You're filling out Form 8949. You've got a 1099-DA from Coinbase covering most of your trades, but you also closed positions on Uniswap and a few wallet-to-wallet swaps that aren't on any broker form. Now TurboTax (or your CPA) is asking which box on Form 8949 each row goes in — and you're staring at A, B, C, D, E, F without a clear idea of which apply to crypto.
This is one of the most common splitting questions for tax year 2025, the first year 1099-DA reporting is in effect. The mechanics are straightforward once you have the rule, but the rule isn't obvious because the IRS borrowed the box structure from the old 1099-B layout without writing crypto-specific instructions. Below is the box-by-box breakdown for digital assets, three concrete scenarios that show how to split a real tax year, and the worked example most filers actually need: 40 disposals on a 1099-DA plus 5 DEX trades that aren't.
The Six Form 8949 Boxes, Mapped to Crypto
Form 8949 has two sections — Part I for short-term holdings (held one year or less), Part II for long-term (held more than one year). Each section has three boxes, A/B/C for short-term and D/E/F for long-term. The box you check is determined by what the broker reported, not by anything you choose.
| Box | Term | Triggered by |
|---|---|---|
| A | Short-term | 1099-DA received, basis reported to the IRS |
| B | Short-term | 1099-DA received, basis not reported to the IRS (typically Unknown) |
| C | Short-term | No 1099-DA for the disposal (DEX, peer-to-peer, custodied at a non-reporting platform) |
| D | Long-term | 1099-DA received, basis reported to the IRS |
| E | Long-term | 1099-DA received, basis not reported to the IRS |
| F | Long-term | No 1099-DA for the disposal |
The split point between Box A/B/D/E (covered) and Box C/F (noncovered) is whether a digital asset broker filed a 1099-DA with the IRS for that disposal. Inside the covered set, the split between A/D (basis reported) and B/E (basis not reported) is whether the form filled in the cost basis column or left it as Unknown.
The pre-2025 "covered vs noncovered" terminology came from the equity world: brokers were required to track basis only for stocks acquired after 2011 (later for mutual funds and bonds). For crypto, the equivalent cutoff is January 1, 2025 — anything acquired before that date typically reports as Unknown basis on the 1099-DA, even if the disposal happened in 2025. That's the structural reason most 2025 crypto 1099-DAs put a chunk of lots in Box B (or E) rather than Box A (or D).
Why "Box A vs Box C" Is the Question Most Filers Ask
If you only used one centralized exchange in 2025, your entire form likely lands in Boxes A/D and possibly B/E. There's no reason to think about C/F at all.
The Box A vs Box C question comes up when your year had two distinct sources of disposals:
- Covered: Sales executed on a centralized platform that issued you a 1099-DA — Coinbase, Robinhood Crypto, Kraken, Gemini.
- Noncovered: Trades that happened somewhere no 1099-DA was issued — a Uniswap or PancakeSwap swap, a wallet-to-wallet transfer that triggered a disposal, a sale on a foreign exchange, a P2P trade, or a defunct platform that didn't report.
A 1099-DA never covers the noncovered side. That side is yours to track and report from your own records. The IRS knows you had crypto activity — broker reporting plus blockchain analytics see most of it eventually — but for tax year 2025, the burden of declaring noncovered disposals falls entirely on you. They go in Box C if short-term, Box F if long-term, and there's no automatic cross-check the IRS can run against a third-party form.
The compliance risk on Box C/F is asymmetric. If you over-report income (declare a gain that didn't happen), nothing bad triggers because the IRS just collects the tax. If you under-report (omit a noncovered disposal), there's no immediate matching mismatch — but blockchain forensics catches up later, often via CP2000 notices issued months or years after the filing year, sometimes with penalties and interest stacked on the original tax.
Three Concrete Scenarios
Scenario 1 — Coinbase user, no DEX activity. Sold 12 lots of BTC, ETH, and SOL on Coinbase during 2025. Coinbase issued a 1099-DA with basis filled in for all 12. Lots held under one year go in Box A; lots held over a year go in Box D. There's nothing to put in B, C, E, or F.
Scenario 2 — Robinhood Crypto user with pre-2025 holdings. Sold 8 lots in 2025. Robinhood's 1099-DA shows 3 of them with basis (lots bought after January 1, 2025) and 5 with Unknown basis (lots bought in 2023-2024 when broker basis tracking wasn't required). All disposals were short-term. The 3 with basis go in Box A; the 5 Unknown-basis lots go in Box B. The reconciliation flow on the 1099-DA converter fills in the missing basis on the Box B rows from a transaction history CSV before the TXF is generated, but the box assignment doesn't change.
Scenario 3 — Mixed CEX and DEX user. Sold 40 lots on Coinbase (all on a 1099-DA, all with basis), did 5 DEX swaps on Uniswap during 2025 (no 1099-DA, no broker report). 35 of the Coinbase lots are short-term (Box A), 5 are long-term (Box D). 4 of the DEX swaps are short-term (Box C), 1 is long-term (Box F). Total: 4 distinct boxes used on the form.
The 40 + 5 Worked Example, Step by Step
You exported a CoinTracker or Koinly Form 8949 report covering all 45 disposals, regardless of source. The aggregator already classified short-term vs long-term but did not assign boxes — that's your job during filing. Here's how the split works.
1. Pull the Coinbase 1099-DA. It shows 40 disposals, with basis filled in for all of them. The form's "covered/noncovered" indicator (or equivalent header text) is "covered." Of those 40: 35 short-term, 5 long-term, all with basis.
2. Pull the DEX disposals from your aggregator. Filter for 2025 dispositions where the source platform is a DEX or wallet (not Coinbase). You should get 5 rows. Of those 5: 4 short-term, 1 long-term.
3. Assign boxes.
- 35 Coinbase short-term covered → Box A
- 5 Coinbase long-term covered → Box D
- 4 DEX short-term noncovered → Box C
- 1 DEX long-term noncovered → Box F
4. Subtotal each box separately. Form 8949 totals roll up by box on Schedule D. Each section header (one per box used) shows aggregate proceeds, cost basis, adjustments, and gain/loss for that box. Don't combine across boxes — Schedule D needs the breakdown to compute the capital gain summary correctly.
5. Apply adjustment codes if any. If a row has a wash sale flag (column f code W), basis correction (code B), or other adjustment, the code rides on that specific row regardless of box. The full reference for what each code means is in the Form 8949 adjustment codes lookup. For 2025, crypto wash sale rules don't apply by statute — but if your 1099-DA flagged a row anyway, code W still applies on that row.
6. Generate the TXF or import directly. TurboTax Desktop's TXF importer reads box assignments from the file and routes each lot to the correct Form 8949 section automatically. The crypto CSV to TXF converter handles the box assignment based on the source — if the disposal originated from a 1099-DA-issuing broker, the lot lands in A/B/D/E; if from a DEX or non-reporting source, it lands in C/F.
Common Splitting Mistakes
Lumping noncovered into a 1099-DA box. If you sold 40 lots on Coinbase and 5 on Uniswap, you cannot put the 5 Uniswap lots in Box A just because the Coinbase form is your "main" tax document. Box A means "1099-DA basis reported," and Uniswap doesn't issue 1099-DAs. The split is mandatory; the IRS computer matches the Box A subtotal against the 1099-DA total, and a mismatch triggers a CP2000.
Putting Unknown-basis lots in Box C. Unknown basis is not the same as no 1099-DA. If the broker issued the form but left basis blank for some lots, those rows belong in Box B (or E for long-term), not C/F. The IRS still has the form and will match the proceeds total against your Box B subtotal.
Mixing short and long-term in one section header. Each Form 8949 section (one per box) covers a single term — short for A/B/C, long for D/E/F. Term comes from holding period, not your preference. If a lot was held 366 days, it's long-term, even if it's in Box A on the equity equivalent.
Treating a DEX-acquired lot disposed on a CEX as Box C. If you bought ETH on Uniswap and later sold it on Coinbase, the disposal is on Coinbase's 1099-DA — it's Box A or B (depending on whether basis is filled in), not Box C. The acquisition platform doesn't determine the box; the disposal platform does.
Splitting a single lot across boxes. Each lot belongs in exactly one box. If a 2-BTC lot was acquired with basis tracked by the broker and disposed on Coinbase, the entire 2 BTC goes in Box A (or D). You don't put 1 BTC in A and the other 1 BTC in C.
What Reconciliation Does to the Box Assignment
If you're using the 1099-DA reconciliation flow — uploading the 1099-DA PDF plus a transaction history CSV to fill in Unknown basis on the Box B (or E) rows — the box assignment doesn't change. Reconciliation fills in the basis number on a row that's already in Box B; it doesn't move that row to Box A. The reason: Box A means "basis reported by the broker to the IRS," and reconciliation is a filer-side calculation, not a broker amendment. The IRS still sees Unknown on the 1099-DA they received from your broker; you're just making the math right on your own form.
The same applies in reverse for noncovered. If you find a missing transaction in your aggregator that turns a Box C row from a $0-basis assumption to a real cost basis, the row stays in Box C — it's still "no 1099-DA," just with proper accounting. The box reflects whether a broker filed, not the quality of your records.
FAQ
Is "covered" and "noncovered" the same thing as "covered security" from the 1099-B world?
The terminology is borrowed but the cutoff is different. For stocks, "covered security" means acquired after the broker basis tracking start date (typically 2011 for stocks). For crypto, the equivalent cutoff is January 1, 2025 — that's when broker basis tracking became required for digital assets. Anything acquired before then is generally noncovered for basis purposes even if the disposal happened in 2025.
My 1099-DA has all my crypto on it. Do I need to worry about Box C?
Only if you also had disposals that weren't on the 1099-DA. If every 2025 disposal was on the form your CEX broker sent you, you'll only use Boxes A, B, D, and E (depending on whether basis was filled in and whether the lot was short or long-term). Box C/F is for disposals the broker doesn't know about.
Can I just put everything in Box C to simplify?
No. The IRS receives the 1099-DA directly from your broker and matches the Box A (or B) subtotal against it. Putting everything in Box C means the proceeds the broker reported don't match anything on your return, which triggers an automatic CP2000 mismatch within a few months. The split is mandatory.
What if I have a 1099-DA from one broker and a 1099-MISC for staking from another?
The 1099-MISC for staking covers ordinary income, not capital gains, and goes on Schedule 1 line 8 — not Form 8949. Only your capital disposals go on 8949. The 1099-DA covers the disposal side of the staking lifecycle: when you sell the rewards you received, that sale shows up on the 1099-DA (or as a Box C disposal if you sold on a DEX). The receipt of the reward — the income event — is separate.
How do I report a wallet-to-wallet transfer that wasn't a sale?
You don't. Transfers between wallets you control aren't disposals — no realized gain, no Form 8949 row in any box. Only when you sell, swap, or use the crypto in a transaction does it become a disposal. Aggregators sometimes flag transfers as "sends" with $0 proceeds; those should not appear on Form 8949.
What if my exchange shut down in 2025 and didn't issue a 1099-DA?
If the platform was a digital asset broker for IRS purposes and failed to issue the form, your disposals on it become Box C/F (noncovered) for filing purposes — you report them based on your own records. Keep documentation of the platform's failure to issue the form (final emails, support tickets, news of shutdown) in case the IRS later asks.
Bottom Line
The covered/noncovered split for crypto in 2025 is mechanical: anything on a 1099-DA goes in A/B/D/E based on term and basis status; anything not on a 1099-DA goes in C/F based on term. Reconciliation doesn't move rows between boxes — it only fixes the basis number on rows already in B or E. The IRS computer matches proceeds totals against the broker filings, so getting the boxes right matters more than getting the basis exactly right; a Box A row off by $50 in basis is far less expensive than a Box C disposal omitted entirely.
If you're filing a year that mixed CEX and DEX activity, the 1099-DA converter handles Box A/B/D/E reconciliation in one upload, and the CSV to TXF converter layers in the Box C/F rows from your aggregator export so the final TXF lands every lot in the correct section automatically.
Mixed CEX + DEX year? Convert your 1099-DA PDF for the covered side, then convert your aggregator CSV to TXF for the noncovered DEX rows — one workflow, every box assigned correctly, one TXF that imports cleanly into TurboTax Desktop.