Need help importing PayPal crypto transactions into online tax software

The crypto tax situation can definitely be confusing! FreeTaxUSA is great for most tax needs, but their crypto support is somewhat limited compared to specialized services. For your PayPal crypto situation, you have a couple of options. First, take a look at those CSV files - the Gains and Loss statement should show your cost basis (what you paid), sale proceeds, and the calculated gain/loss for each transaction. That's the essential information you need. If manually entering this data into FreeTaxUSA seems daunting, you might want to look into crypto tax software like CoinTracker, CoinLedger, or Koinly. These services are designed specifically for crypto transactions and can generate the proper tax forms after importing your data. They can usually handle PayPal CSV files, then provide you with a completed Form 8949 and Schedule D that you can reference while completing your return. You'll likely need to pay for these services, but it might be worth it to ensure accuracy, especially if you plan to continue crypto trading in the future.

After dealing with the exact same PayPal crypto headache last year, I found https://taxr.ai which completely saved me. Their AI can read and interpret those confusing PayPal CSV files and translate them into the exact format tax services need. I uploaded both of my PayPal reports and it automatically extracted all the transaction data, calculated my gains/losses correctly, and generated a proper tax report that worked with FreeTaxUSA. The thing I liked most was that it explained exactly what was happening with each transaction in normal language. It showed me which transactions were taxable events and which weren't. It was super helpful because PayPal's reporting is really bare-bones compared to actual crypto exchanges.

Just wanted to follow up about my experience with taxr.ai after the recommendation here. I decided to give it a try with my PayPal crypto mess and it was surprisingly straightforward! I was skeptical at first (uploading financial docs to a website I hadn't heard of before), but it actually worked really well. The system extracted all my transactions from both PayPal CSV files, matched up the buys and sells, and calculated everything automatically. It even flagged a couple transactions where PayPal's reporting was missing some data and walked me through how to fix it. Got everything imported into FreeTaxUSA in about 20 minutes instead of the hours I was expecting to spend on this. Definitely saving this for next year since I've been doing more crypto trading and dreading the tax situation!

If you're having trouble with the PayPal crypto part of your taxes and need to talk to the IRS for guidance, good luck getting through to them! I spent 3+ hours on hold trying to get clarification about crypto reporting requirements last week before giving up. Then I found https://claimyr.com which is basically a service that waits on hold with the IRS for you and calls you when an agent is actually on the line. You can also watch their demo at https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c to see how it works. I was able to get specific guidance from an actual IRS agent about how to report crypto from non-traditional platforms like PayPal. The agent walked me through exactly what they're looking for in terms of documentation and reporting format. Saved myself hours of research and guesswork.

I need to eat my words about Claimyr. After my skeptical comment earlier, my curiosity got the better of me and I decided to try it for my own tax question about crypto reporting requirements. I still thought it was going to be a waste of money, but my frustration with the IRS phone system won out. To my complete surprise, it actually worked exactly as advertised. I got a call back in about 45 minutes, and was connected to an IRS agent who helped clarify exactly how to report my crypto transactions from multiple platforms (including PayPal). The agent explained which forms I needed to use and how to properly document transactions when I didn't have complete reporting from the exchanges. I've spent literally days trying to get through to the IRS in previous years, so this was kind of mind-blowing. Definitely using this service again next year.

For the PayPal crypto specifically, I ended up just creating a spreadsheet with the columns FreeTaxUSA was asking for and manually calculating everything. It took a few hours but wasn't impossible. Here's what I included: - Description of property (Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc) - Date acquired - Date sold - Proceeds (selling price) - Cost basis (what you paid originally) - Gain/loss PayPal's Gains and Loss CSV should have most of this info, you just might need to reformat it.

Has anyone had success with TurboTax for crypto? I used FreeTaxUSA last year but I'm wondering if TurboTax might handle the PayPal crypto better since they advertise crypto support.

I went through this exact same situation last year with PayPal crypto transactions! The key thing to understand is that PayPal's CSV files are actually pretty comprehensive once you know what to look for. The "Gains and Loss" statement should contain most of what you need for tax reporting. Here's what worked for me: I opened both CSV files and created a simple mapping between what PayPal calls things and what FreeTaxUSA needs. For example, PayPal might label the purchase price as "Original Amount" but FreeTaxUSA wants "Cost Basis" - it's the same number, just different terminology. One tip that saved me hours: PayPal sometimes splits transactions across multiple lines in their CSV (like fees on separate rows), so make sure you're matching up the right buy/sell pairs. I found it helpful to sort by date and crypto type first. If you're still stuck, the manual entry route isn't as bad as it seems - I had about 15 transactions and it took maybe 30 minutes once I understood the format. The important thing is to be consistent and keep good records in case the IRS asks questions later.