Short answer
If you bought, sold, swapped, spent, or earned cryptocurrency during FY2025-26, you have a tax obligation in Australia. The ATO treats crypto as property (not currency), and every disposal is a CGT event — including:
- Selling crypto for AUD or another fiat
- Swapping one crypto for another (BTC → ETH counts!)
- Spending crypto on goods/services
- Sending crypto to someone (as a gift, in some cases)
- Earning crypto from staking, mining, airdrops, or DeFi yield (treated as ordinary income at receipt + CGT on later disposal)
The ATO has direct data-sharing agreements with major exchanges (Binance, Coinbase, CoinSpot, Swyftx, Independent Reserve, etc.) since 2019. They know about your trades. Not declaring is one of the highest-risk-of-audit scenarios in 2026.
Calculating your crypto tax
For each disposal:
```
Capital Gain (or Loss) = Sale Proceeds (in AUD at time of disposal)
- Cost Base (what you paid in AUD + acquisition costs)
```
If you held the crypto for > 12 months before disposing, you get a 50% CGT discount on the gain (Australian tax residents only).
Simple example
- Bought 0.1 BTC for AU$5,000 in January 2024
- Sold 0.1 BTC for AU$8,500 in May 2026 (held > 12 months)
- Capital Gain = $3,500
- With 50% discount = $1,750 added to your taxable income
- Tax payable on this = $1,750 × your marginal rate
Complex example
- Bought 1 ETH for AU$3,000 in 2024
- Swapped 1 ETH → 5 LINK in 2025 when ETH was worth AU$4,500 (this is a CGT event!)
- New cost base for 5 LINK = $4,500
- Sold 5 LINK for AU$3,000 in 2026
This is one transaction chain in the eyes of a normal user, but THREE CGT events in tax law.
DeFi, staking, airdrops, NFTs
| Activity | Tax treatment |
|---|---|
| Staking rewards | Ordinary income at AUD value when received; then CGT on later disposal |
| Liquidity Pool (LP) deposit | CGT event when you deposit tokens into the pool |
| LP withdraw | Another CGT event when you withdraw — cost base of new LP token vs sale price of original tokens |
| Airdrop | Ordinary income at AUD value at receipt (most cases) |
| Mining (hobby) | Often ordinary income; deductible expenses (electricity, hardware depreciation) |
| NFT mint | Cost base of NFT = mint cost + gas fees |
| NFT sale | CGT event; cost base subtracted from proceeds |
| NFT royalties received | Ordinary income |
This is where most crypto users go wrong — they think they only have a tax obligation when they cash out to AUD. You don't. Every on-chain swap is a CGT event under current Australian law.
How to actually track this
Use a crypto tax calculator. Manual tracking across 100+ trades + DeFi is genuinely impossible. Options:
- Koinly (most popular AU; AU$100-300 depending on plan)
- CoinTracker (US-based but supports AU)
- CryptoTaxCalculator (Australian-based)
Plug in your exchange API keys + wallet addresses → it reconstructs every transaction with AUD value at time and generates a CGT report in Australian format. Drop the figures into myTax or hand to your Tax Agent.
Records to keep (5 years)
- Wallet addresses + exchange accounts
- Trade history exports (CSV from each exchange/wallet)
- Receipts for any crypto bought with AUD
- Records of cost of acquisition (incl. brokerage / network fees)
- Records of any DeFi positions opened/closed
- Air-gap your seed phrases and don't lose them
When you should use a Tax Agent
If your crypto activity is anything beyond "bought BTC and held it", get help. Specifically:
- ≥ 5 disposals in the year (DIY error rate skyrockets)
- DeFi positions (Uniswap LP, Aave lending, etc.)
- NFT trading
- Mining or staking income
- Lost access to a wallet (still need to account for it correctly)
- Sold crypto across multiple exchanges
a registered tax agent (see the directory) Above 50 disposals or complex DeFi → flagged for extra-scope quote, refundable before review starts.
See crypto/shares decision guide for the full framework.
Need Help With Your Tax Return?
Complex situation? a registered tax agent (see the directory) Our partner agents review every detail for accuracy and compliance.
*Disclaimer: This is general information only and does not constitute personal tax advice. Consult a registered tax agent for advice tailored to your specific situation. Always verify against the latest ATO guidelines at ato.gov.au.*
This is general information only. Crypto tax law evolves — confirm current treatment with a TPB Registered Tax Agent each year.