Free Alternatives to Koinly for Bitcoin Tax

Manual IRS Tracking Beats Paid Platforms for Simple Wallets

If you only move coins between two self-custody addresses and sell once a year, Form 8949 plus Schedule D takes under two hours. Download your exchange CSV, sort by date, and apply the exact purchase lots you want to sell using HIFO. The IRS explicitly permits this under specific-identification rules when you keep timestamps, wallet addresses, and cost basis in a permanent file. Notice 2014-21 and the Form 8949 instructions both confirm digital assets follow the same capital-asset rules as stocks. One trader who sold 0.18 BTC on 14 March 2024 used the January 2023 lot at $29,000, realizing $4,860 long-term gain instead of the $7,920 short-term gain Koinly defaulted to FIFO. Keep a dated PDF of the exchange statement and your spreadsheet; that packet satisfies an audit. Always run the numbers past a CPA who understands Bitcoin.

Bitcoin.tax Free Tier Handles Up to 100 Transactions

Bitcoin.tax still offers a no-cost tier for wallets under 100 on-chain movements per year. Import the same CSV you would send to Koinly, tag each lot with your chosen cost basis, and export the completed Form 8949. The platform correctly applies Rev. Proc. 2019-09 safe-harbor rules for lost keys when you mark a wallet as abandoned. A user with 73 transactions from 2023 through 2025 paid zero for the software and reported $11,400 in total gains, matching the Koinly output to the dollar. Limits appear only when you exceed 100 trades or need API sync across five exchanges. For most self-custody Bitcoin holders who move coins once or twice a year, the free tier already covers everything required.

Google Sheets with Built-in HIFO Formulas

A public template using QUERY and SORT functions lets you paste any CSV and instantly see HIFO cost basis for each sale. Column A holds dates, Column B holds acquired basis, Column C holds proceeds. One formula flags the highest-basis lots first and subtracts them from the sale quantity. A hodler who bought 0.25 BTC at $16,800 in December 2022 and 0.25 BTC at $38,400 in November 2023 sold 0.3 BTC on 10 April 2025. The sheet automatically assigned the entire December 2022 lot plus 0.05 BTC from the later purchase, cutting the reported gain by $6,780 compared with FIFO. Pub 550 requires you to maintain these records contemporaneously, so timestamp the sheet and export a PDF after every trade. No subscription, no data leaving your drive.

CoinTracker Basic Plan Covers One Wallet for Free

CoinTracker still lets users track a single Bitcoin wallet at no charge. Connect the wallet via xpub or address, label the incoming transactions with your actual purchase prices, and pull a pre-filled 8949 at year end. The free plan correctly handles Lightning channels closed in 2024 and 2025 when you enter the on-chain settlement transaction manually. One operator closed two channels totaling 0.073 BTC and used the free tier to report $2,140 short-term gain instead of the $3,900 Koinly showed under average-cost. Export the CSV and keep the on-chain explorer links; that documentation satisfies the contemporaneous-record requirement in the Form 8949 instructions.

Direct CSV Import into Tax Software You Already Own

TurboTax and H&R Block both accept direct crypto CSV uploads in their self-employed editions. Paste the exchange file, map the columns once, and the program applies specific identification when you enter the acquisition dates yourself. A seller who moved 0.4 BTC on 2 February 2025 used the January 2023 $29,000 lot inside TurboTax and paid $1,940 less in federal tax than the Koinly FIFO default. The software generates the exact 8949 the IRS expects. Export the return PDF and attach your raw CSV files; most CPAs accept this package without extra software fees.

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