Tax implications of transferring Bitcoin between wallets and accounts

Hey everyone, I'm based in the US. When I transfer Bitcoin between my accounts, like moving it from Coinbase to Coinbase Pro or from Coinbase to my wallet, does that count as a sale, meaning I have to pay taxes? This is pretty crucial since I’ve made a decent amount of gains already, and I really want to avoid those short-term capital gains taxes for now. Also, does Coinbase issue a 1099 for transfers between Coinbase and Coinbase Pro or my wallet? Thanks a lot, Alex

As long as you stay within one currency (e.g. transfering Bitcoin from your Coinbase account directly to your wallet) it shouldn't be a taxable event. I've never moved funds between Coinbase accounts but from the looks of it they just transfer the crypto balances between accounts without any intermediate exchange steps, so this transfer shouldn't have any tax implications either. It may be worth keeping record though in case you ever need to proof that you just moved coins between your own accounts / addresses rather than transferring the coins to another person as part of a sale or similar. I'm not an accountant though so take with a grain of salt

According to the definition "Taxable events are triggered by earning money, taking profits, or selling assets." You aren't doing any of the above by moving your coins from one address to another. It wouldn't make sense if an investor had to pay tax every time he changed a broker.

Thanks for the answers! How about the transfer from Coinbase to my hardware wallet? Coinbase wouldn‘t know that I am transfering to myself. Do they only file 1099s when going from BTC to USD, or also for transfering BTC to a wallet?

It doesn't matter whether you withdraw to a hardware, desktop or mobile wallet (or even directly to another exchange). As long as you don't exchange it for another currency (crypto or fiat) before withdrawing it from your Coinbase account there's no sale taking place.

as far as coinbase not knowing that you're transferring to yourself, that may change very soon: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5293390.0 anyway, when they send a 1099-K to the IRS, it reports gross trading volume---BTC/fiat or altcoins. deposits, withdrawals (to your hardware wallet), internal transfers between coinbase and coinbase pro, etc do not count towards that number. note: in a surprise twist, coinbase will stop issuing form 1099-K, and they won't be issuing form 1099-B like square does either. https://help.coinbase.com/en/pro/taxes-reports-and-financial-services/taxes/coinbase-tax-resource-center

As long as it is a regular Bitcoin to Bitcoin transactions no matter what kind of wallet it is this won't be considered taxable. Its the same as using Bitcoin in sending/paying it to another person with a different wallet this is considered as a payment transaction not some kind of trade transaction which you have a chance to be earning in return. Also @OP what is the thing that complicates you in this matter? Since wallet to wallet transfer without exchanging any cryptocurrency isn't really taxable so I am wondering why you are confused about this one.

not taxes, but fees. So every time you make a transaction you will definitely be charged a fee and how much the fee to pay depends on your gas price setting, which determines the speed of your transaction. but for certain countries, there may be cryptocurrency transfer regulations, but I don't know much about that yet.