Crypto Tax in Australia 2026: ATO Guide

For the 2025-26 Australian income year, selling, swapping, spending, or giving away investment crypto can create a capital gain or capital loss. Staking rewards and some airdrops are ordinary income when received under the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) guidance.

Use the filing and transaction tables below to classify 2025-26 activity, prepare myTax totals, and identify records that need professional review. The enacted CGT amendments commenced on July 1st, 2026, but the new CGT rules apply from July 1st, 2027. They do not change how you calculate a 2025-26 return.

This guide covers Australian resident individual investors. Companies, super funds, non-residents, and people carrying on a crypto trading or mining business can have different treatment and reporting paths. This is general information. A registered tax agent can advise on a material or fact-specific position.

Quick answer

Australia taxes crypto through existing capital gains tax and income-tax rules. There is no separate crypto tax.

For Australian resident individual investors, selling, swapping, spending, or giving away investment crypto can create a CGT event. Staking rewards and certain airdrops are ordinary income when received.

Buying with Australian dollars, holding, and same-owner wallet transfers generally do not create a CGT event if beneficial ownership stays with you. The self-lodgment deadline for the 2025-26 return is Monday, November 2nd, 2026.

Is crypto taxable in Australia?

Yes. Investment crypto is generally a CGT asset, while certain rewards are ordinary income when received. Selling, swapping, spending, or giving away investment crypto can create a CGT event. Buying with Australian dollars, holding, and same-owner wallet transfers generally do not, provided beneficial ownership stays with you.

Which crypto transactions are taxable, not taxable, or fact-dependent?

This table summarizes the ATO's crypto transaction guidance for a resident individual investor. A business, trader, NFT creator, or person with a complex DeFi position may have a different result.

Australia crypto tax deadlines and filing facts for 2026

ATO lodgment guidance confirms the weekend rule and explains that registered-tax-agent due dates depend on the taxpayer and lodgment program. The ATO can update return labels and instructions each year, so use the current myTax screens or return materials when you lodge.

What changes for crypto tax in 2026 and 2027?

Nothing in the 2027 framework changes your 2025-26 return. The current 50% CGT discount can still apply to an eligible resident individual's gain from crypto held for more than 12 months.

The Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Act 2026 starts a different framework on July 1st, 2027. A qualifying gain built up before that date may retain discount treatment under the transition rules. For the post-July part of an eligible crypto gain, cost-base indexation may apply, but the ordinary individual CGT discount percentage is 0% for crypto.

For crypto held across 1 July 2027, the law generally separates the gain or loss that arose before that date from the amount that arises after it. Any pre-1 July amount may be deferred until a later disposal, while the post-1 July amount is worked out under the new rules. A separate minimum-tax calculation can apply in limited circumstances, but it is not a flat 30% tax on every crypto gain. If you hold crypto across the change date and have a material unrealised gain, get advice before relying on the new rules.

Can the ATO see your crypto transactions?

The ATO crypto-assets data-matching program protocol expressly covers the 2014-15 to 2025-26 income years. It receives information from participating Australian crypto asset service providers and compares relevant data with tax returns and other information it holds.

Data matching can help the ATO identify a return that needs clarification, but the protocol does not mean the ATO has universal visibility into every offshore exchange, self-custody wallet, or onchain transaction. Service-provider data also may not explain your acquisition cost, a same-owner transfer, or a DeFi transaction. Your records connect the activity to the reported tax treatment.

If the ATO contacts you about crypto, read the notice carefully, reconcile the activity to your exchange and wallet records, and correct a mistake if one exists. If the figures do not match because a transfer or other non-disposal is involved, keep the records that explain the difference.

How are crypto gains taxed in Australia?

A capital gain is generally the difference between your capital proceeds and the asset's cost base. Capital proceeds are what you receive when you dispose of the asset. Under the ATO's cost-base rules, your cost base can include what you paid to acquire it and eligible incidental costs.

For a resident individual investor, work out the total capital gains and capital losses for the income year, apply available losses, then apply any eligible CGT discount. Your net capital gain is included in your taxable income and taxed at your marginal income tax rate. Companies, super funds, non-residents, and taxpayers carrying on a crypto business can have different treatment. The ATO's business-use guidance explains why classification depends on the facts, not a simple trade-count threshold.

2025-26 resident individual tax rates

The 2025-26 ATO resident rates range from nil to 45%. The Medicare levy is separate, and the Medicare levy surcharge can apply in some circumstances. These rates are for resident individuals.

The 50% CGT discount for crypto

Eligible Australian resident individuals can generally apply the 50% CGT discount where they held the crypto asset for more than 12 months before the CGT event. Apply capital losses before the discount. The discount does not apply to ordinary income, such as the value of a staking reward when received.

A crypto-to-crypto swap ends the holding period for the asset you dispose of. The asset you receive is a new CGT asset, and its 12-month period starts on the swap date.

Simple capital-gain example

Suppose you buy 1 ETH for AUD 3,000 and pay AUD 30 in acquisition fees. You later sell it for AUD 5,000 and pay AUD 40 in disposal fees. Before capital losses and any CGT discount, the capital gain is AUD 1,930.

AUD 5,000 sale proceeds
- AUD 3,000 purchase price
- AUD 30 acquisition fee
- AUD 40 disposal fee
= AUD 1,930 capital gain before losses and any discount

Use the AUD market value at the time of each transaction. Record the source used for that value, especially when the transaction happens on-chain rather than through an exchange.

How crypto cost base, fees, and parcel records work

Your cost base is not just the price shown on an exchange order. It can include the money you paid to acquire the crypto and eligible incidental acquisition or disposal costs, such as exchange commissions. The exact treatment of a fee depends on what it relates to, so retain the fee record with the transaction.

Each crypto asset is a separate CGT asset. If you bought the same token in multiple parcels at different times and prices, keep enough detail to identify the parcel you disposed of. That includes the acquisition date, quantity, AUD value, fees, wallet or exchange, and disposal date.

Which cost base method can you use?

For crypto held as an investment, you can use any cost base method, provided you can individually identify the units you dispose of. Common methods include FIFO, LIFO, and HIFO.

First in, first out (FIFO): Treats the earliest-acquired units as disposed of first.

Last in, first out (LIFO): Treats the most recently acquired units as disposed of first.

Highest in, first out (HIFO): Treats the units with the highest cost base as disposed of first.

The ATO's CGT guidance on sales of shares or units also specifically lists FIFO, LIFO, and HIFO as common methods.

For example, suppose you buy 1 ETH for AUD 2,000 in May 2024, 1 ETH for AUD 5,000 in November 2025, and 1 ETH for AUD 4,000 in February 2026. You then sell 1 ETH for AUD 4,500 in May 2026. Before fees and capital losses:

• FIFO produces an AUD 2,500 capital gain. Because the ETH was acquired more than 12 months earlier, the 50% CGT discount may be available.
• LIFO produces an AUD 500 capital gain. The ETH was acquired less than 12 months earlier, so the 50% CGT discount is not available.
• HIFO produces an AUD 500 capital loss.

If you trade crypto through a business and it is trading stock, these investor cost-base methods may not apply. A registered tax agent can help apply the business inventory rules to your facts.

Personal-use crypto is a narrow exception

Crypto can be a personal-use asset when it is kept or used mainly to purchase items for personal use or consumption. A capital gain can be disregarded when the personal-use conditions are met and the first-element cost base is AUD 10,000 or less.

Investment crypto does not become a personal-use asset merely because you later spend it. A long holding period, a profit-making purpose, or market speculation can point away from the exception. Personal-use capital losses are disregarded.

Gifts, donations, and inherited crypto

Giving crypto to another person is generally a disposal by the donor. The capital proceeds are usually based on market value when the parties do not deal at arm's length or the donor receives nothing. The donor therefore needs the crypto's cost base, its AUD market value on the gift date, and evidence of the recipient and transfer.

A donation raises two separate questions. First, the transfer can create a capital gain or capital loss for the donor. Second, a deduction may be available only if the recipient and gift satisfy the deductible-gift rules. The ATO's crypto gifts and donations guidance explains this two-step analysis. Do not assume that sending crypto to a charity makes the disposal tax-free or the payment deductible.

Australia does not impose a separate inheritance tax, but inherited crypto can still have CGT consequences when it is later disposed of. The cost base of an inherited asset depends on the deceased's acquisition facts and the asset's tax history. It does not always reset to market value at the date of death. Keep estate records, the deceased's acquisition records where available, probate or distribution documents, and the beneficiary's later disposal records.

How staking, airdrops, mining, and crypto rewards are taxed

Staking rewards

Staking rewards are generally ordinary income at their AUD market value when you receive them. The market value included in income becomes the cost base for the reward tokens. A later sale, swap, gift, or other disposal can create a separate capital gain or capital loss.

For example, if you receive staking rewards worth AUD 500, you report AUD 500 as ordinary income for that income year. If you later sell those reward tokens for AUD 700, the later disposal can produce an AUD 200 capital gain before losses and any applicable discount.

Airdrops and chain splits

Established-token airdrops are generally ordinary income at AUD market value when you receive them. This can include an airdrop of a token that already trades or a token received as a reward for an activity.

Initial-allocation airdrops can have a different result when the ATO's conditions are met. A chain-split asset is generally not ordinary income or a capital gain at receipt for an investor. In both cases, keep records because a later disposal still needs CGT analysis.

Mining

Mining can be business activity or a hobby. Under the ATO's mining guidance, a mining business can produce ordinary income and trading-stock outcomes. The business-versus-hobby classification depends on the facts. Ask a registered tax agent to review a material non-business mining operation before lodging.

If your mining is commercial, repeated, profit-motivated, and run in a business-like way, get advice before filing. Keep records of the coins received, their AUD value, hardware, electricity, hosting, and other costs.

Crypto received for work, services, and rewards

Crypto received as salary or wages is generally valued in AUD under the ordinary-income rules. A valid salary-sacrifice arrangement can instead create employer-side property fringe-benefit consequences. Record the receipt date, quantity, AUD value, payer or protocol, and supporting transaction data.

DeFi, NFTs, stablecoins, wrapping, and lending

Decentralised finance (DeFi) activity can create capital-gains and income consequences because a transaction may exchange one asset for another, create a new right against a protocol, or deliver a reward. The answer depends on the legal and economic features of the particular transaction, not simply the protocol's label.

The ATO's published approach to decentralised finance and wrapping identifies several possible CGT events where a taxpayer disposes of one crypto asset and receives a different asset or right. The protocol terms and any change in beneficial ownership control the analysis. Keep full onchain records and seek advice on material activity.

Stablecoins do not receive a special CGT exception merely because their price is designed to stay close to an AUD or USD value. A stablecoin swap can still be a disposal under the ATO's crypto-swap guidance, even where the gain or loss is small.

A wrapped token or bridge receipt may represent a distinct asset or right even if it tracks the same underlying value. The ATO currently identifies wrapping and some liquidity-pool transactions as possible disposals, but a reader should not extend that conclusion automatically to every bridge, vault, loan, token migration, or liquid-staking design. Review the actual contract terms and change in beneficial ownership.

Buying a non-fungible token (NFT) with investment crypto can trigger a CGT event on the crypto spent. The acquisition establishes the NFT's cost base, and a later NFT disposal can create a separate capital gain or loss. Creators, dealers, and people operating an NFT business can instead have ordinary-income, trading-stock, royalty, and GST questions. The ATO's NFT guidance explains why the taxpayer's role and the rights attached to the token matter.

For a material DeFi position, provide a registered tax agent with wallet addresses, transaction hashes, protocol statements, token contracts, and a description of what you gave up and received at each step.

Does GST apply to crypto?

GST is separate from income tax and CGT. When the statutory conditions are met, a supply of qualifying digital currency can be an input-taxed financial supply. GST treatment can differ for cross-border activity, NFTs, tokens outside the digital-currency definition, and goods or services supplied for crypto.

That does not mean every crypto-related supply is GST-free. A GST-registered business may need to account for GST on goods or services sold for crypto. NFTs and some tokens or stablecoins may fall outside the statutory definition of digital currency, depending on their rights and use. A business should analyze the underlying supply, its registration status, and whether the asset meets the digital-currency definition.

Capital losses on crypto

A capital loss can arise when you dispose of crypto for less than its reduced cost base. Under the ATO's capital-loss rules, you use allowable current-year capital losses to reduce capital gains from crypto or other CGT assets. You can choose which capital gains to reduce, but you cannot use a capital loss to reduce salary, wages, staking income, or other ordinary income.

If your total allowable capital losses exceed your capital gains for the year, the unused balance is a net capital loss. You can generally carry it forward indefinitely and use it against future capital gains. Keep the transaction records and calculations that support both the loss and any carried-forward balance.

Tax-loss harvesting and wash-sale risk

Tax-loss harvesting means selling an asset with an unrealised capital loss so that the loss becomes available for CGT purposes. A genuine disposal is not prohibited merely because it produces a tax benefit.

Australia does not have a fixed 30-day crypto wash-sale rule. Instead, the ATO's ruling on Part IVA and wash-sale arrangements explains that the ATO can consider an arrangement designed primarily to create a tax benefit while leaving you with substantially the same economic exposure. A sale followed by a quick repurchase of the same or substantially the same crypto is a relevant risk indicator. So are arrangements involving an associate, derivatives, or other steps that effectively preserve your exposure.

Selling crypto because you want to exit the position is different from an arrangement that, in substance, leaves you holding the same position after manufacturing a loss. Keep records of the commercial reasons for a disposal and get advice before a large or unusual year-end loss-realisation arrangement.

Lost, stolen, hacked, or collapsed-platform crypto

Under the ATO's loss or theft evidence rules, a capital loss may be available where crypto is genuinely lost, stolen, destroyed, or permanently unrecoverable. A temporary account lock or an unresolved exchange dispute is not necessarily a final loss.

Keep evidence that shows:

• when and how you acquired the crypto;
• the wallet address or exchange account connected to you;
• the asset quantity and cost base;
• the date and facts of the theft, hack, lost key, or platform failure;
• transaction hashes, account statements, police or scam reports, and correspondence;
• recovery attempts and why recovery is no longer realistic; and
• any insurance, compensation, administration claim, or later distribution.

Collapsed exchanges and platforms need particular care. Administration, recovery rights, compensation, and later distributions can affect both the timing and amount of any loss. Get advice before claiming a material loss from a platform failure.

How to report crypto in myTax and ATO forms

Most individuals report crypto in their annual individual tax return. Capital gains and losses are reported separately from ordinary crypto income.

If you lodge by paper, complete the Tax return for individuals 2026 (NAT 2541) and attach NAT 2679 when you report a crypto CGT event or ordinary crypto income. Sign NAT 2541, attach the supplementary section to page 10, and follow the ATO's paper-return lodgment instructions. If you use a registered tax agent, provide both summary totals and the transaction-level records that support unusual activity.

A practical filing workflow

Start by reconciling every exchange, wallet, and protocol you used during the income year. Separate genuine disposals from purchases, holdings, and same-owner transfers. Then classify receipts such as staking rewards or established-token airdrops separately from capital transactions.

For each disposal, calculate the AUD capital proceeds and the record-supported cost base. Group capital gains and capital losses, apply eligible losses before any CGT discount, and retain the transaction detail behind the totals entered in myTax. For ordinary crypto income, retain the receipt date, quantity, AUD market value, and the source used for that valuation.

Use the current myTax lodgment route and follow the prompts for the income year you are lodging. A registered tax agent can confirm the right pathway when business activity, foreign-source income, trusts, companies, or complex DeFi are involved.

Records to keep for the ATO

ATO crypto recordkeeping guidance generally requires records for five years under its later-date rule. Good records make it possible to work out the correct CGT and income result, explain a data-matching difference, and support a future loss claim.

Your record checklist should include:

• receipts for crypto you buy, transfer, or dispose of;
• date and time of each transaction;
• asset name, quantity, and wallet or exchange used;
• what the transaction was for and the counterparty or crypto address where available;
• AUD value at the time of each transaction and the source used for that value;
• exchange statements, wallet records, keys, and transaction hashes;
• fees, commissions, and gas costs;
• records of agent, accountant, legal, and tax-software costs;
• staking, airdrop, interest, yield, employment, and referral-income records;
• DeFi records, including LP tokens, wrapping, bridging, lending, and liquid staking;
• NFT minting, purchase, sale, and royalty records;
• records supporting a personal-use, business, hobby, or loss position; and
• prior-year carried-forward capital-loss records.

Export your transaction history regularly and before closing an exchange account. A blockchain explorer or exchange support team can sometimes help recreate missing records, but a complete export is easier to rely on.

How to reconstruct missing crypto records

Missing records do not remove the need for a supportable return. Begin with exchange CSV files, account statements, order confirmations, bank transfers, wallet addresses, transaction hashes, and prior-year tax workpapers. Match deposits and withdrawals across platforms so that a same-owner transfer is not mistaken for income or a disposal.

For self-custody wallet activity, use a block explorer to recover dates, quantities, counterparties, fees, and transaction hashes. Then identify what the transaction did. A wallet transfer, swap, bridge, liquidity-pool deposit, and protocol reward may look similar in raw blockchain data but can have different tax questions.

Convert each relevant amount to AUD using a reasonable, consistently applied source for the transaction time. Save the price source with the workpaper. If reliable records cannot identify a particular disposed parcel, do not invent one. Use a supportable approach and document the limitation.

An ATO data-matching notice may show only one side of the story. Build a reconciliation that links the service-provider record to your acquisition, transfer, disposal, or income evidence. If a material gap remains, explain it to a registered tax agent before amending or lodging. That is safer than forcing incomplete data into a categorical tax result.

Organize Australian crypto tax records with CoinTracker

Crypto tax becomes harder when activity is spread across exchanges, self-custody wallets, staking, airdrops, DeFi protocols, stablecoins, and NFTs. CoinTracker can help organize transaction history, calculate gains and losses, track crypto income, and prepare records for review.

Use CoinTracker to bring connected-account activity together, review sales, swaps, transfers, and income events, and prepare information for self-lodgment or a registered tax agent. It does not lodge Australian tax returns or replace a tax professional.

Get started with CoinTracker.

Disclaimer: This post is informational only and is not intended as tax advice. For tax advice, please consult a tax professional.

Australia crypto tax FAQ

When is the Australia crypto tax deadline for 2026?

Monday, November 2nd, 2026 is the self-lodgment deadline for a 2025-26 individual return because October 31st falls on a Saturday. Registered-tax-agent timing depends on the taxpayer and lodgment program, so there is no universal later agent deadline.

Do I pay tax if I only bought crypto?

No. Buying crypto with Australian dollars generally does not create a CGT event. Keep the purchase price, fee, date, and quantity because they support the cost base for a later disposal.

Is swapping crypto taxable in Australia?

Yes. Swapping one crypto asset for another is generally a CGT event for the asset you dispose of. Record the AUD value of the asset you receive, the cost base of the asset you give up, and any fees.

Are stablecoin swaps taxable in Australia?

Generally yes. Under the ATO's crypto-swap guidance, a stablecoin swap is usually a crypto-to-crypto disposal, even if the resulting gain or loss is small. Record the AUD values and cost base for each side of the swap.

Does the 50% CGT discount apply to crypto?

Yes, if you are an eligible Australian resident individual and held the crypto asset for more than 12 months before the CGT event. The discount applies to eligible capital gains, not to ordinary income when you receive staking rewards or established-token airdrops.

What changes for crypto tax in 2027?

Enacted legislation begins a different CGT framework on July 1st, 2027. A qualifying deferred pre-July gain may retain discount treatment. A post-July crypto gain may receive indexation, but the ordinary individual CGT discount percentage is 0% for crypto. Nothing changes for a 2025-26 return.

Does Australia have a crypto wash-sale rule?

No. Australia does not have a fixed 30-day crypto wash-sale rule. However, the ATO can scrutinise a sale at a loss followed by a quick buy-back of the same crypto, or another arrangement that leaves you with substantially the same exposure. The key question is whether the transaction had a genuine commercial purpose beyond creating a tax loss.

How do I report staking rewards?

Report staking rewards as ordinary income at their AUD market value when you receive them. If you later dispose of the reward tokens, analyze a separate capital gain or capital loss using the value included as income as the starting cost base.

What forms do I need for crypto tax in Australia?

Most individual investors lodge online through myTax. If you file on paper, complete the Tax return for individuals 2026 (NAT 2541) and attach the Tax return for individuals (supplementary section) 2026 (NAT 2679) when you report crypto. Use question 18 of NAT 2679 for capital gains and capital losses. For non-business ordinary crypto income that is not reported elsewhere, such as staking rewards or established-token airdrops, use question 24, Category 4, label V.

Can the ATO track my crypto?

Yes. The ATO receives information from participating Australian crypto asset service providers through its data-matching program. This does not mean universal visibility into every offshore platform or wallet, and third-party data may not show the full tax result.

What should I do if the ATO contacts me about crypto?

Review the notice and reconcile the information to your records. Correct a return if it contains an error, or keep the records that explain a reported difference such as a same-owner transfer or an acquisition cost.

Can I claim a loss for lost or stolen crypto?

Possibly. The ATO requires evidence that you owned the crypto and that it is genuinely lost, stolen, destroyed, or permanently unrecoverable. A collapsed platform can require additional analysis because recovery rights and later distributions can affect the timing of the loss.

Is DeFi taxable in Australia?

It depends on the transaction. The ATO's DeFi guidance identifies possible CGT events when one asset is exchanged for another asset or right. Reward treatment depends on why the token was received. Keep protocol-level records and seek advice on material activity.

Is crypto personal use tax-free in Australia?

Only in narrow circumstances. Under the ATO's personal-use test, a capital gain can be disregarded where crypto is used or kept mainly for personal use or consumption and the first-element cost base is AUD 10,000 or less. Investment crypto does not become personal-use crypto simply because you later spend it.