Crypto tax in Australia isn't complicated in principle. It's complicated in practice, because one person can make thousands of transactions across several exchanges and wallets, and every swap counts. Most of the problems we see aren't about the law. They're about records.
This guide covers which crypto transactions are taxed and how, personal use assets, staking, airdrops and DeFi, losses, traders versus investors, and the capital gains tax changes from 1 July 2027, which are law under the Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Act 2026. It ends with a records checklist you can work through now.
How is crypto taxed in Australia?
The ATO treats crypto assets (Bitcoin, Ethereum, stablecoins, other tokens and NFTs) as CGT assets. They aren't money or foreign currency for tax purposes. For most people:
- Disposing of crypto is a CGT event. Your capital gain is what you received (in Australian dollars) less your cost base.
- Receiving crypto as income (staking rewards, most airdrops of established tokens, payment for work) is ordinary income at its Australian dollar value when you receive it. That value becomes your cost base for a later disposal.
- Capital losses can only offset capital gains, this year or in future years.
- If you carry on a business of trading or mining, the crypto is trading stock and profits are ordinary income instead.
There's no special crypto tax rate. Gains and income are added to your taxable income and taxed at your rates.
Which crypto transactions are taxable?
| Transaction | Taxable? | How |
|---|---|---|
| Buying crypto with Australian dollars | No | Sets your cost base |
| Selling crypto for Australian dollars | Yes | CGT event |
| Swapping one crypto for another (including stablecoins) | Yes | CGT event on the coin you give up; the market value of what you receive is its cost base |
| Spending crypto on goods or services | Yes, unless a personal use asset | CGT event at the value of what you received |
| Gifting crypto | Yes | CGT event at market value |
| Moving crypto between your own wallets or exchanges | No | Not a disposal. Keep records of both sides |
| Receiving staking rewards | Yes | Ordinary income at AUD value when received |
| Receiving an airdrop of an established token | Generally yes | Ordinary income at AUD value when received (see below on initial allocations) |
| Wrapping a token, or depositing into a DeFi liquidity pool | Yes, on ATO guidance | CGT event (see the DeFi section) |
| Lending crypto through a DeFi protocol | Often yes | Depends on whether ownership passes |
| Losing crypto to a hack, scam or lost keys | Possible capital loss | With evidence |
| Chain split (hard fork) | Generally no income on receipt | New coin has a nil cost base |
How your cost base is worked out
Your cost base is what you paid (in Australian dollars), plus incidental costs such as exchange and network fees. If you bought the same coin at different times, you need a method for identifying which units you've sold. The ATO accepts specific identification where you can show which units were disposed of, otherwise first-in first-out is the usual approach. Pick a method you can support with records and apply it consistently.
When is crypto a personal use asset?
Crypto can be a personal use asset if you acquired and kept it mainly to buy items for personal use or consumption. A capital gain on a personal use asset is disregarded if its cost was $10,000 or less. Losses on personal use assets are disregarded too.
The ATO reads this narrowly:
- Crypto bought as an investment, then later spent on something, doesn't become a personal use asset.
- The longer you hold it, the less likely it's personal use.
- Spending through a payment gateway, a crypto debit card top-up, or converting to dollars first and then buying the item, generally doesn't qualify.
For most people holding crypto, the personal use exemption won't apply.
How are staking, airdrops and DeFi taxed?
Staking
Staking rewards are ordinary income when you receive them, at their Australian dollar market value. That value becomes the cost base of those tokens. When you later sell or swap them, you make a capital gain or loss against that cost base. This applies across most staking models, including delegated staking through an exchange.
Airdrops
Under the ATO's current guidance there are two categories:
- Initial allocation airdrops (the first distribution of a new project's tokens, before any trading): not income on receipt, and the cost base is nil. You pay CGT when you dispose of them.
- Airdrops of established tokens: ordinary income at their market value when received.
The ATO issued a draft ruling on airdrops (TR 2026/D1) in August 2026. Its draft view is that, for people not in a crypto business and not receiving tokens for services, airdrops aren't income on receipt, and the cost base follows the CGT rules. It's a draft, not final. Until it's finalised, the current guidance is what we apply, and past initial allocations keep the nil cost base.
DeFi, wrapping and liquidity pools
The ATO's guidance on decentralised finance is that:
- wrapping or unwrapping a token is a CGT event
- depositing into a liquidity pool is a CGT event (you give up your tokens for LP tokens or rights), and withdrawing is another
- lending crypto to a protocol generally causes a CGT event if ownership passes
- yield and rewards are ordinary income when received.
This is web guidance, not a binding public ruling. The accounting and tax bodies have argued for a different approach, particularly on wrapping. These are contested areas. Our approach: collect complete records for every leg, flag each contested transaction, and let your accountant decide the treatment and explain the risk to you, rather than pick an answer by default.
NFTs
NFTs are CGT assets too. Most personal holdings are taxed under the CGT rules. Treatment can differ if you create and sell them as a business, or if they're held as collectables. Minting fees and gas form part of the cost base.
How do the 1 July 2027 CGT changes affect crypto?
The capital gains tax changes are law and apply to CGT events from 1 July 2027. There is no crypto-specific carve-out. For individuals, trusts and partnerships:
- Growth up to 30 June 2027 keeps the 50% CGT discount, if you've held the crypto for at least 12 months by the time you dispose of it.
- Growth from 1 July 2027 gets CPI indexation of the cost base instead of the discount.
- Resident individuals pay at least 30% on the post-2027 real gain. Our guide to the 30% minimum tax on capital gains explains who it catches. If you're already on a 30% or higher marginal rate, this has no effect. Recipients of certain income support payments, such as the Age Pension, at any time in the year of the gain are exempt.
- Crypto you hold on 30 June 2027 is treated as sold and reacquired at its market value at that time, with the gain deferred until you actually dispose of it. No tax is payable just because 30 June 2027 passes.
- Companies are taxed as before, with no discount. Super funds keep their one-third discount.
Worked example
Hypothetical, rounded. CPI rise of 3% after 1 July 2027 is assumed for illustration.
Say Jordan bought Bitcoin in 2022 for $20,000. On 30 June 2027 it's worth $60,000. She sells it in 2028 for $75,000.
| Step | Amount |
|---|---|
| Pre-2027 gain ($60,000 − $20,000) | $40,000 |
| Less 50% discount | –$20,000 |
| Post-2027 gain ($75,000 − indexed cost base of $61,800) | $13,200 |
| Net capital gain | $33,200 |
The $20,000 discounted part is taxed at Jordan's normal rates. The $13,200 post-2027 part is taxed at no less than 30%. If her marginal rate is below 30%, she pays a top-up on that part, about $3,960 in total tax on it instead of her lower rate.
If she'd sold before 1 July 2027, her whole gain would have had the 50% discount and no minimum tax. Selling just to beat the date isn't automatically right, because the snapshot already protects growth to 30 June 2027. But for crypto held by someone on a low rate, the minimum tax on future growth is a real cost to factor in.
What to do before 30 June 2027
- Take a holdings snapshot: every coin, every wallet and exchange, as at 30 June 2027, with the Australian dollar values at that time. For listed crypto, the exchange price at that time is generally good evidence of market value.
- Reconcile your records now, while exchanges still have your history. Exchanges close, and data disappears.
- Think about losses. Under the new rules, capital losses are applied first against the deferred pre-2027 gains before newer ones. If you have both kinds of gains and some losses, the order and year of sales can change your tax. Model it before you sell.
Our guide to the CGT discount changes from 1 July 2027 covers the transition rules in full.
How do crypto losses work?
- A capital loss on crypto can be used to reduce capital gains in the same year, from any asset (shares, property, crypto). Unused losses carry forward indefinitely.
- Capital losses can't be used against salary or other ordinary income.
- Wash sales (selling at a loss and buying back straight away mainly to get the tax benefit) are a target for the ATO and can be cancelled under the anti-avoidance rules.
- A coin that's fallen to near zero doesn't create a loss until there's a CGT event. If it's genuinely worthless, or the exchange has collapsed, ask us about the options.
- Lost or stolen crypto can create a capital loss only with evidence of ownership, cost and loss.
If you have large gains and losses across several asset types, timing sales across financial years is part of our tax planning work.
Mistakes we see with crypto tax
- Ignoring crypto-to-crypto swaps, thinking tax only applies when you cash out to dollars.
- Missing staking rewards as income, especially small, frequent rewards on an exchange.
- Transfers between your own wallets treated as sales (or sales treated as transfers) because the records don't match up.
- Claiming the personal use exemption for crypto that was clearly an investment.
- No cost base for old purchases, because the exchange has since closed.
- Using losses against salary. Capital losses can't do that.
- Not lodging amendments for past years before the ATO's data-matching letters arrive.
- No 30 June 2027 snapshot of holdings and values.
Crypto tax records checklist
Keep these for at least five years after each disposal (longer for coins you still hold):
For every acquisition - Date and time, coin and quantity - Cost in Australian dollars (and the exchange rate if bought in another currency) - Exchange, platform or counterparty - Fees paid
For every disposal or swap - Date and time, coin and quantity disposed of - What you received, and its Australian dollar value at that time - Fees paid
For income events (staking, airdrops, DeFi yield, payment for work) - Date, coin, quantity and Australian dollar value when received - The source and the reason (staking, initial allocation or established-token airdrop, yield)
For transfers and DeFi - Wallet addresses you own, and evidence they're yours - Transaction hashes for transfers, wraps, pool deposits and withdrawals - Platform or protocol names
For losses - Evidence of ownership, cost and the loss (police report, platform notice, statutory declaration for lost keys)
For the 2027 transition - A holdings snapshot as at 30 June 2027: coin, quantity, location and Australian dollar value
Our crypto records checklist agent turns this into a list specific to your exchanges and activity, with a cover note on what's missing. Your accountant reviews it and works through the contested items with you.
How BPAG helps with crypto tax
Crypto is usually one part of a wider return: a salary, shares, a property, a business. Our individual tax returns service handles crypto alongside everything else, and our capital gains tax advice service covers larger disposals and timing.
- Records first. We send a checklist of what we need from each exchange and wallet. You upload exports from your phone. No portal password.
- Reconciliation. We reconcile transactions across platforms, separate transfers from disposals, and identify income events.
- Calculation and review. We work out gains, income and losses, flag contested DeFi transactions, and your accountant decides each treatment and explains it.
- Fixing the past. If earlier years were missed, we prepare amendments (and any overdue returns), and if the ATO has already been in touch, our ATO audit guide explains what to expect.
The AI agents draft. A qualified accountant reviews and signs off every calculation and every return, and nothing goes to you or the ATO without a person approving it. Advice on whether to buy or hold crypto, inside or outside super, is financial product advice for a licensed adviser; we work alongside them on the tax.
Frequently asked questions
Does the ATO know about my crypto?
Very likely. The ATO runs a crypto data-matching program that collects customer and transaction data from Australian exchanges, and it has been extended year after year. It uses that data to prompt taxpayers and select returns for review. If you've left crypto out of past returns, a voluntary amendment before the ATO contacts you usually means lower penalties.
Is moving crypto between my own wallets taxable?
No. Transferring crypto between wallets or exchanges you own isn't a disposal, because you still own it. Keep the records showing both sides of the transfer, though, because without them a withdrawal from an exchange can look like a sale. Network fees paid in crypto may themselves be a small disposal.
What if I lost my crypto to a scam or lost my keys?
You may be able to claim a capital loss, but only with evidence: that you owned the crypto, the wallet address, when you acquired it and what it cost, and when and how it was lost. A capital loss can only offset capital gains, now or in future years. If you're later compensated, the loss is reduced.
Am I a crypto trader or an investor?
Most people are investors, taxed under the CGT rules. You may be carrying on a business of trading if you trade frequently, in volume, in an organised, businesslike way, with a plan and records like a business. Then profits are ordinary income, losses are revenue losses and the CGT discount doesn't apply. It's a question of facts, not of how you describe yourself.
Do I pay GST on crypto?
Not as an individual investor. Buying and selling digital currency is generally not subject to GST. If you run a business that accepts crypto as payment, GST applies to the goods or services you sell in the normal way, valued in Australian dollars.
Can my SMSF hold crypto?
It can, if the trust deed and investment strategy allow it and the fund follows the usual rules on sole purpose, separation of assets and related parties. The crypto must be held in the fund's name, not a member's. Whether it suits the fund is a question for a licensed financial adviser.
Official sources
General information only, current as at 18 October 2026. It is not personal tax, legal or financial product advice and doesn't take your circumstances into account. Talk to us before you act. Where a recommendation needs a licensed financial adviser or a solicitor, we work alongside them.