Tax Facts

9140 / How are digital assets valued for tax and estate planning purposes?

Updated: October 23, 2026 at 07:23 PM
Although digital assets are a new category of asset for tax reporting and estate planning purposes, fiduciaries administering a decedent's digital es-tate will need to consider their value. Digital assets should be included on estate tax returns and probate inventories, and trust accountings.


Like other assets, digital assets are valued under IRC Section 2031(a) and Treasury Regulation Section 20.2031-1(b), on the basis of fair market value (as defined as the price that would arise in an arm's-length transaction between a willing buyer and a willing seller). Some examples of specific digital assets with likely monetary value include the following:


Money-management and financial accounts, such as online banking and investment accounts, PayPal, loyalty and re-wards programs, and any other accounts with credit or value.


Digital currencies, such as bitcoin, which can be valued based on its exchange rate.


Online businesses and sales accounts, such as an eBay, Etsy, or Amazon store, other commercial websites.

Business customer information, such as client contact in-formation, customer history, account information of business cli-ents, newsletter subscription lists.


Domain names may be valuable and can be sold, often through brokers.


Intellectual property, such as copyrighted works, registered trademarks, and computer applications or programming code.


Other revenue-generating assets, including websites, blogs, certain social media accounts, Internet domain names (whether live/hosted or inactive), art, photos, music, eBooks, and other digital property. If there is ongoing revenue, cash flows from advertisements or royalties may be used to determine value.





1.  "Military Retirement: Background and Recent Developments." Congressional Research Service. July 12, 2019:6. accessed at https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL34751.pdf

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