TurboTax to Add New Section for Calculating Crypto Taxes

United States tax preparation software TurboTax Online has reportedly partnered with CoinsTax, LLC to offer cryptocurrency tax calculation to its services, a press release reveals Monday, Feb. 4.

As the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has just opened tax return filing, TurboTax is launching a new section for crypto taxation. The new service will be available for those who purchased 2018 premier and above versions.

The service will allow users to import trading data directly from major exchanges, such as Coinbase, Gemini, and Poloniex. Once calculated, capitals gains and income reports can be downloaded or uploaded directly into Form 1040 Schedule D.

CoinsTax owns Bitcoin Tax — an application that allows users to calculate capital gains and losses for Bitcoin (BTC), which will provide the necessary infrastructure to TurboTax. CEO of CoinsTax Colin Mackie believes that the new section will make filing crypto taxes much easier and save customers a lot of time.

Cointelegraph reached out to TurboTax’s representatives, but the company was not immediately available for comment.

In November 2018, Ohio became the first U.S. state to allow residents to pay taxes using Bitcoin. In late January, Coinbase added educational resources about crypto taxation for customers in the U.S., including the aforementioned integration with TurboTax.

In October 2018, an advisory committee to the IRS urged the agency to provide additional guidelines for the taxation of crypto transactions. As explained by the committee, the commentary issued by the IRS back in 2014 is outdated in many respects, as it recommends treating cryptocurrencies as property.