CoinReckon Methodology: Taxes, Reviews and Warnings
This page explains how CoinReckon sources its tax guides and compares crypto products. The tax criteria below remain separate from the numerical methodology used for exchanges, brokers, swap services and hardware wallets.
One rule sits behind all of it: we apply the same criteria to every product within its category. Affiliate status does not affect order, score or placement. At launch there are no affiliate relationships at all, so nobody pays for a link on this site. See disclosures for how that would be handled if it changed.
Tax software
We compare programs on the questions a filer actually has to answer before paying. They are the same for every program.
- Which dated source supports each feature claim?
- How does the program handle a Form 1099-DA with missing basis?
- Does it cover all of your exchanges and wallets, including accounts that only moved coins?
- What does the report cost at your own transaction count, and is that count per year or cumulative?
- Where does the output go for filing: a downloadable Form 8949, a named partner path, or a direct import?
- Where do complex activities such as liquidity pools, wraps, bridges and staking rewards begin, and where does human help begin?
The same test data runs through each program each season. It is a short chain whose history we can verify: buy an asset, move it between two accounts, sell it. We compare the program's dates, proceeds, basis and transfer treatment with the records.
For tax software, we do not use star ratings or scores, and we do not rank. The tax software comparisons do not award a "best overall" label from a feature list. Where evidence does not settle a question, the comparison says so and leaves it open.
Vendor claims about prices, features and supported exchanges are cited to the vendor's own dated page. We recheck them each season, because vendors change them without notice. A price is a claim with a date, not a fixed fact. If a vendor's own pages disagree with each other, we show both figures instead of picking one.
Tax facts
Federal rates, thresholds, deadlines and formulas cite IRS primary sources; state rules cite the relevant tax agency or enacted statute, with their tax years. Missing evidence, conflicting sources and access limits are identified rather than treated as verified facts. Tax pages show the year they cover; a general rule applied to crypto is distinguished from guidance that names crypto explicitly.
Once a complete page has been rechecked within its stated source scope, the page shows a facts-checked date. That date does not imply fresh access to every source or erase mixed tax years and saved-evidence limits. Each December and January we run a seasonal pass, when the IRS publishes the next year's figures. The publication update date moves when the content changes; a facts-checked date moves only after a substantive page review. Touching a page does not refresh it.
Tax pages also say "This is not tax advice" and link to the disclaimer.
Exchange tax-form pages
Each exchange page uses that issuer's own tax or help evidence, with printed dates, announced years and unstated-year limits shown separately. Conflicting issuer statements remain visible; general IRS duties do not establish a company's issuance promise. An exchange without the required issuer evidence is left out, and leaving it out is not a judgment about the exchange.
Calculators
The five calculators under the calculators hub read their rates and thresholds from a dated data file. The file carries the IRS source URL, the tax year and the date we verified it. Those three items appear next to every result.
Every result is an estimate, not tax advice. The figures you type stay in your browser: they are not sent anywhere and they are not stored.
Product reviews: methodology v1.3
The review section uses methodology v1.3, dated October 19, 2026. Its first set of pages uses the source snapshot generated October 20, 2026. A page's publication or editing date is separate from its evidence date: publishing these pages does not mean the sources were researched again on that day. Individual facts retain their own source dates and limits.
These are comparisons of documented evidence. We have not run the test trades, timed onboarding, funding or support tests specified in the rating model. Untested measures are identified in the tables below and excluded from the calculation. We do not present vendor claims as hands-on experience.
Regions and availability
The default profile is US. Readers can select US-NY for New York or GLOBAL for the general international profile. The choice is explicit; we do not infer a reader's location. GLOBAL does not mean a product is available in every country.
Availability is evaluated for the selected profile, with state exclusions shown separately. An unknown availability value is not permission to use a service. A licence or registration is evidence of a particular legal status, not an assurance that all products are authorised everywhere or that funds cannot be lost.
Each entity has one canonical page, even when the selected region changes its availability or rating status. Exchange tax-form guides remain under /taxes/exchanges/; product reviews are under /exchanges/.
Scores, completeness and coverage
Scores use dated, sourced facts. A missing or unverified fact is excluded rather than assigned zero. A confirmed negative fact, such as a documented lack of a disclosure, is scored as "no" where the criterion calls for it; that differs from evidence we could not obtain.
Untested or excluded sub-metrics do not receive an invented result. Their weights are redistributed within the applicable criterion. Completeness measures how much of the evidence needed for the applied calculation is available. Below 60% completeness, the page shows Insufficient data, without a numerical score. Coverage measures how much of the full methodology could be applied, including the tests not yet run. Below 70% coverage, a score is labelled Preliminary and capped at Good. A high completeness figure does not remove a low-coverage limit.
| Grade | Score out of 100 |
|---|---|
| Excellent | 90 or higher |
| Very good | 80-89.9 |
| Good | 70-79.9 |
| Fair | 60-69.9 |
| Caution | Below 60 |
The website displays the published score, grade and eligibility flags; it does not calculate a new score when a reader switches profiles. Comparison lists include only products explicitly marked eligible for ranking in that category and profile. A factual profile, a warning page or a product that is unavailable does not enter a ranking just because it has a page. Small or empty eligible sets remain small or empty; they do not become a "best" list by changing the criteria.
Safety and legal gates
Services on the US OFAC, UK OFSI or EU sanctions lists, or shut down by authorities, are not rated. An active withdrawal freeze suspends a rating: no numerical score and no referral links while that condition applies. Active insolvency or an uncompensated hack caps a score at 59. These gates take precedence over an underlying calculation.
Regulatory actions in the preceding five years count by severity: dismissed cases count zero; small civil settlements count half; large settlements and consent orders count one; guilty pleas or sanctions designations count two. The action, jurisdiction and procedural stage still need to be read on the individual page. An allegation is not a conviction, and a settlement is not automatically an admission.
Different page modes
The first review set contains 35 rated-mode pages, five factual profiles and 10 status-only pages. Rated mode does not guarantee that a score is displayable: Bitget's rating is suspended in the supplied profiles, so its page shows no score or service link. Preliminary and insufficient-data labels remain visible wherever they apply.
Profiles say Not yet rated and have no score or referral links. The four software wallet profiles are separate from the hardware wallet ratings; the hardware model is not applied to software wallets. The on-ramp category begins with a MoonPay profile and has no ranking.
Status-only pages cover official warnings, sanctions, closures or authority actions. They provide the sourced status and timeline, distinguish regions, and do not link to the service. A status page does not label an unresolved allegation as a proved fraud. Where a page gives practical next steps, it does not promise recovery or suggest bypassing legal restrictions.
Criterion weights
Each category has its own model. Weights below total 100 within each category; they are not a reason to compare scores across unlike product types. The excluded and uncollected measures are shown so readers can see what a score does not cover.
Exchanges
| Criterion | Weight | Sub-metrics |
|---|---|---|
| Security and reserves | 25 | Proof-of-reserves method (5); Proof-of-reserves freshness (3); DefiLlama reserves pillar (5) - awaiting data collection; Incidents in 36 months (8); Security practices (4) |
| Regulation and legal access | 20 | Licences and legal access in profile (10); Enforcement in 5 years (by severity) (5); Company transparency (5) |
| All-in costs | 20 | Base taker fee (5); Instant-buy spread (test trade) (8) - not yet tested; BTC withdrawal fee (5); No hidden fees (2) |
| Assets and products | 10 | Coins available in profile (4); Products (4); Fiat rails (2) |
| Liquidity and execution | 10 | CoinGecko Trust Score (4) - excluded; DefiLlama execution and liquidity (4) - awaiting data collection; Kaiko exchange ranking grade (2) - excluded |
| UX and onboarding | 10 | App Store rating (2); Google Play rating (2); KYC time (test) (2) - not yet tested; Funding speed and holds (test) (2) - not yet tested; Interface languages (2) |
| Support and reputation | 5 | Support channels (2); Support response time (test) (1) - not yet tested; Complaint trend (2) - awaiting data collection |
Brokers
| Criterion | Weight | Sub-metrics |
|---|---|---|
| All-in price (spread test) | 30 | Spread on test trades (30) - not yet tested |
| Withdrawal to own wallet | 20 | Withdrawal to own wallet (20) |
| Assortment | 15 | Coins available in profile (15) |
| Regulation and protection | 15 | Registration and disclosures (15) |
| Features | 10 | Staking (10) |
| UX | 10 | App Store rating (5); Google Play rating (5) |
Swap services
| Criterion | Weight | Sub-metrics |
|---|---|---|
| Rate competitiveness | 25 | Median deviation from best quote (25) - awaiting data collection |
| AML freeze risk and policy transparency | 20 | KYC triggers published (7); KYC provider named (4); Refund policy (5); Freeze complaints per month (4) - awaiting data collection |
| Reliability and speed | 15 | Fixed rate available (5); Median swap time (test) (10) - not yet tested |
| Legal entity and transparency | 15 | Named legal entity and jurisdiction (6); Restricted-country list published (4); Years in operation (5) |
| Coverage | 10 | Coins and networks (10) |
| Support and reputation | 10 | Support channels (5); Trustpilot rating (5) |
| Fiat and extras | 5 | On-ramp (5) |
Hardware wallets
| Criterion | Weight | Sub-metrics |
|---|---|---|
| Security | 35 | Secure element (10); Open-source firmware and app (10); Clear signing (5); Seed model (5); Multisig support (5) |
| Incident history | 20 | Incidents by severity in 60 months (20) |
| Coverage | 15 | Supported networks (15) |
| Usability | 15 | Connectivity (5); Screen (5); iOS support (5) |
| Price and value | 10 | Flagship model price (10) |
| Company transparency | 5 | Named entity and published security audit (5) |
Official warnings and the warning database
The warnings hub and searchable warning database use official regulator, court, law-enforcement and sanctions records. A record means that the named source issued the stated alert or action. It does not expand that source's finding or prove a different allegation. Community reports, when cited, are supporting information and cannot establish an official warning by themselves.
Names and domains matter: clone warnings can refer to an impersonator rather than the legitimate company whose name it copies. Records with unresolved name conflicts are omitted from the published database. Material whose source permits linking only is linked as a reference rather than republished as database rows. Search results do not create separate thin pages for every listed name.
The evidence snapshot includes these source lists:
- CFTC RED List
- SEC PAUSE List
- SEC Crypto Assets enforcement actions
- California DFPI Crypto Scam Tracker
- Washington DFI Investment Scam Tracker
- IOSCO I-SCAN
- ASIC Moneysmart Investor Alert List, linked as a reference because this snapshot does not permit republication of its rows
Absence from the database is not evidence that a service is safe, licensed or suitable. Lists have different jurisdictions and scopes; new activity and later changes may not appear in this snapshot. Read the original source and its date before drawing a conclusion.
Independence and corrections
The review launch contains no affiliate links. Eligibility for a possible future affiliate relationship is not an existing commercial relationship and has no effect on scores, list order or inclusion. See disclosures for the current position.
To report an error or provide a response to coverage, email [email protected] with the page address and supporting source. We correct substantiated errors on the page; a publication update does not silently become a new evidence-check date. Read the editorial policy and the team page for more about the people and process.