How to export your Coinbase transaction history for your crypto tax report

How to export your Coinbase history

1. 1

   Sign in on the Coinbase website

   Use a desktop browser if you can. The statements page is easier to use there than in the mobile app, and the CSV downloads straight to your computer.

2. 2

   Open the Statements page

   Select your profile icon, then Settings. Look for a Statements (or “Reports”) entry in the settings menu. Coinbase moves this menu from time to time, so if you can’t see it, search the Coinbase Help Centre for “statements”.

3. 3

   Choose a custom statement covering everything

   In the custom statement area, set Asset to all assets, Transaction type to all types and the date range to cover every year you held crypto, not just the current tax year. Older purchases are needed to work out your cost basis.

4. 4

   Pick CSV and generate

   Choose CSV as the format (not PDF or HTML) and select Generate. Larger accounts can take a little while to process.

5. 5

   Save the file and leave it unchanged

   Save the CSV somewhere you can find it. Don’t open and re-save it in a spreadsheet first, because that can change dates and number formats. Then drop it into the crypto tax calculator.

What the columns mean

Column headers as documented by community and tax-tool documentation for the current Coinbase transaction history CSV, and checked against the parser’s test file. Coinbase can rename or add columns without notice, so compare these with the header row in your own file.

Quirks to know

• Lines before the header. The file starts with a few title and account lines before the real column header row. You don’t need to delete them: CryptoTaxOwl searches the first 20 lines for the header. If you have already removed them, the file is still recognised.
• Convert rows are one row, not two. A Convert from one crypto asset to another appears as a single row for the asset you gave up. The asset and amount you received are written in the Notes text (along the lines of “Converted 0.5 ETH to 1,000 USDC”). CryptoTaxOwl reads both sides from the note, so a convert becomes a crypto-to-crypto trade.
• Fiat values are already there. Every row has a price and a value in your price currency, so you rarely see a missing-price issue for Coinbase rows.
• Sends and receives are transfers, not sales. A Send to a wallet you own is not a disposal, but the file can’t tell whether the destination was yours. You confirm that during transfer matching.
• Rewards and staking rows appear with their own transaction types and are treated as income at the value shown, unless your country setting says otherwise.

How CryptoTaxOwl reads this file

When you drop the CSV into the workspace, it is read in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, and CryptoTaxOwl never asks for API keys, recovery phrases or passwords.

1. The format is detected from the set of column headers (a header fingerprint), after skipping the lines above the header.
2. Each row is mapped to a normalised transaction: buys and sells against fiat, converts as crypto-to-crypto trades, sends and receives as transfers, and rewards as income.
3. Values come from the file first. The Subtotal, Total and Fees and/or Spread columns are used before any price dataset, as described in how CryptoTaxOwl works.
4. A Transaction Type the parser doesn’t know is never silently treated as taxable or non-taxable. It becomes an “Unknown type” issue that you resolve.
5. Sends to your own wallets need matching with the deposit on the other side. See crypto transfers between your own wallets.

Known issues and gaps

• Crypto that arrived from elsewhere. If you received crypto from another platform, the Coinbase file shows a Receive with no purchase behind it. That creates a missing cost basis issue until you import the other platform’s file, for example your Kraken ledger export or Binance transaction history.
• Coinbase’s separate products. The self-custody wallet app and products such as derivatives or the business account have their own histories. Check that the statement you downloaded covers the account you actually traded on.
• Derivatives and margin. Rows that look like futures, perpetuals or margin activity are flagged as unsupported and excluded from the calculation by default. You can include them, with a warning.

If your file isn’t recognised

Coinbase changes its export from time to time. If the workspace doesn’t recognise your file, use the column mapper that appears automatically: pick which column holds the date, type, asset, amount and value, and save the mapping for next time. You can also turn the file into CryptoTaxOwl’s template format first with the crypto CSV converter. Make sure you exported CSV rather than PDF, because PDF statements can’t be imported.

Coinbase export: frequently asked questions