Can I file taxes before getting my 1099 from Robinhood for crypto gains?

You should wait for your 1099 from Robinhood before filing. While it's generally good to file early, filing without all your income information can lead to problems. When you trade crypto and cash out with a profit, those gains are reportable and taxable. Robinhood will issue you a Form 1099-B showing your proceeds and cost basis for your crypto transactions. This form is crucial for accurately reporting your capital gains. If you file before receiving this form and just estimate your gains, you risk reporting incorrect information. While you can file an amended return later (Form 1040-X), it's much simpler to just wait until mid-February when you'll have all your documents. The IRS doesn't start processing returns until late January anyway, so waiting a couple more weeks won't delay your refund significantly.

I was in the exact same situation last year with crypto on multiple platforms. I tried calculating everything myself, filed early, and then had to deal with the headache of amending when the official forms came in with slightly different numbers. I discovered taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) and it saved me so much stress! It automatically analyzes all your crypto transactions and tax documents to make sure everything matches up perfectly with what the IRS is seeing. It was super helpful because they could extract all the transaction data from my forms and told me exactly what numbers to put where. The peace of mind knowing my amended return was 100% accurate was totally worth it.

I wanted to follow up about taxr.ai - I decided to try it after getting my forms since I was in a similar situation with crypto on multiple platforms. Holy crap it was game-changing! I uploaded my forms from Robinhood and Coinbase and it automatically identified all the transactions that the IRS would see. It even flagged a few transfers between wallets that I would've mistakenly reported as sales. I was able to file with confidence knowing everything matched what the IRS would see from the exchanges. No more anxiety about getting a letter from the IRS about mismatched reporting! Definitely waiting for all my forms next year before filing.

If you're still waiting on forms and need to talk to the IRS about any filing questions, I highly recommend Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). I spent DAYS trying to get through to the IRS about a similar crypto reporting situation last year, constantly getting disconnected or waiting for hours. I was super skeptical but tried Claimyr and they actually got me a callback from the IRS in about 45 minutes when I had been trying for weeks. There's a video that shows how it works: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. The IRS agent explained exactly how to handle my situation and what forms I needed to wait for.

I have to eat my words and apologize for being so skeptical about Claimyr. After posting that comment, I was still desperate to talk to someone at the IRS about my missing 1099-B forms, so I figured I had nothing to lose and tried it. I got a call back from an actual IRS agent in about an hour! The agent looked up my account and confirmed that my crypto exchange had already submitted my info to the IRS even though I hadn't received my forms yet. They advised me to wait until mid-February before filing, and explained exactly how to request a transcript of what had been reported if I still didn't get my forms by then. Honestly shocked this actually worked after struggling for months to reach anyone.

To answer your specific question: Technically yes, you CAN file before receiving your 1099 from Robinhood IF you have perfect records of all your transactions (dates, prices, fees, etc). But should you? Probably not. Here's why - if the 1099 numbers end up different from what you reported (which happens often with crypto because of wash sales or other factors), you'll need to file an amended return which is a huge pain. Just wanted to give a direct answer since others covered the details already.

Has anyone experienced Robinhood being late with their 1099s? Last year they said mid-February but I didn't get mine until almost March 1st!