Crypto Tax in United Kingdom

If you've sold, swapped, spent, or earned crypto in the UK, HMRC may expect it on a Self Assessment return, and from 2026, UK exchanges report your activity to HMRC directly. This guide covers how crypto is taxed, the forms you file, and the key deadlines. CryptaTax then builds your UK report from your transaction history.

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

Is crypto taxed in the UK?

HMRC treats cryptoassets as property (a chargeable asset), not currency. Disposing of crypto can trigger Capital Gains Tax (CGT); earning it can be subject to Income Tax. Holding crypto and moving it between your own wallets aren't taxable. HMRC's Cryptoassets Manual sets out the detail, including DeFi, staking, and NFTs.

Capital gains

CGT applies when you dispose of crypto, selling for pounds, swapping one coin for another, spending it, or gifting it (except to a spouse or civil partner).

• Annual exempt amount: £3,000 (2025/26 and 2026/27). Gains within this are tax-free.
• Rates (since 30 October 2024): 18% if you're a basic-rate taxpayer, 24% if you're a higher- or additional-rate taxpayer, on gains above the allowance.
• Cost basis: HMRC uses Section 104 pooling, an averaged cost across all units of a given token, plus the same-day rule and the 30-day ("bed and breakfasting") rule. You can't pick your cheapest coins; the pooled average applies across your whole holding of that token.
• Losses offset gains in the same year and can be carried forward indefinitely.

Crypto income

Mining, staking, airdrops, and crypto received as salary are taxed as income at their sterling value when you receive them, at your marginal rate (20%, 40%, or 45%) after the £12,570 personal allowance. That receipt value becomes the cost base for CGT when you later dispose of the coins.

Which forms do I file?

You report through Self Assessment:

• SA108 (Capital Gains Summary), crypto disposals, in the cryptoassets section. → The UK Capital Gains Summary (SA108)
• SA100, crypto income (reported as miscellaneous income). → How crypto fits the SA100 return

You must report if your net gains exceed the £3,000 allowance, or if your total disposal proceeds exceed £50,000 in the tax year, even if no tax is due. (Reporting losses also lets you carry them forward.)

Key dates

• Tax year: 6 April, 5 April.
• Register for Self Assessment (if you're not already): by 5 October after the tax year ends.
• Deadlines: paper return 31 October; file and pay online 31 January. For 2025/26 (ended 5 April 2026), the online deadline is 31 January 2027.
• From 1 January 2026, UK crypto platforms report user data to HMRC under CARF (the first reports cover the whole of 2026), so HMRC increasingly already has your data.

How CryptaTax helps with UK crypto tax

• Imports your full history from exchanges and wallets
• Applies Section 104 pooling plus the same-day and 30-day matching rules automatically
• Produces SA108-ready capital gains figures and your income totals
• Flags the £3,000 gain and £50,000 proceeds reporting thresholds

Common mistakes UK crypto investors make

Most Self Assessment problems with crypto come from misunderstanding the matching rules rather than deliberate under-reporting. These are the slips HMRC sees most often, and each one is easy to avoid once you know it is there.

• Thinking only cashing out to pounds counts. Selling, swapping, spending, and gifting (other than to a spouse or civil partner) are all disposals for Capital Gains Tax.
• Ignoring the Section 104 pool. People try to match a sale to a specific cheap purchase, but HMRC's pooling and matching rules decide which acquisition a disposal is set against, you cannot simply choose.
• Forgetting the same-day and 30-day rules. Buying back soon after selling changes how the disposal is matched, which can wipe out a loss you thought you had banked.
• Not recording crypto income separately. Mining, staking, and airdrops are income first and only later a capital matter; mixing the two leads to mistakes on both.
• Overlooking the reporting threshold. Even with no tax to pay, large total disposal proceeds can create an obligation to report, see the figure in the summary table on this page.
• Losing exchange data. Platforms close or restrict access, and reconstructing years of trades afterwards is far harder than exporting your records as you go.

Record-keeping for UK filers

HMRC can ask you to back up the figures on your Self Assessment, and the responsibility to keep records sits with you, not your exchange. Aim to keep enough to reconstruct your Section 104 pool for each token at any point in time.

• The type of token, and the date of every acquisition and disposal.
• The number of units involved and their value in pounds at the time.
• A running record of your pooled cost for each token.
• Bank statements, exchange records, and wallet addresses linking transfers between your own accounts.
• Records of any crypto received as income, valued in sterling on the day.

HMRC generally expects records to be kept for several years after the filing deadline, so do not delete an export just because the tax year is closed. As UK platforms begin reporting your data under CARF, your records and HMRC's information should tell the same story, clean records make any future query straightforward. More on cost basis →.

Year-end planning for UK investors

The UK tax year ends on 5 April, and a few habits before then can make a real difference to what you owe.

Use your annual exempt amount

Every individual has a tax-free allowance for capital gains each year, shown in the summary table on this page. It does not carry over, so gains realised within it are simply tax-free. Spreading disposals across tax years, where it suits you, can make use of more than one year's allowance.

Harvesting losses, carefully

Realising a loss can offset gains in the same year and, once reported, be carried forward indefinitely. But the 30-day rule means buying the same token straight back can stop the loss working as intended, so the timing matters. Read more on tax-loss harvesting →.

Transfers between spouses

Transfers of crypto between spouses or civil partners are generally not disposals, which can let a couple make use of both partners' allowances and rates. The rules are specific, so confirm the current position before relying on this.

DeFi, NFTs and newer activity

HMRC's Cryptoassets Manual addresses DeFi, staking, and NFTs, but the treatment can be intricate and depends on the exact mechanics of each protocol.

• DeFi lending and staking rewards may be income or capital depending on the nature of the return, HMRC's guidance turns on whether the reward is capital or revenue in nature.
• Liquidity pool deposits and withdrawals can be disposals, so providing liquidity is rarely tax-neutral.
• NFTs are chargeable assets like other tokens; buying, selling, and trading them can trigger Capital Gains Tax.
• Airdrops may be income or not, depending on whether anything was done to earn them.

Because the lines here are genuinely fine, DeFi-heavy users benefit most from clean transaction data and, where the amounts are large, professional advice. See our guide to staking →.

Why crypto is harder to report than shares

Investors who have filed for shares are sometimes surprised at how much more effort crypto takes. The reasons are practical rather than legal, and understanding them explains why good tooling matters so much for an accurate Self Assessment.

• No single broker. Shares usually sit with one or two brokers that hand you a tidy annual statement. Crypto spreads across exchanges, wallets, and chains, with no one producing a consolidated record for you.
• Cost basis does not travel. When you move coins to self-custody, no statement carries the purchase price with them, so you have to keep that link yourself or risk losing the basis entirely.
• Many more events. A handful of share trades a year can become hundreds of crypto transactions once swaps, fees, rewards, and DeFi interactions are counted.
• Crypto-to-crypto disposals. Every swap is a taxable event, so activity that feels like simple rebalancing generates a long list of gains and losses.
• Valuation in pounds. Each transaction has to be priced in sterling at the right moment, which is fiddly across thousands of individual price points.
• Years of history matter. Because pooling works across your whole holding of a token, even an old, forgotten purchase changes the gain on a sale today.

This is exactly the gap CryptaTax is built to close: it gathers the scattered data, reconnects cost basis across transfers, prices everything in pounds, and applies the matching rules so you end up with figures you can file with confidence. Understanding why the work is harder also helps you sanity-check the result, rather than treating the output as a black box.

What if you have never reported your crypto?

HMRC has been sending 'nudge' letters to people it believes hold crypto, encouraging them to check their returns. If you have unreported gains or income from earlier years, it is generally far better to come forward than to wait.

HMRC operates disclosure routes for correcting past tax, including a dedicated facility for unpaid tax on cryptoassets. Putting things right voluntarily usually means a better outcome than being contacted first, though interest and penalties can still apply. With CARF reporting now bringing exchange data to HMRC, the case for getting ahead of it is stronger than ever. CryptaTax can rebuild your full history so you have accurate figures for each year.

How CryptaTax automates your UK crypto taxes

The Section 104 pool, the same-day rule, and the 30-day rule are exactly the kind of fiddly, repetitive calculations that software handles far better than a spreadsheet.

• Imports every trade, transfer, and reward from your exchanges and wallets.
• Maintains the Section 104 pool for each token and applies the same-day and 30-day matching rules automatically.
• Separates capital disposals from crypto income, valued in sterling on the day.
• Produces SA108-ready capital gains figures and flags the reporting thresholds.
• Keeps a clear audit trail behind every number for any HMRC query.

Do I have to report if I made no profit?

Possibly. Even with no gain, total disposal proceeds above the threshold shown in the summary table on this page can create a reporting obligation. Reporting losses is also how you carry them forward.

Is moving crypto between my own wallets taxable?

No. Transferring crypto between wallets you control is not a disposal. Just keep records linking both sides so the movement is not mistaken for a sale.

How are crypto gifts taxed in the UK?

Gifting crypto is generally a disposal for Capital Gains Tax, valued at market price, except gifts to a spouse or civil partner. The detail matters, so confirm the current HMRC position.

Do I pay tax on stablecoins?

Stablecoins are cryptoassets like any other, so swapping into or out of them is a disposal even though the value barely moves. Small gains or losses can still arise.

Can CryptaTax handle several exchanges and wallets at once?

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

Reporting and paying your UK crypto tax

Once your gains and income are worked out, they go on your Self Assessment return. Capital gains from crypto are reported on the SA108 pages, and crypto income from mining, staking or airdrops goes in the relevant income section of your SA100. If you do not already file Self Assessment, receiving crypto gains or income above the reporting thresholds is itself a reason to register.

Deadlines that matter

The UK tax year runs to 5 April, and the online Self Assessment deadline is the following 31 January, which is also when any tax owed must be paid. Registering for Self Assessment for the first time has its own earlier deadline, so if a crypto gain has tipped you into filing, do not leave registration until January. Missing these dates brings automatic penalties and interest, even where the underlying tax is small.

Reporting losses is worth the effort

Capital losses on crypto can be set against gains in the same year and, if you claim them, carried forward to reduce gains in future years. But a loss only counts once it is reported to HMRC, and the claim generally has a time limit. Recording losing disposals as carefully as winning ones is what lets you use them later, which is why CryptaTax tracks both sides rather than only your gains.

CryptaTax produces the sterling figures these pages need, your total proceeds, your pooled cost, your net gains and your crypto income, already matched under the Section 104, same-day and 30-day rules. You transfer the totals onto your return, or hand the report to an accountant, without rebuilding the pool by hand. See how it works →.