ATO crypto tax Australia: CGT discount, losses and records

You bought Bitcoin on one exchange, moved it to another, swapped some for USDC and sold the rest. Now it's tax time. The second exchange's CSV shows the sale, but not what you paid, because the coins arrived by transfer. Every P&L screen gives you a different number. None of them is the number the ATO wants.

The rules are fairly clear. The hard part is joining up your records across every platform. Here's how ATO crypto tax works for your 2025–26 return, and where the 50% CGT discount fits in.

Crypto is a CGT asset, and most moves are a CGT event

The ATO says most people hold crypto as an investment, and in that case it's a capital gains tax (CGT) asset. Each coin or token is a separate CGT asset, so you need records for each one.

A CGT event happens when you dispose of crypto. The ATO says that includes when you:

• sell a crypto asset
• gift a crypto asset
• trade, exchange or swap one crypto asset for another
• convert a crypto asset to Australian or foreign currency
• buy goods or services with a crypto asset.

Swapping into a stablecoin such as USDC is a crypto-to-crypto swap, so it's a disposal of the coin you give up. Your capital proceeds are the Australian dollar market value of what you receive. If that can't be worked out, use the market value of the coin you gave up.

What isn't a disposal? The ATO says moving crypto from one wallet to another isn't a disposal, as long as you keep ownership. Crypto taken out to pay a network fee is a disposal, though. If a transfer is mistaken for a sale, your figures are wrong from the start.

The 50% CGT discount and the 12-month rule

If you're an Australian resident for tax purposes and you owned the asset for at least 12 months, you can reduce your capital gain by 50%. The ATO says you exclude the day of acquisition and the day of the CGT event when counting the 12 months. So a coin bought on 2 March 2025 needs to be disposed of on 3 March 2026 or later.

You subtract capital losses before applying the discount. Companies can't use it, and foreign and temporary residents generally can't use the full discount.

A big change is coming. The Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Act 2026 (No. 49 of 2026, assented 26 June 2026) replaces the 50% discount for individuals, trusts and partnerships with cost base indexation and a 30% minimum tax rate on capital gains accruing on and after 1 July 2027. The ATO says these changes don't apply to Tax Time 2026, and gains that accrued before 1 July 2027 keep the 50% discount. If you'll still hold coins after 1 July 2027, ask a registered tax agent how the new rules affect you.

The personal use asset exemption is narrow

A capital gain on crypto is exempt if it's a personal use asset and you acquired it for less than $10,000. The ATO looks at how you actually kept and used the crypto, judged when you dispose of it.

Its example: someone buys $270 of crypto and uses it the same day to pay for concert tickets. Crypto kept as an investment, in a profit-making scheme or in a business is not a personal use asset. Except in rare cases, it also isn't personal use if you convert to dollars first, or pay through a debit card, gift card or payment gateway.

Investor or trader?

Most people are investors, so CGT applies. If you carry on a crypto trading business, the ATO treats your crypto as trading stock. Purchase costs are generally deductible and sale proceeds are generally ordinary income, with no CGT discount.

The ATO says a business is usually run for commercial reasons, with an intention to make a profit, in a planned, organised and business-like way, and with regular, repeated activity. A large size, high volume or sophistication of trading doesn't necessarily mean you're in business. If you're unsure, get advice.

Cost base and which units you sold

Your cost base is generally what you paid, plus certain other costs. The ATO lists five elements. For crypto, the main ones are the money or property you gave, and incidental costs such as brokerage, transfer costs and fees from a recognised tax adviser. Don't include costs you can claim as a deduction. Convert everything to Australian dollars at the time of each transaction.

Which units did you sell? The ATO's crypto guidance doesn't set out a specific parcel method. It says each crypto asset is a separate CGT asset and that you must keep records of each one and every transaction. Whatever approach you and your tax agent take, your records must show which units you disposed of, when you got them and what they cost.

Capital losses and wash sales

A capital loss reduces your capital gains. You can't deduct a net capital loss from other income such as wages. Unused net capital losses carry forward to later years, with no time limit. The ATO says it's to your advantage to apply losses first to gains that don't qualify for the discount.

Watch out for wash sales: selling just before the end of the financial year to lock in a loss, then buying the same or a substantially similar asset back soon after. The ATO has warned it uses crypto exchange data to spot this, and when it does, the capital loss is rejected. Its view is in Taxation Ruling TR 2008/1.

Records, data matching and your deadline

For each crypto asset, the ATO says to keep receipts for buying, transferring or disposing; the date; what each transaction was for and the other party (a wallet address is enough); exchange records; the Australian dollar value at the time; agent, accountant and legal costs; wallet records and keys; and tax software costs.

Keep records for 5 years from the later of when you prepared or obtained them, when the transactions were complete, or the year the CGT event happens. The ATO suggests exporting your transaction history at least every 3 months, and before closing any account.

The ATO's crypto assets data-matching program matches your return against account and transaction data from crypto designated service providers. The current protocol covers 2014–15 to 2025–26. The government has also announced the OECD Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework plus domestic reporting. It's not yet law, and the first CARF exchange is expected in 2028.

Your return covers the income year from 1 July to 30 June. Report CGT at question 18 Capital gains (in myTax, Capital gains or losses): total current year capital gains at label H, net capital gain at label A, and net capital losses carried forward at label V. Self-lodgers normally have until 31 October. That's a Saturday in 2026, so you have until 11:59 pm local time on Monday 2 November 2026. Using a registered tax agent? Engage them before 31 October.

Worked example

These numbers are invented. Mia is an Australian resident investor. In 2025–26 she made three disposals.

Disposal 1: Bitcoin, held over 12 months.

• 3 March 2024: buys 0.5 BTC on Exchange A for $45,000 plus a $90 fee.
• Later: transfers it to Exchange B. Not a CGT event, as she keeps ownership. (Assume no BTC is used for the network fee.)
• 14 April 2026: sells the 0.5 BTC on Exchange B for $70,000, paying a $140 fee.
• Cost base: $45,000 + $90 + $140 = $45,230.
• Capital gain: $70,000 − $45,230 = $24,770. Held over 12 months, so it's a discount capital gain.

Disposal 2: SOL swapped for USDC.

• 1 December 2025: buys 10 SOL for $2,500, fees included.
• 20 February 2026: swaps the 10 SOL for USDC worth $1,900.
• Capital loss: $1,900 − $2,500 = −$600.

Disposal 3: ETH, held under 12 months.

• 5 January 2026: buys ETH for $3,000.
• 10 May 2026: sells it for $4,200.
• Capital gain: $1,200. No discount.

Now the item 18 maths.

• Label H, total current year capital gains: $24,770 + $1,200 = $25,970.
• Apply the $600 loss to the non-discount ETH gain first: $1,200 − $600 = $600.
• Apply the 50% discount to the Bitcoin gain: $24,770 × 50% = $12,385.
• Label A, net capital gain: $12,385 + $600 = $12,985.

Had Mia applied the loss to the Bitcoin gain instead: ($24,770 − $600) × 50% = $12,085, plus $1,200 = $13,285. The right order cuts her net capital gain by $300.

The key record was Exchange A's purchase. Exchange B's CSV alone shows a $70,000 sale with no cost.

How TheCryptoHub helps

TheCryptoHub connects to your exchanges with read-only or trade API keys, never withdrawal permission. It builds one P&L across all connected exchanges and matches transfers between your own accounts, so they aren't counted as sales. It tracks FIFO lots and holding periods per coin, and flags sales with no known purchase price for review instead of dropping them.

The Australian Tax Center lists each disposal as a CGT event with a 12-month discount flag, plus an item 18 totals worksheet. It's a supporting CSV for you or your tax agent to check, not your tax return and not tax advice. If you identify parcels other than first-in, first-out, check the figures with your agent.

Try the free demo with sample data, no signup needed. Or drop a Bybit or Binance trade-history CSV into the free P&L calculator. The file never leaves your browser.