Australian crypto tax return: What to lodge before 31 October if you're filing yourself
Filing your own crypto tax return in Australia comes down to a short list of figures: your capital gains and losses, and any crypto you earned as income. This guide covers what to work out for 2025-26, where it goes in myTax, and what happens if you miss the 31 October deadline (Monday 2 November this year, because 31 October is a Saturday).
What do you need to lodge before 31 October?
If you're lodging your own return, the ATO's due date is 31 October. In 2026, 31 October is a Saturday, so the ATO's weekend rule moves the due date to Monday 2 November. For crypto, that means your 2025-26 tax return, which covers 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026. You lodge your usual individual return and include two crypto-related things: any capital gains or losses from disposing of crypto, and any crypto you received as income, such as staking rewards.
Don't panic if your exchange history runs to thousands of rows. You need to report totals, not every trade, and you keep the records that back them up.
Tip: start with your records. Every figure on the return comes from them, so gathering them first saves the most time.
Who has to lodge by 31 October?
If you lodge your own return through myTax or on paper, 31 October is your due date, or the next business day when it falls on a weekend. The ATO says most refunds issue within two weeks of lodging, so there's a good reason to lodge early if you're expecting one.
Registered tax agents work to their own lodgment program, and some clients on an agent's list have later due dates. Which date applies to you depends on your situation, so ask your agent or check the ATO's due dates by client type.
This guide is for Australian tax residents lodging for 2025-26. The 50% CGT discount covered below applies to residents, and foreign and temporary residents are treated differently. If that's you, speak to a registered tax agent.
How is crypto taxed in Australia?
The ATO taxes crypto in two main ways: as capital gains tax (CGT) when you dispose of it, and as ordinary income when you earn it, for example through staking rewards.
CGT is the tax on the profit you make when you sell or otherwise dispose of an asset. Your profit is the proceeds minus your cost base, which is what you paid for the asset plus related costs, such as the fees you paid to buy or sell it.
For crypto, you dispose of an asset when you:
sell it
gift it
swap it for another crypto asset
convert it to Australian or foreign currency, such as AUD
use it to buy goods or services
These are the ATO's examples. There are other CGT events too, such as losing or destroying an asset.
Swaps are easy to miss. Trading one coin for another is a disposal even if you never touch cash. Buying and holding crypto isn't a disposal, so it doesn't trigger CGT on its own. A CGT event generally happens when you dispose of it.
If you hold crypto as an investment, it isn't exempt from CGT as a personal use asset. You need to work out every value in Australian dollars. The ATO points to Reserve Bank of Australia exchange rates, or a reasonable external source for currencies the RBA doesn't list.
What do you actually report on the return?
Your return needs three sets of crypto figures:
Your total capital gains and total capital losses from every disposal in 2025-26, worked out asset by asset.
Your net capital gain: gains minus losses, minus any CGT discount you qualify for.
Any crypto income, such as staking rewards, reported as other income.
In myTax, capital gains sit under the "Capital gains or losses" section, and crypto income goes in your other income questions. Paper lodgers use "18 Capital gains 2026". Check every crypto figure against your own records.
If you end up with a net capital loss, you can't deduct it from your other income, such as your salary. However, it can reduce capital gains.
How do you work out a capital gain?
The ATO's method has three steps: work out each gain (proceeds minus cost base), subtract your capital losses, then apply the 50% CGT discount to what's left on assets you held for at least 12 months. The day you bought and the day you sold both sit outside that 12-month count.
Priya bought 1 ETH on 10 March 2024 for A$4000 and paid A$20 in fees, so her cost base is A$4020. On 15th September, she sold it for A$6500 and paid A$25 in fees. She also sold a different coin earlier in the year for a A$455 capital loss.
| Step | Calculation | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Cost base | A$4,020+ A$25 selling fee | A$4,045 |
| Capital gain | A$6,500 - A$4,045 | A$2,455 |
| After capital loss | A$2,455 - A$455 | A$2,000 |
| Held 12 months or more? | 10 March 2024 to 15 September 2025 | Yes |
| After 50% discount | A$2,000 x 50% | A$1,000 |
Priya reports a net capital gain of A$1,000. How much tax that adds depends on her total taxable income for the year. These numbers are made up for illustration. If you have a mix of short-term and long-term gains and losses, the order you apply losses can change the result, so check the ATO's CGT guidance or ask an agent.
What about staking, airdrops and mining?
Staking rewards are ordinary income. The ATO says the money value of additional tokens is ordinary income at the time you receive them. You value them at market value in AUD on the day they arrive, report that as other income, and that same value becomes the cost base of the tokens. Selling them later is a separate CGT event.
Airdrops depend on how you received them:
Received in return for goods or services: ordinary income at market value.
Received as part of a hobby or entertainment: no income to include.
Unsolicited gift or windfall: generally no income, unless it's connected to a business.
An airdropped token is its own CGT asset. Where it was assessable income, its cost base starts at market value on receipt.
This guide doesn't cover mining or DeFi. Check the ATO's guidance or speak to an agent before you lodge.
Tip: staking creates two tax moments, income when you receive tokens and a possible gain or loss when you sell them. Record the AUD value on each date.
Which records should you keep?
The ATO expects you to keep records for each crypto asset and each transaction, because you'll need them to calculate your gains and to back up your return. That includes:
receipts when you buy, transfer or dispose of crypto
dates, details of the transaction and wallet addresses
exchange records
the value of the crypto in Australian dollars at the time of each transaction
fees paid to agents, accountants or lawyers
digital wallet records
the cost of software you use to manage your tax
Keep them for five years from the latest of: when you prepared or obtained the records, when the transactions were complete, or the year the CGT event happened. Records can be on paper or electronic, and they need to be in English or easy to translate.
Export your transaction history from each exchange and wallet now, and again before you close any account.
How do you lodge in myTax?
Gather your totals: capital gains, capital losses, crypto income and the AUD values behind them.
Sign in to myGov and select ATO from your linked services.
Choose "Manage tax returns" from the Quick link. The ATO app also works.
Follow myTax's prompts, including the capital gains or losses and other income questions.
Enter your crypto totals, review the return and lodge.
If your first year of crypto involved lots of swaps, staking or several wallets, it's worth getting your numbers checked by a registered tax agent before you submit.
What if you miss 31 October?
Lodge as soon as you can, because the failure to lodge penalty grows the longer a return is overdue. For individuals, the base penalty is one penalty unit for every 28 days (or part of 28 days) the return is late, up to a maximum of five penalty units. The ATO publishes the current dollar value of a penalty unit, so check it there.
If you're charged, the ATO gives you at least 14 days from its notice to pay. You can ask for the penalty to be remitted with documents that show what stopped you lodging. The ATO says it would likely accept severe illness, being unable to get documents from a third party, or a disaster. It's unlikely to accept a holiday, work commitments or a short minor illness.
If you use a registered tax agent, you may avoid the penalty if you gave them all the relevant tax information and their failure to lodge wasn't down to recklessness or intentional disregard of the tax law.
Australian crypto tax return FAQs
Do I owe tax if I only bought and held crypto?
Not on the holding itself. CGT applies when you dispose of crypto, such as selling, swapping, gifting or spending it. Any staking rewards you received are still income.
Is swapping one crypto for another taxable?
Yes. The ATO treats swapping one crypto asset for another as a CGT event, so you work out a gain or loss on the coin you gave up.
Which tax year does my sale fall into?
The year the CGT event happened. A disposal between 1 July 2025 and 30 June 2026 belongs on the 2025-26 return, due 31 October (or the next business day if it falls on a weekend).
Can I use a crypto loss against my salary?
No. A net capital loss can reduce capital gains, but you can't deduct it from other income.
Do I need to hold crypto for 12 months to get the discount?
Yes, at least 12 months, and you need to be an Australian resident for tax purposes. The acquisition day and the disposal day don't count towards the 12 months.
Can Koinly help you work out your Australian crypto tax?
The ATO suggests using a reputable Australian crypto tax calculator to sync your exchange and wallet accounts, which saves rebuilding every trade by hand. If you'd rather not do the maths yourself, sign up for Koinly free - no credit card required - and let Koinly calculate your gains and income for you. Downloading your tax report needs a paid plan.
