Bitcoin Cash (BCH) Taxes 2026 – IRS Reporting Guide

Bitcoin Cash was created in the 2017 Bitcoin hard fork. If you held BTC at the time of the fork or have traded BCH since, here is how the IRS taxes your Bitcoin Cash.

The 2017 Bitcoin Hard Fork and Taxes

On August 1, 2017, Bitcoin forked into Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH). Every holder of Bitcoin at block 478,558 received an equal amount of BCH. The IRS issued Revenue Ruling 2019-24 clarifying that forked tokens received are taxable as ordinary income at their fair market value on the date of receipt (or first time you have dominion and control over them).

If you received BCH in the 2017 fork, you owe ordinary income tax on the BCH's value when you first accessed or were able to sell it.

Cost Basis for Forked BCH

Your cost basis in the BCH received from the fork equals the fair market value you included as income. For most people who received BCH on August 1, 2017 through an exchange that immediately credited and supported BCH, the basis is approximately the market price of BCH on that date ($266–$300 range at time of fork).

Capital Gains Tax on BCH

When you sell BCH, you calculate a capital gain or loss based on:

• Proceeds: Sale price in USD
• Cost basis: Fair market value when you received the forked BCH (or purchase price if you bought BCH later)
• Holding period: Short-term (<1 year) or long-term (>1 year) from date you received/purchased

Later BCH Forks

Bitcoin Cash itself has undergone subsequent forks including Bitcoin SV (BSV) in November 2018. Holders of BCH at the time of the BSV fork received BSV tokens. The same ordinary income rules apply to those forked tokens.

Trading BCH

Every BCH trade (BCH→BTC, BCH→ETH, BCH→USD, etc.) is a taxable disposal triggering capital gains or losses. Track all your BCH transactions with precise timestamps and USD values. Many exchanges support BCH trading and should provide transaction history exports.

Reporting BCH on Your Tax Return

Report BCH disposals on Form 8949 and Schedule D. Any BCH received as fork income is reported on Schedule 1 as "Other Income." The IRS asks directly on Form 1040 whether you received, sold, exchanged, or otherwise disposed of any digital assets during the year – BCH activity must be reported.

Disclaimer: This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute tax advice. For individual tax advice, consult a licensed tax professional.