Why Basisbook exists
Basisbook is an independent, plain-English guide to crypto tax. We explain what you owe and rank the software that files it — on the merits, never on who pays us. We are not tax advisors, and nothing here is tax advice.
A basis book is where a bookkeeper records what each thing cost — the plain, dated numbers a return is built on. That is the job we set ourselves here. Crypto tax gets written up either as scare stories or as thinly disguised adverts for whichever tool pays the most. Basisbook is the calmer, dated version: what is actually taxable, how the numbers are worked out, and which software genuinely helps — with the affiliate money kept out of the ranking.
What we do
We explain how crypto is taxed — which events are taxable, how gains and income are worked out, and the forms you file — and we rank the software that does the paperwork on six objective factors: import coverage, DeFi and NFT handling, report formats, accuracy, price, and accountant access. We also say, plainly, when a simple year needs no paid tool at all — because telling you to skip a subscription is part of being useful.
What we will not do
We are not tax advisors, and Basisbook is not tax advice. We do not tell you what to file, we do not invent "we tested" numbers or fake fee tables, and we never help anyone evade tax. There is a bright line between explaining legal tax-minimisation — using losses, holding periods, allowances — and helping someone hide income, and we stay on the legal, honest side of it. When a search like "how to avoid crypto tax" brings someone here, we answer the only version worth answering: the lawful ways to owe less, and why evasion is both a crime and, increasingly, an easy one to get caught for.
How we stay independent
Some outbound links are affiliate links, which means a tool may pay us a commission if you sign up after clicking. That money funds the research; it does not buy a ranking. To keep ourselves honest, one of our top recommendations, CoinTracker, runs no affiliate programme and pays us nothing — it earns its place on merit alone. The full accounting is in our affiliate disclosure. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any tax tool named on this site.
How our facts are dated
Tax rules, thresholds and software features change constantly, so everything here is written for the 2025 tax year, US-focused unless noted, and last checked 10 September 2026. Where a rule is genuinely settled — crypto is property, disposals are taxable, staking rewards are income — we state it plainly; where something is changing, like the wash-sale proposals or per-wallet cost basis, we date it and tell you to confirm the current position. Where we could not verify something, we say so rather than guess. Spot a figure that has gone stale? Tell us — accuracy is the whole product.