New ways to earn. Same tax office.
Crypto, shares and dividends, streaming, online selling, money earned abroad and a lottery win. Pick one, put your figures in, and see the tax with the sums shown.
Official pages last read 11 September 2026.
Crypto
Why people buy it, what it costs them, and the moment a coin turns into a tax bill.
What it actually is
- Crypto is a record of who owns what, kept by thousands of computers instead of one bank.
- Nobody has to approve a transfer, and nobody can undo one either.
- The price is set only by what the next person will pay, which is why it swings so hard.
The upside
- Moves across borders in minutes, at any hour, without a bank in the middle.
- You can hold it yourself, with no branch, no account manager and no permission needed.
- Small amounts are easy to start with, and the record of every transaction is public.
The downside
- The price can halve in a week. Nothing underneath it promises a return.
- Lose the key and the money is gone. There is no reset link and no compensation scheme.
- Scams, fake tokens and collapsed exchanges have taken real money from real people.
- The record keeping is heavy. Every swap is a taxable event, even without cash.
Gain on the sale
Costs you can take off
Other income you already have
How long did you hold it?
Tax on this money
£3,060
You keep
£16,940
Slice taken
15.3%
Of this money only
- Yours to keep£16,940
- Tax£3,060
How that number was reached
- Gain after costs: £20,000
- Less the yearly tax free amount of £3,000: £17,000 is taxed
- £17,000 at 18 percent and £0 at 24 percent
- Capital gains tax at 18%Basic rate band, 2024 to 2025 rates onward£3,060
- United Kingdom£3,060
- United States£0
Federal only, state tax on top
- Australia£1,800
Worth knowing
- Swapping one coin for another counts as a sale, even though no cash reached your bank.
- Staking, mining and airdrops are usually income when received, then a gain when sold.
- Losses reduce gains in the same year, and can be carried forward if you report them.
When this money becomes taxable in the UK
- 1
Selling for pounds, swapping one coin for another, or spending it on something: capital gains tax.
The usual trigger
- 2
Mining, staking rewards and airdrops: income tax when you receive them, then a gain when you sell.
- 3
Simply buying and holding: no tax until you dispose of it.
Keep these, and the sums can be proved
- Date and value of every buy, in your own currency.
- Date and value of every sale, swap or spend.
- Exchange fees and network fees, which reduce the gain.
- Wallet addresses and exchange statements, downloaded before the exchange disappears.
Forms and dates
- SA108Capital gains pages of the Self Assessment return
- Self Assessment, capital gains pages (SA108)
- Report and pay by 31 January after the tax year ends
Things people get wrong
- “Crypto is anonymous, so it is untaxed.”Exchanges report to tax offices in all three countries, and blockchains are permanent public records.
- “I only owe tax when I cash out to my bank.”A coin to coin swap is a disposal in the UK, the US and Australia.
- “Losses do not count.”Reported losses cut this year's gains and can carry forward.
Three countries now, more as we grow
Today Taxmiser covers the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia in full, with real rates and real forms. We add a new country only once its figures are checked against the official tax office, so nothing here is a guess. Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and more are next in line as we grow.
Every US state taxes you differently
In the United States there are two bills, not one. Federal tax is the same wherever you live. State tax is not. Some states take nothing, some take a flat slice, some have their own bands and their own allowances. That is why we ask which state you are in, and why two people on the same pay can keep very different amounts.
See the state by state figures