Kraken Taxes: How They Work & How to File (2026)

Kraken is one of the longest-running US crypto exchanges, with deep spot, staking, and futures markets. That range is exactly what makes Kraken taxes tricky: a single account can mix capital gains, ordinary income, and derivative PnL, each taxed on different rules. This guide covers what Kraken reports to the IRS, how every transaction type is taxed, how to pull your documents, and where Kraken users lose money to avoidable mistakes.

Does Kraken report to the IRS?

Yes. Kraken is a US-based broker and reports customer activity to the IRS. For the 2026 filing season and beyond, the forms that matter are:

• Form 1099-MISC when you earn $600 or more in crypto income, primarily staking rewards.
• Form 1099-DA, the new digital-asset form, reporting your sales and exchanges. It began with the 2025 tax year (forms issued in early 2026).

Kraken also has a reporting history with the IRS: a court enforced an IRS summons that required Kraken to hand over account data for certain higher-volume customers. The practical takeaway is that the IRS has both ongoing form reporting and historical visibility into Kraken accounts, so your return needs to line up.

What tax forms does Kraken give you?

Kraken issues several documents, and none of them covers everything on its own.

How Kraken transactions are taxed

Every action on Kraken falls into one of two buckets: a capital gains event (you disposed of crypto) or an ordinary income event (you earned crypto). Here is how the common ones map.

Kraken staking taxes

Kraken's staking is taxed in two layers. First, each reward is ordinary income at its fair market value when you gain control of it (consistent with Rev. Rul. 2023-14). Second, that value becomes the reward's cost basis, so when you later sell, you have a separate capital gain or loss measured from there. Note that Kraken discontinued its US on-chain staking program after a 2023 SEC settlement and later adjusted its US offerings, so your available staking history may differ by year. Whatever rewards you did receive are still reportable as income for the year you received them.

Kraken Futures taxes

Kraken Futures are crypto derivatives, not regulated US futures contracts. That distinction matters: the favorable 60/40 treatment under IRC Section 1256 generally applies only to contracts traded on a regulated US board of trade, which crypto perpetual and futures contracts on Kraken typically are not. The conservative, common-practice treatment is to report realized PnL as ordinary short-term capital gain or loss on each closed position. This is an evolving area, so if futures are a large part of your activity, get a professional read before you file.

Short-term vs. long-term rates

For capital-gains events, holding period sets the rate. Hold one year or less and gains are short-term, taxed at your ordinary rate (10% to 37%). Hold more than a year and gains are long-term, taxed at 0%, 15%, or 20%. Earned crypto (staking) is taxed at ordinary rates regardless of holding period, and its value at receipt becomes the cost basis for a later sale. High earners may also owe the extra 3.8% Net Investment Income Tax, and most states tax crypto gains as ordinary income.

How to get your Kraken tax documents

Pulling the right files is step one of an accurate return.

1. Open Documents. Log in to Kraken and go to your account menu, then Documents or History.
2. Download your forms. Grab any Form 1099-MISC and Form 1099-DA issued to you, plus account statements.
3. Export the full ledger CSV. From History, export complete ledgers and trades so every trade, stake reward, and transfer is captured.
4. Pull Kraken Pro and Futures separately. Export these on their own so futures PnL is treated under the right rules.
5. Reconcile across every wallet. Combine Kraken with all other exchanges and self-custody wallets so transfers, basis, and income are complete before filing.

How to report Kraken on your tax return

Once your data is reconciled, Kraken activity lands on a few IRS forms:

1. Form 8949 lists every disposal (each sale, trade, and futures close) with dates, proceeds, cost basis, and gain or loss.
2. Schedule D totals those gains and losses, split into short-term and long-term.
3. Schedule 1 carries your staking and other earned income as "Other income."
4. The Form 1040 digital-asset question must be answered "Yes" if you sold, exchanged, or received crypto.

The $2,400 ETH gain is long-term, the $900 of futures PnL is ordinary short-term gain, and the $320 of staking is income on Schedule 1. Three different rules, one return.

Common Kraken tax mistakes

These are the errors that quietly cost Kraken users money or invite IRS letters.

• Accepting a $0 or missing cost basis. For assets transferred in, the 1099-DA may show proceeds with no basis. Left uncorrected, the IRS treats the entire sale as gain. This is the most expensive mistake.
• Lumping futures in with spot. Kraken Futures PnL follows different rules and should be reported separately, not buried in your spot gains.
• Forgetting staking income. Staking rewards are taxable even if they are under $600 and never hit a 1099-MISC.
• Trusting the form to be complete. The 1099-DA only covers Kraken. Self-custody, DeFi, and other exchanges are still on you.
• Ignoring the wallet-by-wallet rule. Under Rev. Proc. 2024-28, basis is tracked per account, so transfers do not carry basis to the next platform's reporting.

Free Crypto Tax Guide

Free Download

The 2025/26 Crypto Tax Guide. Built by former Big 4 accountants.

A printable, step-by-step guide and checklist to reconcile every coin and wallet, recover missing cost basis, and file accurately before the deadline.

• Form 8949, Schedule D, and Schedule 1 walkthroughs
• How to handle staking, DeFi, NFTs, and lost coins
• The $0-basis 1099-DA trap (and how to avoid it)
• FBAR, Form 8938, and foreign exchange reporting

Get the Free Guide PDF · ~30 pages · Updated for the 2025/26 filing year