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Staking Rewards and the 1099-DA: What the IRS Says

Short answer: The 2026 instructions for Form 1099-DA tell brokers: "Do not report rewards and staking payments on Form 1099-DA." That does not make staking rewards tax-free. The IRS digital assets page says income from forks, staking, mining and similar activities is reported on Schedule 1 (Form 1040), and that receiving digital assets from "mining, staking and similar activities" means you answer Yes to the digital asset question.

What the IRS pages say

• 1099-DA instructions (2026): rewards and staking payments are not reported on Form 1099-DA by the broker.
• IRS Digital assets page: "If you have other ordinary income related to digital assets", report income from forks, staking, mining, etc. on Schedule 1. It also says income from digital assets is taxable and that you must report transactions whether or not they result in a taxable gain or loss.
• Digital asset question: answer Yes if you received digital assets for mining, staking and similar activities, or an airdrop as it relates to a hard fork (guide to the question).
• Broker transition rule: Notice 2024-57 (as summarized on the IRS page) lists staking transactions among transactions brokers need not report on Form 1099-DA until further guidance, and says that exception does not apply to rewards or other compensation earned by participants. The page and the instructions read together say the broker form is not the place for the reward itself.
• The IRS page also lists Rev. Rul. 2023-14 ("Taxability of staking income") and "TC Memo 2026-46 – Cryptocurrency staking rewards are income" as publications. We only saw their titles, not their text.

What this means in practice

1. A 1099-DA that arrives for a later sale of staked tokens is a different event from receiving the reward.
2. Keep your own records of when you received each reward, the units, and the U.S. dollar fair market value; the IRS page asks for records of fair market value of digital assets received as income.
3. Later sale of the reward units is reported separately (1099-DA vs Form 8949); the IRS page says the basis of a digital asset is generally its cost in U.S. dollars; we do not state how the basis of reward units is set (see the FAQs, not read).
4. No 1099-DA does not change the duty to report (no 1099-DA).

FAQ

Is staking income ordinary or capital? The IRS page puts it on Schedule 1 as other ordinary income; business cases can differ.

Does the broker's form show staking in box 1f? Not per the instructions; box 1f is gross proceeds of sales (box guide).

Do DeFi or lending transactions get a 1099-DA? Notice 2024-57 lists wrapping, liquidity provider, lending, short sales and notional principal contracts among exceptions until further guidance; we do not say how to tax them.

What we could not verify

• The text of Rev. Rul. 2023-14 and TC Memo 2026-46 (titles only).
• Part II of the IRS virtual-currency FAQs on basis of reward units (not read).
• How a specific platform labels staking in its own statements.
• DeFi-specific treatment.

Sources (official)

• IRS, Instructions for Form 1099-DA (2026) — https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1099da (PDF read in full 17 October 2026)
• IRS, Digital assets — https://www.irs.gov/filing/digital-assets (read in full 17 October 2026)

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Not tax advice. Examples use made-up figures. Nothing here has been reviewed by a tax professional. We may earn commissions from affiliate links where marked; see the disclosure.