Guide · Prediction markets · Tax year 2026
How to report Kalshi and Polymarket taxes for 2026
The IRS has not published guidance on how event contracts are taxed. This page covers Kalshi, Polymarket and Robinhood. It lays out what the platforms send you, the treatments that tax professionals discuss, and the records to keep so you and your preparer can decide.
General information, not tax advice. It explains how the rules read and where the law is unsettled. It does not tell you what to do. A qualified tax professional can apply it to your situation. This page has not yet been reviewed by a tax professional.
Federal income tax only. Last checked November 10, 2026.
The short version
- We found no IRS notice, ruling or FAQ that says how Kalshi or Polymarket contracts are taxed.
- Which treatment applies is a question for you and your tax preparer. This page lists the ones people discuss. It does not pick one.
- Whatever the treatment, the first step is the same: get complete records of every trade, deposit and withdrawal.
What forms do you get?
Kalshi
Kalshi's help center says it issues these forms, depending on what you did:
- Form 1099-INT, for interest.
- Form 1099-MISC, for credits or rewards.
- Form 1099-B, tied to crypto transfers.
- Form 1099-DA, from ZeroHash, for digital assets.
None of these reports your profit or loss on event contracts. Kalshi provides a yearly profit and loss statement instead. It uses first-in, first-out (FIFO) matching and includes fees and rebates. Kalshi says you can download it from Account, then Tax Info. That statement and your trade history are the records to work from.
Polymarket
There are two different products:
- Polymarket's international platform runs on a blockchain, and you buy positions with USDC. It reportedly sends no tax forms, so your records are your wallet and trade history.
- Polymarket US is a separate, CFTC-regulated exchange. Its agreement reportedly covers delivering tax forms such as the 1099-B, without promising one for every trade. Check what it actually sends you in its own help pages.
Robinhood
Robinhood's help center says it does not provide a 1099 for event contract trades and does not report those trades to the IRS. Its consolidated 1099 covers its other products.
The record to work from is the annual statement. Robinhood says it lists each event contract transaction with its closing date, cost, proceeds, fees and commissions, and net profit or loss. It is under Account, then Reports and statements, then Annual reports.
Robinhood also shows a realized profit and loss view for prediction markets, and says that view does not include fees. So it can differ from the annual statement. Use the annual statement.
Other apps
Other brokers and apps that offer event contracts may send different forms, or none. Read the tax pages of whichever platforms you used.
How event contracts are being treated
These are the treatments we found being discussed. The order is not a ranking, and we do not recommend one. Each needs your preparer's judgment.
| Treatment | Who argues for it |
|---|---|
| A. Gambling (Schedule 1 / Schedule A, 90% rule) | Commentators who treat sports outcome contracts as wagers |
| B. Section 1256 contract (60/40 capital gain, marked to market, Form 6781) | Practitioners who treat CFTC-listed event contracts as regulated futures |
| C. Capital asset (Form 8949, short or long term) | Practitioners comparing event contracts to options |
| D. Ordinary income (swap-like, outside Section 1256) | Reported CFTC view that event contracts are swaps (not yet verified) |
The treatments lead to different tax forms and can lead to different results, especially for losses. If your preparer treats your trades as gambling, the 90% limit applies. Our guide to that rule explains it.
Polymarket has an extra layer
On the international platform you buy positions with USDC, which is a crypto asset. Crypto is treated as property, so each time you spend USDC it can be a disposal with its own gain or loss. Because USDC tracks one dollar, the amounts are usually tiny, but they exist. Your preparer may want records of what you paid for your USDC and when you spent it.
What to do now
These are record-keeping steps, not tax advice.
- Download your statements when the year closes. For Kalshi, that is the yearly profit and loss statement and your trade history. For Robinhood, it is the annual statement. For Polymarket, export your trade history and your wallet's transaction list.
- Keep deposits and withdrawals separate. Moving money into or out of a platform is not winning or losing.
- Note credits and rewards. Kalshi reports credits and rewards on Form 1099-MISC, so list any you received.
- Keep a diary-style record. The IRS tells gamblers to keep an accurate diary or similar record, plus receipts and statements. It is sensible to do the same for event contracts, whatever the final treatment.
- Compare any form you receive with your own records. If a number does not match, find out why before you file.
- Show this page to your preparer and ask which treatment they use for event contracts and why.
How our report will handle this
We are building a report that combines statements from many platforms into one ledger. For event contracts it will show each treatment above side by side, labeled with its source and marked "needs your preparer's judgment." It will not choose for you. Every number will trace back to a file and row.
We email you when the report is ready, plus one question about which sites you use. Never sold or shared. Delete your address any time. For adults only.
Sources
- Kalshi help center: What tax documentation does Kalshi provide?
- Robinhood support: Event contract taxes, reports, and statements
- IRS Topic 419, gambling income and losses
- Further reading on how professionals describe the options: CNBC, December 23, 2025, Awaken Tax on Polymarket, and The Block on Polymarket's U.S. exchange. These are news and vendor sources, not IRS guidance.