | Number of units transferred in | Of the units sold, how many had been transferred into the broker's custodial account from somewhere else (another exchange, a self-custody wallet), to 18 decimal places. |
| 12b | If transferred in, provide transfer-in date | The date those units arrived at the broker, MM/DD/YYYY. Left blank if they arrived on a variety of dates. This is the date the asset entered the broker's view -- not the date the taxpayer originally acquired it. |
| 13 | (no printed caption -- reserved) | Reserved for future use. |
| 14 | State name | Two-letter state abbreviation for state filing; optional for federal purposes and usable for up to two states. |
| 15 | State identification no. | The broker's state ID number assigned by that state. |
| 16 | State tax withheld | State income tax withheld on the transaction, if any. |
Box numbers and labels from the IRS form and its instructions, checked 2026-08-23. The 2026 form reworded two labels; both are listed where they differ.
Why the cost box is blank
TAX YEAR 2025: basis reporting is not required at all. The 2025 instructions state that for each sale effected in 2025 the broker must complete the unnumbered boxes (CUSIP optional), boxes 1a, 1b, 1c, box 1e, and box 1f, with boxes 3b, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, and 16 only if applicable -- and that the broker 'is not required to report basis information (boxes 1d, 1g, 1h, 1i, 2, and 6)' but may fill them in voluntarily without penalty exposure under sections 6721/6722. For 2025 the instructions also say box 9 itself 'is not required to be completed', and that a broker not reporting basis should put code Y in the 'Applicable checkbox on Form 8949' box. The practical result is that most tax year 2025 Forms 1099-DA show proceeds and units but a blank box 1d and a blank box 1g. TAX YEAR 2026 AND AFTER: basis reporting becomes mandatory for COVERED securities -- boxes 1d, 1g, 2, and 6 must be completed (1h and 1i if applicable) -- and stays optional for NONCOVERED securities. Digital assets are noncovered if the broker did not provide custodial services for them when acquired, if they were acquired before 2026, if they were transferred in to the broker providing custodial services, or if acquired by an exempt recipient / exempt foreign person / certain foreign intermediary-held assets. Because 'covered' requires acquisition after 2025 inside the same custodial account, essentially every long-held coin and everything moved in from outside is noncovered indefinitely, so blank basis will persist well past 2026. Boxes 1d and 1g are also legitimately blank when the lots sold were acquired on a variety of dates, and boxes 1d, 1e, 1g, 1h, 1i, 2, 3a, 3b, 5, 6, 8, 9, 12a, and 12b may all be blank when the broker uses an optional aggregate reporting method for qualifying stablecoins or specified NFTs.
Coins you moved in from somewhere else
Two separate mechanics. (1) DISCLOSURE: if any of the units sold had been transferred into the broker's custodial account from somewhere else, the broker reports the number of those units in BOX 12a (to 18 decimal places) and the date they arrived in BOX 12b, in MM/DD/YYYY; box 12b is left blank if the units came in on a variety of dates. This is required for sales effected in 2025 and for sales effected after 2025. (2) STATUS AND BASIS: a digital asset that was transferred in to the broker providing custodial services is expressly listed in the instructions as a NONCOVERED security. That means the broker is never required to report its basis or acquisition date -- boxes 1d, 1g, 1h, 1i, and 6 may be blank and box 2 unchecked, with box 9 checked. Worse for holding period: under 'Identification of digital assets' in the box 1g instructions, if the broker does not take customer-provided acquisition information into account for lot selection, it must 'treat digital assets transferred into the customer's account as acquired as of the date and time of the transfer' -- i.e., the transfer-in date, not the taxpayer's real acquisition date, is what the broker uses. And the instructions add the critical limit: under current law brokers may use customer-provided acquisition information SOLELY for lot-selection purposes, NOT for reporting basis or acquisition dates. So even a taxpayer who hands their exchange a full purchase history cannot get that history onto boxes 1d and 1g; the most it produces is a check in box 8 ('Check if broker relied on customer-provided acquisition information'). Practical reading for a taxpayer: box 12a/12b tell you the broker's clock started at the transfer, so any short-term/long-term call in box 6 (if completed at all) and any basis figure may be wrong for a transferred-in lot, and the taxpayer must supply the true acquisition date and basis from their own records.
Getting it onto Form 8949 — the part most guides get wrong
IMPORTANT AND FREQUENTLY GOT WRONG: for tax year 2025 the IRS added SIX NEW CHECKBOXES to Form 8949 specifically for digital assets. They are not A/B/C/D/E/F. Form 8949 (2025) Part I (short-term) now reads: (A) short-term transactions reported on Form(s) 1099-B showing basis was reported to the IRS; (B) short-term on Form(s) 1099-B showing basis was NOT reported; (C) short-term transactions, OTHER THAN DIGITAL ASSET TRANSACTIONS, not reported on Form 1099-B or Form 1099-DA; (G) short-term transactions reported on Form(s) 1099-DA showing basis WAS reported to the IRS; (H) short-term transactions reported on Form(s) 1099-DA showing basis was NOT reported to the IRS; (I) short-term digital asset transactions not reported to you on Form 1099-DA or Form 1099-B. Part II (long-term) mirrors this: (D), (E), (F) for 1099-B and non-digital-asset, and (J) long-term on Form(s) 1099-DA with basis reported, (K) long-term on Form(s) 1099-DA with basis NOT reported, (L) long-term digital asset transactions not reported to you on any 1099. The 8949 instructions state directly: 'Do not use box C to report digital asset transactions. Use box I' and 'Do not use box F to report digital asset transactions. Use box L'. HOW NONCOVERED STATUS MOVES THE CATEGORY: the driver is box 2 on the 1099-DA, not box 9 as such. Box 2 checked (basis reported to IRS) => Form 8949 box G (short-term) or J (long-term). Box 2 unchecked, or box 1g blank => box H (short-term) or K (long-term). Because a noncovered digital asset with box 9 checked has no basis reported and no box 2 check, noncovered dispositions land in H/K rather than G/J. Nothing reported on any 1099 at all -- DeFi swaps, self-custody wallet sales, peer-to-peer, sales below a de minimis threshold -- goes to I or L. Check only one box per Form 8949 page; use a separate page for each category. The 1099-DA's own unnumbered 'Applicable checkbox on Form 8949' box carries a one-letter code (G, H, J, K, or Y) that names the category directly; code Y means the broker could not determine whether the recipient should use H or K because the holding period is unknown. Column mapping: 1099-DA box 1c/1b feed Form 8949 column (a) description; box 1d -> column (b) date acquired ('VARIOUS' is permitted if acquired through several purchases); box 1e -> column (c) date sold; box 1f -> column (d) proceeds -- always report the proceeds shown on the form; box 1g -> column (e) cost or other basis; corrections go in columns (f) and (g).
VERIFIED against the 'How To Complete Form 8949, Columns (f) and (g)' table in the 2025 Instructions for Form 8949. Code B: 'You received a Form 1099-B or Form 1099-DA (or substitute statement) and the basis shown in box 1e on Form 1099-B or box 1g on Form 1099-DA is incorrect.' This is the code for a wrong basis, and the instructions were amended to name box 1g of Form 1099-DA explicitly. Code T: the type of gain or loss shown in box 6 on Form 1099-DA is incorrect -- report the transaction in the correct Part and enter -0- in column (g) if no other adjustment is needed. Code E: selling expenses, option premiums, OR DIGITAL ASSET TRANSACTION COSTS not reflected on the form -- entered in column (g) as a negative number. Code W: nondeductible wash sale loss, including where the amount in box 1i of the 1099-DA is wrong. Code D: accrued market discount shown in box 1h of the 1099-DA. Code L: a nondeductible loss other than a wash sale (this is the code that fits a box 5 check). Code M: multiple transactions summarized on one row. Code N: received as a nominee. Code O: 'You have an adjustment not explained earlier in this column' -- the catch-all, and NOT the code for a wrong basis; a wrong basis is code B. Note two collisions worth flagging on a consumer page: 8949 column (f) code Y means 'reporting gain from a QOF investment deferred in a prior year', which is unrelated to the 1099-DA's own 'Applicable checkbox' code Y (unknown holding period); and 8949 code T is unrelated to any 1099-DA box letter. If more than one code applies, enter them in alphabetical order with no spaces or commas (the instructions' own example is 'BOQ') and net the adjustments in column (g).
If the basis is wrong or missing: The IRS mechanism turns on ONE question: was the basis reported to the IRS? (1) BASIS WAS REPORTED TO THE IRS (box 2 checked; Form 8949 box G or J): you must enter in column (e) the basis exactly as shown in box 1g -- even though you know it is wrong -- enter code B in column (f), and correct the error with an adjustment in column (g), computed with the 'Worksheet for Basis Adjustments in Column (g)'. That worksheet: line 1 = basis shown on the 1099-DA, line 2 = the correct basis; if line 1 is larger, enter the difference in column (g) as a POSITIVE number (it increases gain); if line 2 is larger, enter the difference in column (g) as a NEGATIVE number in parentheses (it decreases gain). The Note printed on Form 8949 itself says the same thing: 'If you checked Box A or Box G above but the basis reported to the IRS was incorrect, enter in column (e) the basis as reported to the IRS, and enter an adjustment in column (g) to correct the basis.' (2) BASIS WAS NOT REPORTED TO THE IRS, OR BOX 1g IS BLANK (box 2 unchecked, box 9 checked; Form 8949 box H or K, or box I/L if no form was issued at all): you simply enter the CORRECT basis directly in column (e) and enter -0- in column (g) -- no adjustment mechanics, and the worksheet is not needed. The 8949 instructions phrase it as: 'For noncovered securities, enter the correct basis of the property in column (e) if: No basis is shown on Form 1099-B or Form 1099-DA (or substitute statement), or The basis shown wasn't reported to the IRS.' This is the answer for almost every tax year 2025 Form 1099-DA, because 2025 basis reporting was voluntary. The form's own Instructions for Recipient say it plainly: 'If box 1g is blank, you will need to determine your basis based on your own books and records.' Note also that if box 1g shows any entry INCLUDING ZERO, that figure was reported to the IRS as basis -- a printed -0- is a reported number, not a blank, and correcting it requires the code B route. Proceeds in column (d) are always reported as shown on the form regardless.
Crypto-specific quirks
Things on this form that exist on no other 1099. (1) ASSET IDENTITY IN TWO BOXES: box 1a carries the nine-character Digital Token Identifier Foundation (DTIF) code from dtif.org, or the literal '999999999' when the asset is not DTIF-registered -- which is the common case, so expect to see 999999999 constantly. Box 1b carries the asset's name, which must match the DTIF registration when 1a holds a real code. (2) QUANTITY: box 1c reports the number of units to EIGHTEEN DECIMAL PLACES (wei-level precision) -- no other information return carries a fractional quantity field like this. Box 12a uses the same 18-decimal precision. (3) NO TRANSACTION HASH, NO WALLET ADDRESS: the final form has NO TxID/hash box and NO on-chain address box. Earlier 2024 drafts contemplated such fields; they are not on the 2025 or 2026 final form. The instructions reinforce this by defining the unnumbered Account number box as the broker's customer account number, 'not the customer's wallet address'. (4) TRANSFER-IN TRACKING: boxes 12a and 12b are unique to this form -- they tell the IRS how many of the units sold arrived from outside the broker and when, which is the form's built-in admission that the broker cannot see the asset's history before that date. (5) PROCEEDS ARE NET OF GAS AND FEES: box 1f must be reduced by digital asset transaction costs (fees, commissions, transfer taxes), so 1f is not a raw gross number; costs not reflected get an 8949 code E adjustment. (6) PROCEEDS CAN BE NON-CASH: box 1f includes the fair market value of other digital assets, services, or property received, which is why box 7 exists -- it is checked only when the proceeds were cash. A crypto-for-crypto swap therefore produces a 1099-DA with box 7 unchecked. (7) PER-TRANSACTION BY DEFAULT, AGGREGATED BY EXCEPTION: the instructions say 'Report each transaction on a separate Form 1099-DA.' Two optional aggregate methods break this -- qualifying stablecoins and specified NFTs -- and when used, box 11a is checked, box 11b gives the number of transactions folded in, and box 1f becomes a yearly total. Box 11c separately reports aggregate proceeds from an NFT creator's or minter's first (primary) sales, with box 1f left blank on that form. (8) MULTIPLE FORMS PER TRADE: a single sale can generate up to four Forms 1099-DA -- covered short-term, covered long-term, noncovered (box 9 checked), and NFT first sales -- because the four categories may not be combined on one form. (9) DE MINIMIS FLOORS: no reporting for processor-of-digital-asset-payments (PDAP) sales of $600 or less per customer per year, qualifying-stablecoin designated sales of $10,000 or less under the optional method, or specified NFT sales of $600 or less under the optional method -- so a taxpayer can owe tax on transactions that never appear on any 1099-DA (report those on Form 8949 box I or L). (10) NOT REPORTED HERE AT ALL: rewards and staking payments are explicitly excluded from Form 1099-DA, and Notice 2024-57 relieves brokers from reporting wrapping/unwrapping, liquidity provider, staking, lending, short sale, and notional principal contract transactions until further guidance. (11) TOKENIZED SECURITIES ODDITIES: boxes 1h (accrued market discount) and 1i (wash sale loss disallowed) apply almost exclusively to tokenized securities and tokenized debt, and the wash sale rules on this form reach only assets that are stock or securities -- ordinary crypto is not subject to section 1091. The average basis method is likewise available only for tokenized securities. (12) The 2025 form's Instructions for Recipient tell the reader that receiving a 1099-DA generally means they should answer 'Yes' to the digital asset question on page 1 of Form 1040.
See what your form overstates — free
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Which broker sent yours?
What each one gets wrong is specific to how it records your activity.
Coinbase · Kraken · Binance.US · Crypto.com · Gemini · Robinhood · Cash App
Sources
- 2025 Instructions for Form 1099-DA -- 'Information Required on the Form 1099-DA: For sales effected in 20 — retrieved 2026-08-23
- Instructions for Form 1099-DA (2026) -- 'Covered security', 'Noncovered security', 'F — retrieved 2026-08-23
- 2025 Form 1099-DA -- Instructions for Recipient, Box 1g and Box 9 — retrieved 2026-08-23
- 2025 Form 8949, Sales and Other Dispositions of Capital Assets (box A-C/G-I and D-F/J-L checkbox text, and the — retrieved 2026-08-23
- Instructions for Form 8949 (2025) -- 'What's New: New boxes G, H, and I'; 'Box A or Box G& — retrieved 2026-08-23
1099da-2026.1 · reviewed Aug 2026 · ClearBasis is tax software, not a law firm, accounting firm or tax preparer; this page is information, not advice. Broker names describe the forms discussed and imply no affiliation.