If you buy, sell, swap, spend or earn crypto in Australia, the tax rules already apply. There is no special crypto tax. The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) treats crypto assets under the same rules that apply to assets generally. For most people who hold crypto as an investment, that means capital gains tax (CGT) when they dispose of it, and ordinary income when they receive certain rewards.

The ATO also matches tax returns against data it collects from crypto platforms. Incomplete records, unreported swaps and missed staking income are common problems. This guide walks through the rules the ATO has published, in the order most people meet them.

This is general information only. It is not tax advice or personal financial product advice, and it does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Crypto tax can turn on how you use the asset and on records you may not have kept yet. Consider speaking with a registered tax agent before you lodge.

Is crypto taxed in Australia?

Yes. The ATO's starting point is that crypto is not a form of money for tax purposes. It is an asset. The way you are taxed depends on how you acquire, hold and dispose of it.

Most people hold crypto as an investment, expecting the price to rise. In that case the crypto is a CGT asset. A CGT event happens when you dispose of it, and you may make a capital gain or a capital loss. If you hold the asset for at least 12 months, you may be able to reduce the gain with the CGT discount (and, from 1 July 2027, with the new indexation rules described later).

If you are carrying on a business of crypto trading, the ATO may treat the activity on revenue account. Proceeds can be ordinary income, and the cost of acquiring crypto can be a deductible expense or treated as trading stock. That is a different result from the investment rules in this guide, and it depends on the facts of your activity, not on what you call it.

Some crypto can be a personal use asset, but that exception is narrow. Holding crypto as an investment, and later spending a bit of it, does not make it a personal use asset.

When do I have to pay tax on crypto?

You need to think about CGT when you dispose of a crypto asset you hold as an investment. The ATO says a disposal includes when you:

  • sell crypto
  • gift crypto
  • trade, exchange or swap one crypto asset for another
  • convert crypto to Australian dollars or another fiat currency
  • use crypto to buy goods or services

Each of those events can produce a capital gain or a capital loss, even if no Australian dollars hit your bank account. Swapping one token for another is a disposal of the token you gave up and an acquisition of the token you received.

Moving crypto from a wallet you own to another wallet you own is not a disposal, as long as you keep ownership. If the amount you hold falls because a network fee was paid in that crypto, the ATO says the fee is a disposal and can have CGT consequences. A fuller walk-through is in the Never Lose Interest guide to crypto wallet transfers and tax.

You also need to think about ordinary income, which is separate from CGT, if you receive staking rewards or certain airdrops. Those amounts can be assessable when you receive them, at their market value in Australian dollars, and a later disposal of the reward tokens can create a further capital gain or loss.

How do I work out a crypto capital gain or loss?

For each disposal, you compare the capital proceeds with the cost base.

The capital proceeds are what you received, or the market value of what you received, in Australian dollars at the time of the transaction. If you sell for Australian dollars, that is usually the amount you received. If you swap one crypto asset for another, you need the market value in Australian dollars of the asset you received (or, if you cannot value that asset, the market value of the asset you disposed of).

The cost base starts with what you paid to acquire the crypto, plus certain other costs of acquiring, holding and disposing of it, such as some incidental fees. You must convert those amounts to Australian dollars at the time of each transaction. From 1 January 2020, the ATO has used Reserve Bank of Australia exchange rates where they are available. For currencies the Reserve Bank does not list, it says you may use any reasonable externally sourced rate.

You make a capital gain if the proceeds are more than the cost base. You make a capital loss if they are less. Capital losses can reduce capital gains in the same year. If losses exceed gains, you have a net capital loss. You cannot deduct a net capital loss from salary or wages. You can carry it forward and use it against capital gains in later years.

Each crypto asset is a separate CGT asset. If you bought the same token in several parcels, at different times and prices, you need records that let you identify the parcel you disposed of. That identification sets both the cost base and whether you have held that parcel for at least 12 months.

The ATO has not published a crypto-specific parcel method. For identical shares that cannot be individually distinguished, Taxation Determination TD 33 says you decide which parcels are being disposed of and keep records that support the decision, and that first-in, first-out (FIFO) has been accepted as a reasonable basis. Average cost is generally not acceptable, except for identical assets acquired on the same day. Many crypto investors use FIFO for that reason, and keep records that would also support a specific identification if they choose a particular parcel. Do not invent a blended average cost across purchases made on different days.

A simple example

Suppose you buy 0.5 bitcoin for $20,000, including the exchange fee that forms part of the cost base, and you hold it as an investment. Sixteen months later you sell it for $28,000, after selling costs. Your capital gain is $8,000 before the CGT discount. Because you held the asset for at least 12 months, the 50% discount (under the current rules) would reduce the taxable gain to $4,000. That $4,000 is added to your other taxable income for the year and taxed at your marginal rate, plus any Medicare levy that applies.

If instead you sold after only six months, the discount would not apply and the full $8,000 would be taxable.

These numbers are an illustration, not a prediction of the bitcoin price or of your tax.

Can I claim the 50% CGT discount on crypto?

Under the current rules, yes, if you hold the crypto as a CGT asset for at least 12 months and you are an individual, trust or partnership entitled to the discount. Companies do not get the 50% discount. The 12 months is counted against the particular parcel you disposed of, which is why records of each acquisition date matter.

From 1 July 2027, the 50% discount is being replaced, for gains that accrue from that date, with cost base indexation and a 30% minimum tax on real gains. Those changes are law. They apply to CGT assets generally, including shares and property, when held by individuals, trusts and partnerships for at least 12 months. Crypto held as an investment is generally a CGT asset, so you should plan on the new settings applying to post-1 July 2027 gains unless official ATO guidance later says otherwise.

Gains that accrued before 1 July 2027 still get the 50% discount if you were entitled to it. The law uses a deemed sale and reacquisition at market value just before 1 July 2027, with the calculation deferred until you actually dispose of the asset. For more detail, see the Never Lose Interest guides to the 2027 negative gearing and CGT changes and to CGT old versus new rules.

The Never Lose Interest crypto tax calculator explainer shows how a calculator applies those rules to your own figures. Have a tax agent review the result if the amounts are material.

Do I pay tax if I move crypto between my own wallets?

Usually no, if you still own the crypto. The ATO says transferring crypto from one digital wallet to another is not a disposal as long as you maintain ownership.

The catch is the network fee. If your holding is reduced during the transfer to cover that fee, the ATO treats the fee as a disposal, which can produce a capital gain or loss. Keep a record of the date, the fee amount, and the Australian dollar value at the time.

A transfer to someone else, or to a wallet you do not control, is a different story. That can be a disposal, including where you are making a gift.

How are staking rewards and airdrops taxed?

This is where many returns go wrong, because income and CGT can both arise.

Staking rewards

Staking involves locking existing tokens to help validate transactions. The ATO says the money value of additional tokens you receive is ordinary income at the time you receive them. You declare that value, in Australian dollars, in your tax return (usually as other income). The cost base of the new tokens is that same market value. When you later sell, swap or otherwise dispose of those reward tokens, you work out a separate capital gain or loss against that cost base.

The same income treatment applies, according to the ATO, to comparable rewards for helping to maintain a network, including certain validator, node and proxy-staking rewards, and rewards for voting tokens in a consensus mechanism. Liquidity pools, DeFi lending and wrapping are covered in more detail in the Never Lose Interest guide to staking and DeFi tax.

Airdrops

An airdrop is a separate CGT asset from any token that entitled you to it. The tax result depends on why you received it.

If you receive airdropped crypto in return for goods or services, or as part of another income-producing activity, you include the market value in assessable income when you receive it. That market value becomes the cost base.

If you are not carrying on a business of crypto trading, and you did not receive the crypto as a reward for goods or services or as part of another income-producing activity, the ATO says you do not include the market value in assessable income at the time of the airdrop. A CGT event may still happen when you later deal with the asset. The first element of the cost base is the market value when the airdrop was received, which may be nil or negligible if the token had no real value at that time.

Airdrops received as part of a hobby or entertainment activity are not included in assessable income, and you cannot deduct the costs of that hobby. An offer you never actually received, such as a phishing email you ignored, does not create income or a CGT asset.

The ATO has also published draft guidance on airdrops (Draft Taxation Ruling TR 2026/D1). Draft rulings can change. If airdrops are a material part of your return, check the final ruling or get advice.

What is the personal use asset exception?

A crypto asset is a personal use asset if you keep or use it mainly to buy items for personal use or consumption. The test is applied when you dispose of it, and it looks at how you actually used the asset, not only at what you intended when you bought it.

The ATO's own examples are narrow. Buying crypto and spending it the same day on concert tickets is more likely to be personal use. Buying crypto, holding it as an investment, and later spending some of it on goods or services is not. Converting crypto to Australian dollars, loading it onto a prepaid card, or paying through a payment gateway so you can shop, will not usually turn an investment holding into a personal use asset.

A capital gain on a personal use crypto asset is exempt from CGT if you acquired it for less than $10,000. Capital losses on personal use assets are disregarded. You cannot use them to reduce other capital gains, and you cannot carry them forward.

The ATO has warned tax agents that investment crypto does not qualify as a personal use asset, and is not exempt from CGT, merely because it is occasionally used to make purchases. Treat this exception as limited, and keep records that show how you actually used the asset.

What records do I need to keep?

You must keep records of each crypto asset and every transaction so you can work out a gain or loss. The ATO says you should keep:

  • receipts when you buy, transfer or dispose of crypto assets
  • the date of each transaction
  • what the transaction was for, and who the other party was (their crypto address is enough)
  • exchange records
  • the value of the crypto asset in Australian dollars at the time of each transaction
  • records of agent, accountant and legal costs
  • digital wallet records and keys
  • a record of software costs that relate to managing your tax affairs

Keep details for each crypto asset separately. Relying only on an exchange to store your history is not enough, particularly if you later move assets off that platform or the platform does not keep complete Australian-dollar values.

The ATO says to keep records for five years from the later of when you prepare or obtain them, when the transactions or acts are complete, and the year the CGT event happens. Keep them long enough to cover the amendment period for an assessment that uses the information, which is usually two or four years.

If you cannot reconstruct a cost base, you may overstate a gain or be unable to support a loss. That is harder to fix later than it is to prevent now.

How do I report crypto on my tax return?

If you are lodging as an individual, capital gains and losses are reported in the capital gains section of your tax return (in myTax, or at the capital gains item on a paper form). Businesses, companies, trusts and funds have their own schedules.

Staking rewards and assessable airdrops are generally declared as ordinary income, often as other income, at their Australian-dollar market value when received.

The ATO runs a crypto asset data-matching program. It compares what you report with data on crypto transactions and accounts. If the figures do not line up, you may be asked to explain the difference. Lodging an incomplete return and fixing it later can mean amendments, interest or penalties.

If your records are a mess, a registered tax agent, and in some cases crypto tax software used as a record-keeping aid, can help you reconstruct the year. The return is still yours, and the calculations still need to follow ATO rules.

Frequently asked questions

Do I pay tax if I only hold crypto and have not sold any?

Holding an investment crypto asset, on its own, does not trigger CGT. CGT generally arises when you dispose of it. You may still have ordinary income in that year if you received staking rewards or certain airdrops, even if you did not sell the original holding.

Is swapping one coin for another a taxable event?

Yes, if you hold the crypto as an investment. The ATO treats an exchange or swap as a disposal of one CGT asset and an acquisition of another. You need Australian-dollar market values at the time of the swap.

What if I made a loss?

A capital loss on investment crypto can reduce capital gains in the same year, and a net capital loss can be carried forward. It cannot be deducted against salary or wages. Losses on personal use assets are disregarded.

Does the ATO know about my exchange account?

The ATO collects data from crypto platforms and matches it with tax returns. You should assume that activity on an Australian-facing platform can be visible to the ATO, and you still have to report disposals that happen off-platform or in self-hosted wallets.

I transferred bitcoin to a friend as a gift. Is that taxable?

Gifting a crypto asset is a disposal for CGT purposes. You may make a capital gain or loss based on the market value at the time of the gift, even though you received no cash.

Are NFTs taxed the same way?

NFTs are also crypto assets. The CGT and income rules depend on how you acquire, hold and dispose of them, and a personal use analysis can be relevant for some digital collectibles. The ATO has separate material on non-fungible tokens. Get advice if this is a material part of your affairs.

Will the 2027 CGT changes apply to crypto?

The legislated changes apply to CGT assets held by individuals, trusts and partnerships, for gains that accrue from 1 July 2027. Crypto held as an investment is generally a CGT asset. Plan on indexation and the 30% minimum tax applying to later gains, and check ATO guidance as 1 July 2027 approaches.

General information warning

This article is general information only. It is not tax advice, legal advice or personal financial product advice. It does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. The tax treatment of crypto depends on your facts, your records, and the law in the year you transact or lodge. Consider seeking advice from a registered tax agent before you act.

Sources

Last reviewed: November 2026.