Crypto Tax in Canada

If you sold, swapped, spent, or earned crypto in Canada, the CRA wants it on your return. This guide covers how crypto is taxed, the inclusion rate (and the recent change that *didn't* happen), the ACB method, and the key dates. CryptaTax then builds your Canadian report from your transaction history.

This is general information, not tax advice. Canadian crypto rules change and depend on your circumstances. Confirm the current position with the CRA or a qualified accountant.

Is crypto taxed in Canada?

The CRA treats crypto as a commodity, not currency. When you dispose of it, the result is either a capital gain or business income, depending on how you operate:

• Capital gain, typical for individual investors who buy and hold. 50% of the gain is taxable.
• Business income, for business-like, high-frequency trading. 100% of the profit is taxable, but expenses are deductible.

The CRA weighs factors like transaction frequency, holding period, and your knowledge and time spent. Moving crypto between your own wallets isn't a disposal.

Capital gains

You have a disposal when you sell crypto for dollars, swap one coin for another, spend it, or gift it.

• Inclusion rate: 50%. Half of your net capital gain is added to your taxable income and taxed at your marginal rate. *(A proposed increase to two-thirds for gains over $250,000 was cancelled in 2025 and never took effect, see the FAQ.)*
• Cost basis: Canada uses the Adjusted Cost Base (ACB), the average cost across your units of a given coin.
• Superficial loss rule: if you sell at a loss and buy the same crypto back within 30 days (before or after) and still hold it, the loss is denied and added to the cost base instead.
• Losses offset capital gains (not ordinary income) and can be carried back or forward.

Business and crypto income

If your activity is a business, profits are 100% taxable as business income. Mining and staking can be treated as business income or, in some cases, on other bases depending on the facts, the line between hobby and business matters, so check your situation. Crypto received as payment is income at its CAD value on receipt.

Which forms do I file?

• Schedule 3, capital gains and losses. → Crypto on Canada's Schedule 3
• T2125, if your crypto activity is business income.
• Filed with your T1 personal income tax return.

Key dates

• Tax year: calendar year (1 January, 31 December).
• Filing deadline: 30 April. (If you or your spouse are self-employed, the filing deadline is 15 June, but any tax owing is still due 30 April.)

How CryptaTax helps with Canadian crypto tax

• Imports your full history from exchanges and wallets
• Calculates cost basis using the ACB method
• Applies the superficial loss rule automatically
• Separates capital gains (50% inclusion) from business/other income
• Produces Schedule 3-ready figures for your return

Common mistakes Canadian crypto investors make

Most CRA issues with crypto come from a few recurring misunderstandings rather than deliberate under-reporting. Each of these is straightforward to avoid once you know to watch for it.

• Believing crypto-to-crypto trades are tax-free. Swapping one coin for another is a disposal at the CAD value on the day, even without cashing out.
• Confusing capital and business treatment. Whether your gains are capital (half taxable) or business income (fully taxable) depends on how you operate, and getting it wrong skews everything.
• Mishandling the Adjusted Cost Base. ACB averages your cost across all units of a coin; treating each purchase separately produces the wrong gain.
• Tripping the superficial loss rule. Selling at a loss and rebuying the same coin within 30 days denies the loss and adds it to your cost base instead.
• Forgetting income from staking and rewards. Earned crypto can be income on receipt and is easy to overlook.
• Relying on outdated guides. Many still show a two-thirds inclusion rate that was cancelled and never took effect, see the FAQ earlier on this page.

Record-keeping for Canadian filers

The CRA expects you to keep adequate records to support your return, generally for six years, and the responsibility is yours rather than your exchange's. Good records let you calculate your ACB accurately and prove every figure on Schedule 3.

• The date of each transaction and its nature (buy, sell, swap, spend, or income).
• The CAD value at the time, with the exchange rate or source you used.
• The number of units and the running Adjusted Cost Base for each coin.
• Exchange records, wallet addresses, and a way to link transfers between your own accounts.
• Records of crypto received as income, valued in CAD on the day.

Maintaining a running ACB as you go is far simpler than rebuilding it years later, and it is essential because the superficial loss rule can adjust your cost base after the fact. More on cost basis →.

Year-end planning for Canadian investors

Canada's tax year follows the calendar, and a few moves before 31 December can shape what you owe.

Harvesting losses, and the superficial loss trap

Capital losses offset capital gains and can be carried back or forward, so realising a loss before year-end can reduce a gain you have already banked. But the superficial loss rule means rebuying the same coin within 30 days denies the loss, so the timing has to be right. Read more on tax-loss harvesting →.

Capital or business?

Because business income is fully taxable while only half of a capital gain is, how your activity is characterised has a large effect. Frequency, holding period, and the time and knowledge you bring all feed into the CRA's view, worth reviewing your situation honestly before filing.

Carrying losses across years

If your losses exceed your gains in a year, the excess is not wasted: capital losses can be carried back to prior years or forward indefinitely against future capital gains. Keeping track of unused losses is part of good year-end housekeeping.

DeFi, NFTs and newer activity

DeFi and NFTs add complexity that the CRA's general principles still have to be applied to case by case.

• DeFi lending, staking, and liquidity provision can produce income on receipt and disposals on entry or exit, depending on the mechanics.
• NFTs are property like other crypto; buying, selling, and trading them can be capital or business in nature depending on your activity.
• Wrapping and bridging may be disposals, so do not assume that moving between equivalent tokens is tax-free.
• Airdrops and rewards can be income at their CAD value on receipt, which then sets the cost base for later disposal.

Since the capital-versus-income line runs through all of this, DeFi-active investors benefit from clean data and, where amounts are significant, professional advice. See our guide to staking →.

Why crypto is harder to report than shares

Investors used to filing for shares are often surprised at how much more work crypto involves. The reasons are practical rather than legal, and they explain why careful tracking and good tooling matter so much for an accurate Schedule 3.

• No single broker. Shares usually sit with one or two brokers that issue a clean annual slip. Crypto spreads across exchanges, wallets, and chains, with no one consolidating it for you.
• Cost basis does not travel. When you move coins to self-custody, no statement carries the CAD purchase price with them, so you have to keep that link yourself.
• ACB across your whole history. Because the Adjusted Cost Base averages over every unit you hold, even an old purchase changes the gain on a sale today.
• The superficial loss rule. Rebuying within 30 days can reach back and adjust your cost base, so transactions cannot be looked at in isolation.
• Many more events. Swaps, fees, staking rewards, and DeFi interactions multiply quickly, turning a few decisions into hundreds of transactions.
• Valuation in dollars. Each transaction has to be priced in CAD at the right moment, which is laborious across thousands of price points.

This is exactly the gap CryptaTax is built to close: it gathers the scattered data, reconnects cost basis across transfers, maintains a running ACB, applies the superficial loss rule, and prices everything in CAD. Understanding why the work is harder also helps you sanity-check the result rather than trusting a black box.

What if you have never reported your crypto?

If you have unreported crypto gains or income from past years, the CRA's Voluntary Disclosures Program (VDP) may let you correct your filings before the CRA contacts you. Coming forward voluntarily generally produces a better outcome than waiting.

The VDP has conditions, and relief is not guaranteed, so this is an area where professional advice is genuinely valuable. What helps in every case is accurate figures for each past year. CryptaTax can rebuild your full history, including a correct ACB across years, so you and your accountant can put things right with reliable numbers.

How CryptaTax automates your Canadian crypto taxes

The Adjusted Cost Base and the superficial loss rule are exactly the kind of running calculations that are painful by hand and simple for software.

• Imports your full history from every exchange and wallet.
• Calculates cost basis using the ACB method automatically.
• Applies the superficial loss rule so denied losses adjust your cost base correctly.
• Separates capital gains (50% inclusion) from business and other income.
• Produces Schedule 3-ready figures and keeps an audit trail behind every number.

Is moving crypto between my own wallets taxable in Canada?

No. Transfers between wallets you control are not disposals. Keep records linking both sides so they are not mistaken for sales.

Do I pay tax if I only bought and held crypto?

No. Buying and holding is not a disposal. Tax applies when you dispose of crypto or earn it as income.

How are crypto gifts taxed in Canada?

Gifting crypto is generally a disposal at fair market value, which can create a capital gain for you. Confirm the current CRA position for your circumstances.

Is the inclusion rate really still 50%?

Yes. The proposed increase to two-thirds was cancelled in 2025 and never took effect, so capital gains use the 50% inclusion rate. Many older guides are out of date on this.

Do I pay tax on stablecoins in Canada?

Stablecoins are crypto like any other, so swapping into or out of one is a disposal at its CAD value even though the value barely moves. The gain or loss is usually small, but it still feeds into your Adjusted Cost Base and has to be recorded. Treating a stablecoin as if it were cash and ignoring these disposals is a common way records end up incomplete.

Can CryptaTax handle multiple exchanges and wallets?

Yes. It merges everything into one history so your ACB stays correct as coins move between venues. See our integrations →.