This is cryptotaxes part two. One thing I learned from Part 1 was that tax software costs way too much money. I looked into the issue again and found a simple trick that keeps your costs around $49 per year. Splinterlands lets you export your game history for free. By downloading this data and turning it into daily summaries before uploading it to your tax software, you avoid paying fees for zero-gain actions. This means you won't get charged for every battle loss, card merge, or rental listing.
Step-by-Step Guide: Aggregating Splinterlands Taxes for $49/Year
- Step 1: Export Full On-Chain Data: Log into Splinterlands, open the Currency Activity tab, click Export Custom History, and save the full CSV file for the year. Keep this raw file safe in case you ever get audited.
- Step 2: Filter Out Non-Taxable Gameplay: Open the CSV file in Excel or Google Sheets. Delete actions that do not trigger taxes (like card rentals, card merges, glint, potions, and lost battles) so they do not count against your software limits.
- Step 3: Aggregate Daily Reward Claims: Add up all your daily earnings (like liquid SPS, DEC, or Vouchers) so each day on the calendar shows just one single total income number.
- Step 4: Create a 365-Row Summary CSV: Make a simple 365-line file with four basic details: Date, Asset Name, Amount Earned, and the USD Fair Market Value at the time you claimed it.
- Step 5: Import Summaries to Tax Software: Upload your 365-row file into an entry-level plan (like Koinly or CoinLedger). This keeps you under their 1,000-transaction limit and locks in the $49/year price tag.
- Step 6: Sync Capital Asset Dispositions: Connect your Hive-Engine wallet, Tribaldex account, or exchange APIs separately to track token trades and card sales for capital gains.
Low-Cost Tax Software Options
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CoinTracking (Best Direct Import Option)
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Cost: Free tier (up to 200 trades), or an Unlimited Plan (~$839–$899/year).
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Why it fits: It easily handles custom CSV files without crashing and lets you import endless transactions without paying extra fees for high volume.
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Trade-off: The site is harder to learn and costs a lot more upfront for the unlimited tier.
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Koinly / CoinLedger (Best with Aggregation)
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Cost: Basic tiers cost $49 to $99 per year (for up to 100–1,000 transactions).
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Why it fits: Simple to use and connects directly to popular tax apps like TurboTax or TaxAct.
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Trade-off: You must use daily summaries to keep your total rows under 1,000, or the software will force you to pay for expensive upgrades.
Managing Splinterlands Activity for Tax Reporting
Taxable vs. Non-Taxable In-Game Events
Not every card battle or NFT move counts as a tax event:
- Non-Taxable Events: Moving cards between your own wallets, listing cards for rent (before you get paid), merging cards together, using potions or glint, and setting up your decks.
- Ordinary Income (Taxable at Fair Market Value): Claiming liquid SPS, DEC, or Vouchers from ranked matches, season rewards, or staking. You report the USD value at the exact time you claim the reward.
- Capital Gains / Losses: Swapping SPS/DEC on Hive-Engine or Tribaldex, burning SPS to get DEC, or selling card NFTs for crypto or cash.
Last Words
Handling crypto taxes for play-to-earn games does not have to be expensive. You do not need to pay hundreds of dollars for high-tier software just to process thousands of small game rewards. Simply clear out your non-taxable moves, save your raw files for safety, and import 365 daily totals into a basic plan. This keeps you totally tax-compliant while holding your software costs at $49 a year.
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