Crypto taxes in Texas (2026): federal + state basics
Texas has no personal income tax at all — no state return, no state capital gains tax, no tax on staking income. Your entire crypto tax bill is federal.
Who has to file in Texas
Nobody files a Texas individual income tax return, because the tax does not exist; the Texas Constitution sharply limits the legislature's ability to create one. Texas residents with crypto income file only a federal return. If you moved to Texas mid-year, your former state may still tax gains realized while you lived there, and part-year returns in that state still apply — Texas's zero rate only covers the period of genuine Texas residency.
The federal layer comes first
Every state discussion starts with the federal return, because the IRS decides what counts as a taxable event in the first place. Selling crypto for dollars, trading one coin for another, or spending crypto is a disposition: you compute gain or loss as proceeds minus cost basis, and the one-year holding line separates short-term from long-term results. Staking and mining rewards are ordinary income at fair market value when you gain dominion and control over them. Federal reporting runs through Form 8949 and Schedule D, summarized in our how-to-report guide, and the rate tables live in the 2026 capital gains guide. For a Texas resident, that federal computation is the whole story: there is no state return waiting to pick the numbers up.
How Texas taxes crypto
Texas levies no personal income tax. The Texas Comptroller administers business taxes — above all the franchise tax, a margin-based tax on entities — but individuals owe nothing to the state on wages, investment gains, or crypto income. There is no Texas equivalent of Form 540 or IT-201, no state estimated tax for individuals, and no state capital gains schedule.
That makes the federal rules the entire game for Texas crypto holders: the one-year holding line still decides whether your gain is taxed at ordinary rates or the preferential 0%/15%/20% long-term rates, and staking or mining rewards are still federal ordinary income when received. Texas's advantage compounds with the federal long-term preference — a long-term gain that a Californian pays up to 13.3% on at the state level costs a Texan nothing beyond the federal bill.
The structural exception: if you trade through a Texas LLC, partnership, or corporation, the entity may owe Texas franchise tax on its margin, and entity-level filings exist even though your personal return does not. Most individual holders trading in their own name never touch it.
2026 Texas rates at a glance
| Income type | Texas treatment |
|---|---|
| Individual income tax | None — no tax, no return |
| Short-term capital gains | None at state level |
| Long-term capital gains | None at state level |
| Staking, mining, airdrops | None at state level |
| Entity franchise tax | May apply to entities (margin tax) — not an individual income tax |
Texas has no individual income tax for 2026 or any prior year. Federal rates still apply in full.
Where crypto lands on the Texas return
There is no Texas form for individual crypto income — no state return exists. Your reporting lives entirely on the federal Form 1040 package: Form 8949 for each disposition, Schedule D for the totals, and Schedule 1 or Schedule C for staking and mining income. Keep those records anyway: if you later move to a taxing state, or a prior state questions your residency, your basis file is your defense.
Texas-specific gotchas
- Zero state tax is not zero tax. Federal capital gains, the 3.8% net investment income tax at higher incomes, and ordinary rates on staking income all still apply in full.
- Your old state may still claim the gain. States tax gains realized while you were their resident. A sale days after a move invites questions — document the move (lease, license, voter registration) before the sale, not after.
- Trading through an entity changes the answer. A Texas LLC or partnership can owe franchise tax on margin and has its own filing duties, even though you personally owe no income tax.
- No state return does not mean no records. The IRS still expects Form 8949 detail, and brokers still send Form 1099-DA to the IRS with your name on it.
What to do: Texas checklist
- Pull your records together. Export every exchange and wallet history and save any Form 1099-DA you received — brokers report proceeds for 2025 sales, and the basis box may be blank or wrong.
- Reconcile before you compute. Run each 1099-DA through the free 1099-DA reconciler so the proceeds on the form match your own basis records before anything reaches a return.
- Finish the federal numbers first. Use the crypto tax calculator and the 2026 capital gains guide to get your short-term and long-term totals — {state} starts from them.
- Skip the state step — deliberately. There is no Texas return; note in your tax file that Texas has no individual income tax, and spend the saved effort on the federal Form 8949 detail instead.
- Check estimates and deadlines. A large one-off gain can require estimated payments during the year, not just a balance due in April — see the estimated taxes guide.
- Keep the file. Transaction records, wallet addresses, and basis elections should be kept for years after filing; our record-keeping guide lists what to save.
Frequently asked questions
Sources & verification
- Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts
- IRS Topic 409 — Capital Gains and Losses
- CryptoTaxAI — Form 1099-DA basis reporting 2026
Rates verified November 2026 against the Texas Comptroller (comptroller.texas.gov); check the current figures again before filing, because states adjust brackets and forms between seasons.
Keep learning
- Crypto taxes by state — compare all 12 state guides.
- Crypto Capital Gains Tax Rates 2026 — the federal short-term vs long-term tables.
- Free Crypto Tax Calculator — estimate your gain before the state layer.