In Australia, crypto is taxed as property, not money. Most of the time that means capital gains tax when you sell, swap, spend or give it away, and income tax on things like staking rewards. Simply buying and holding isn’t taxed. This guide covers how the ATO’s rules work for the 2026-27 income year, with worked examples using the current tax rates.
Disclosure: this guide contains an affiliate link to Independent Reserve. If you sign up through it, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. This is general information only, not tax or financial advice.
| At a glance | |
|---|---|
| How crypto is treated | A capital gains tax (CGT) asset, like shares |
| Taxable events | Selling, swapping, spending, gifting, and paying fees in crypto |
| Not taxable | Buying, holding, and moving crypto between your own wallets |
| CGT discount | 50% off the gain for individuals who held it at least 12 months |
| Taxed as income | Staking rewards, some airdrops, crypto earned through work or a business |
| Losses | Offset capital gains this year or later, but not your salary |
| Last updated | 11 November 2026 |
How the ATO sees crypto
The ATO treats each crypto asset as a separate CGT asset. When you dispose of it, you compare what you got for it with what it cost you, and the difference is a capital gain or loss (ATO).
Crypto isn’t money for income tax. The one exception is GST: since 1 July 2017, digital currency has been treated like money for GST, so you don’t pay GST when you buy it (Treasury). If you want the wider legal picture, see is Bitcoin legal in Australia.
What triggers tax
A CGT event happens when you:
- sell crypto for Australian dollars
- swap one coin for another
- use crypto to buy goods or services
- gift or donate it
- pay a network fee in crypto, because the fee reduces your holding (ATO toolkit)
Moving crypto between your own wallets isn’t a disposal, so it doesn’t need reporting. Neither does buying and holding.
Swaps catch a lot of people out. When you swap, your proceeds are the Australian dollar value of the coin you receive (ATO). Say you swap ETH that cost you $3,000 for SOL worth $4,500 at the time. That’s a $1,500 capital gain on the ETH, even though you never touched dollars.
Working out your gain
The ATO’s steps are:
- Work out which disposals happened in the income year.
- Convert each one to Australian dollars at the time.
- Subtract the cost base from the proceeds for each.
- Add up your gains, take away your capital losses, then apply any CGT discount.
- Report the net capital gain in your tax return.
That’s from the ATO’s own guide to CGT on crypto.
A simple example
Say you bought 0.1 BTC for $6,000 in March 2024. On 11 November 2026, with Bitcoin at about $107,210 (Coinbase), you sell it for $10,721. Ignoring fees, that’s a capital gain of $4,721.
You held it for more than 12 months, so as an individual you can halve it. $2,360.50 goes into your taxable income. If your income sits in the 30% bracket, the tax on that is about $708, plus about $47 in Medicare levy.
The 12-month CGT discount
If you hold crypto for at least 12 months before disposing of it, you can usually reduce the gain using the CGT discount (ATO toolkit). For individuals that’s 50%.
The discount comes after losses. You take capital losses off your gains first, then halve what’s left.
Tax rates for 2026-27
Your net capital gain is added to your other income and taxed at your marginal rate. These are the resident rates for 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027 (ATO).
| Taxable income | Tax |
|---|---|
| $0 to $18,200 | Nil |
| $18,201 to $45,000 | 15c for each $1 over $18,200 |
| $45,001 to $135,000 | $4,020 plus 30c for each $1 over $45,000 |
| $135,001 to $190,000 | $31,020 plus 37c for each $1 over $135,000 |
| $190,001 and over | $51,370 plus 45c for each $1 over $190,000 |
These don’t include the 2% Medicare levy. The lowest rate dropped from 16% to 15% on 1 July 2026, so returns for 2025-26 still use the old table.
Income, not capital gains
Some crypto is taxed as ordinary income when you receive it.
- Staking rewards are income at their market value when you receive them, and that value becomes their cost base for later CGT (ATO). If you receive staking rewards worth $100, you declare $100 of income, and if you later sell them for $150, you have a $50 capital gain.
- Airdrops depend on why you got them. Tokens received as a reward for goods or services are income. Unsolicited airdrops generally aren’t income when received, but selling them later is a CGT event.
- Rewards from liquidity pools, such as a share of fees, are assessable income when you receive them (ATO DeFi).
- Crypto paid to you for work is income. If an employer pays you in crypto under a valid salary sacrifice arrangement, it’s a fringe benefit. Without one, it’s normal wages, and the employer still has to withhold PAYG and pay super on the dollar value (ATO business).
If you trade crypto as a business, the rules change. Your crypto is trading stock, your profits are ordinary income, and you don’t get the CGT discount. Most people who buy and sell occasionally are investors, not traders.
DeFi and wrapped tokens
The ATO’s view is that many DeFi steps are CGT events because you stop owning the original asset. Depositing crypto into a liquidity pool is a CGT event, and so is withdrawing it. Wrapping a token, such as ETH into wrapped ETH, is also a CGT event, and so is unwrapping it (ATO DeFi). That can mean a lot of small taxable events, which is where crypto tax software earns its keep.
Losses, lost crypto and gifts
Capital losses reduce your capital gains this year or in future years, but you can’t deduct a net capital loss from your salary or other income (ATO). Report the loss anyway so you can use it later.
If your crypto is lost or stolen, you may be able to claim a capital loss, but only if you can prove you owned it and it can’t be recovered. The ATO suggests keeping the wallet address, when you acquired and lost access, what you paid, and proof the wallet was yours (ATO).
Giving crypto away is a disposal at its market value on the day. Donations to a deductible gift recipient can be deductible if the charity has DGR status and the gift meets the rules (ATO).
The personal use exemption
A small number of crypto purchases are tax-free. A gain is exempt if the crypto was kept or used mainly to buy things for personal use and you acquired it for less than $10,000 (ATO). Buying crypto and spending it straight away on a personal purchase can qualify. Crypto you held as an investment and later spent doesn’t, and neither does converting it to dollars first.
Records to keep
The ATO asks you to keep (ATO records):
- receipts for buying, transferring or disposing of crypto
- the date of each transaction
- what each transaction was for and who the other party was, which can just be their wallet address
- exchange records
- the Australian dollar value at the time of each transaction
- agent, accountant and legal costs
- digital wallet records and keys
- the cost of any software you use for your tax
Keep them for five years. Download your history regularly, because exchanges close and accounts get locked. On Independent Reserve, for example, you can export your transaction history as a CSV or connect it to tax software through an API key with withdrawals turned off (Koinly). It gives you the history, not a finished tax report.
How the ATO knows
The ATO collects account and transaction data from Australian crypto businesses under its data-matching program, covering the 2023-24 to 2025-26 years, and uses it to find people who didn’t report disposals (ATO).
More reporting is coming. Treasury released draft laws in 2026 to bring in the OECD’s Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework, with collection proposed to start on 1 January 2027 and quarterly domestic reporting proposed from 1 July 2027. Under the drafts, providers would report users’ details and transactions to the ATO (Piper Alderman). The detail isn’t final yet.
Reporting it in your return
In myTax, crypto gains and losses go in the capital gains or losses section. On a paper return they go in the capital gains question in the supplementary section (ATO). Staking rewards and other crypto income go in as other income. The financial year ends on 30 June, and if you lodge yourself the deadline is 31 October.
Frequently asked questions
How do you work out crypto tax in Australia?
List every disposal in the year, convert each one to Australian dollars, subtract the cost base, net off your losses, then halve any gains on crypto held at least 12 months. Add the result to your other income and it’s taxed at your marginal rate plus the Medicare levy. Crypto tax software does this from your exchange exports.
How much capital gains tax do I pay on $100,000?
It depends on your other income and how long you held it. Say you earn $80,000 and make a $100,000 gain in 2026-27. Held for at least 12 months, the discount cuts it to $50,000, your taxable income becomes $130,000, and the extra tax is $15,000 plus $1,000 in Medicare levy, so about $16,000. Held for less than 12 months, the whole $100,000 is added, taking you to $180,000, and the extra tax is $33,150 plus $2,000 in Medicare levy, so about $35,150. Both figures use the 2026-27 resident rates.
How do I invest in cryptocurrency?
Most Australians buy through an Australian exchange registered with AUSTRAC, paying in dollars by bank transfer or PayID. My guide to where and how to buy Bitcoin in Australia explains the steps, and my Independent Reserve review covers one option in detail. Crypto is volatile, so only put in money you can afford to lose.
What are current cryptocurrency prices in Australia?
On 11 November 2026 one Bitcoin was worth about $107,210 (Coinbase). Prices move all day, so for tax use the Australian dollar value at the exact time of each transaction, which exchange exports record for you.
Do I pay tax if I just hold crypto?
No. Buying and holding isn’t a taxable event. Tax applies when you dispose of it, or when you receive crypto as income.
Is moving crypto between my wallets taxable?
No, as long as you still own it. A network fee paid in crypto during the transfer is a small disposal, though.
Related guides
- How to sell Bitcoin in Australia
- Is Bitcoin legal in Australia?
- Where and how to buy Bitcoin in Australia
- Independent Reserve review
- What is Bitcoin?
Open an Independent Reserve account (affiliate link)
Disclaimer
I have an affiliate partnership with Independent Reserve. If you sign up through the links in this guide, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. This doesn’t change what I’ve written.
This guide is general information only. It doesn’t take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs, and it isn’t tax or financial advice. I’m not a registered tax agent or licensed financial adviser. Tax rules and rates change, and your situation may differ, so check the ATO’s guidance and consider speaking to a registered tax agent before you lodge. Figures were checked on 11 November 2026.
