Koinly for Non‑Experts: A Beginner’s Guide to Crypto Taxes

Ameli

— 2 min read

Crypto investing can feel exciting, but when tax season comes around, it often feels like decoding a secret language. If you’re new to crypto, the thought of calculating gains, losses, and income from multiple wallets and exchanges can be overwhelming. That’s where Koinly comes in—a tool designed to make crypto taxes simple, even for beginners.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know to use Koinly effectively, step by step.

1. What Are Crypto Taxes?

Before diving into Koinly, it’s important to understand what you’re actually paying taxes on.

Crypto taxable events include:

  • Selling crypto for cash – any profit is taxable.
  • Trading one crypto for another – e.g., Bitcoin → Ethereum.
  • Staking rewards – income earned by participating in blockchain networks.
  • Airdrops or forked coins – free tokens can be taxable.

Key terms:

  • Capital gains: Profit from selling or trading crypto.
  • Income: Earnings from activities like staking or mining.

💡 Tip: Crypto tax laws vary by country, so always check local regulations.

2. Why Use Koinly?

Koinly is designed for beginners and experts alike. Here’s why it’s beginner-friendly:

  • Easy wallet and exchange imports – no manual data entry.
  • Automatic tax calculations – computes capital gains, losses, and income.
  • Clear reports – ready to file with your tax authorities.
  • Multi-country support – works in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and more.

With Koinly, you can spend less time worrying about numbers and more time growing your crypto portfolio.

3. Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners

Here’s how to get started with Koinly in a few simple steps:

A. Create an Account

  • Go to Koinly.io and sign up with your email.
  • Verify your account, and you’re ready to start.

B. Import Your Wallets & Exchanges

  • Koinly supports API imports (automatic sync) or CSV uploads (manual).
  • Import wallets like MetaMask, Ledger, Coinbase, Binance, etc.
  • Koinly automatically fetches your transaction history.

C. Categorize Your Transactions

  • Koinly auto-suggests categories for each transaction.
  • Common categories: Buy, Sell, Trade, Transfer.
  • Make adjustments if needed to ensure accuracy.

D. Review Tax Reports

  • Check the dashboard for summaries of:
    • Capital gains & losses
    • Income from staking or airdrops
    • Portfolio overview
  • Koinly highlights discrepancies or missing data.

E. Export & File Your Taxes

  • Koinly can generate tax reports in multiple formats (PDF, CSV, Excel).
  • Import directly into tax software or submit to your accountant.

💡 Tip: Regularly syncing wallets makes reporting easier at the end of the year.

4. Common Mistakes Beginners Make & How Koinly Helps

  1. Forgetting wallets: Koinly lets you import all wallets in one place.
  2. Misclassifying transfers as trades: Koinly auto-detects transfers to prevent double taxation.
  3. Missing taxable events: Koinly tracks staking, airdrops, and forks automatically.

With Koinly, these errors are minimized, giving you peace of mind.

5. Tips for Non-Experts

  • Keep your wallets organized and label them clearly.
  • Sync exchanges regularly to avoid missing transactions.
  • Double-check reports before filing.
  • Use Koinly’s tutorials and support if you get stuck.

Conclusion

Crypto taxes don’t have to be stressful. With Koinly, even beginners can track transactions, calculate gains and losses, and generate accurate tax reports without getting lost in spreadsheets.

Start small, import your first wallet, and see how simple crypto taxes can be. Koinly takes the headache out of tax season so you can focus on what really matters—your crypto journey.

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