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Kalshi tax calculator: estimate a winning or a losing year.
No form Kalshi sends reports the profit or loss on your event contracts, so the figure on your return starts from your own trades. Enter your all-time Kalshi net for a federal range: what Section 1256 could save on a winning year, or what a loss could be worth as a deduction. Section 1256 is one of three common ways people file, and Realize prices all three.
By Owen Monagan, Founder & CEOUpdated
$2,000to$7,400
At least $300 to $1,110 of it can apply to this year's return. Capital gains cancel the rest dollar for dollar, with no annual limit. With no gains, it comes off your other income at $3,000 a year, so about 7 years.
A rough lifetime range: what the deduction could be worth between the 10% and 37% federal brackets. Your real rate lands in between. See how we calculate this and the assumptions. Not tax advice.
What Kalshi sends you, and what it leaves to you
Kalshi issues each 1099 to members who cross an IRS reporting threshold, and none of the four reports the profit or loss on your event contracts. That figure is yours to report whether or not a form arrives. The quoted descriptions are Kalshi’s, from its help center, checked October 7, 2026.
- Form 1099-INT
- “Interest payments from Kalshi.” Interest Kalshi paid you, not your trading result.
- Form 1099-MISC
- “Credit/rewards from Kalshi.” Credits and rewards Kalshi paid you, not contract gains.
- Form 1099-B
- “Transaction proceeds from broker transactions (crypto transfers).” Crypto moving in or out of the account, not the contracts you traded.
- Form 1099-DA
- “Digital asset transaction reporting from ZeroHash.” Digital-asset activity, again not contract trading.
- Profit and loss statement
- Kalshi’s per-year summary of profits, losses and fees, computed first in, first out and including fees and any rebates. It updates on the first morning of each month, so a mid-month download can miss recent trades, and it is not a tax form. It sits in the Account tab on the Tax Info page, beside any 1099s; some forms also arrive by email from Zenwork, Kalshi’s tax form provider.
What the Kalshi estimate assumes
- Your figure is your all-time Kalshi net
- One lifetime number covers your whole Kalshi history. What it cannot do is split that history by tax year, and the year a gain or loss falls in decides which return it goes on. Connect your account and Realize replaces the single figure with your trades, year by year, matched first in, first out as Kalshi’s own statement is.
- A past Kalshi year can still be marked at year end
- Filed under Section 1256, a position still open on December 31 is treated as sold at that day’s price. Kalshi publishes daily price history for its markets and Realize reads the December 31 close from it, so a year that ended before you connected can still be rebuilt from your trades and the exchange’s own prices.
- Kalshi’s fees sit inside your net
- Kalshi charges a transaction fee on the expected earnings of the contract, so it is largest on contracts priced near 50 cents and shrinks toward either end. Some markets also charge a maker fee on a resting order, collected when the order trades and never on a cancel. Fees come out of each trade, so your all-time net is already after them, and a connected account carries the fee on every trade. Kalshi’s fee page.
The range spans the 10% and 37% federal brackets because we do not ask your income, and it leaves out state tax. No IRS guidance or court ruling addresses whether event contracts are Section 1256 contracts, so Realize prices each treatment and the call stays with you and your CPA. How Realize checks its numbers, and the treatments in full: the Section 1256 60/40 rule, standard capital treatment and gambling treatment.
Kalshi taxes, answered
No IRS guidance or court ruling addresses whether event contracts are Section 1256 contracts, so a winning Kalshi year can be reported more than one way. As standard capital gains, contracts held a year or less are taxed at ordinary rates. Under Section 1256, 60% of the gain is taxed at the long-term rate whatever the holding period. Some traders report it as gambling winnings instead. Realize prices each one from your trades.
They can be. Reported as standard capital losses or under Section 1256, a net loss offsets capital gains, then up to $3,000 a year of other income, with the rest carried forward. Section 1256 adds an election to carry a net loss back three years against earlier Section 1256 gains. Reported as gambling, losses can offset gambling winnings but not other income.
As of October 7, 2026, Kalshi’s help center lists a per-year profit-and-loss statement computed first in, first out, plus 1099-INT for interest, 1099-MISC for credits and rewards, 1099-B for crypto-transfer proceeds and 1099-DA for digital-asset transactions through ZeroHash, each sent to members who cross an IRS threshold. None of those forms states the gain or loss on your event contracts.
In the Account tab, on the Tax Info page: choose the year and download the profit-and-loss statement, with any 1099s beside it. Some forms arrive by email from Zenwork, so check your inbox and spam folder. An empty page usually means you crossed no IRS threshold for interest, rewards or crypto activity, which says nothing about whether you made or lost money trading.
Yes. Filed under Section 1256, a position still open on December 31 is marked to that day’s price, and Kalshi publishes the price history the mark comes from, so a past year is rebuilt from your trades plus the exchange’s own prices. You did not need to be connected at the time.
Kalshi’s own documentation
Each page read October 7, 2026.
- What Tax Documentation Does Kalshi Provide? The four 1099s, each sent only to users who meet IRS reporting thresholds, and where to download the P&L statement
- Fees The transaction fee, and when a resting order pays a maker fee
Price your year three common ways.
Your estimate is free. Forms for tax year 2026 open for filing in 2027.