Crypto Tax Canada: Expert Guide 2026

Our 2026 Canada crypto tax guide covers everything you need to know about the latest guidance from the Canada Revenue Agency, including crypto capital gains, crypto income, how to calculate your crypto taxes, how to report your crypto to the CRA, and even how to reduce your tax bill ahead of the April 30 tax deadline.

Is cryptocurrency taxed in Canada?

Yes. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is clear that crypto is subject to Income Tax. You'll pay Income Tax on half of any crypto gains from disposals of crypto, as well as Income Tax on receipt of any additional income from crypto.

How much tax do you pay on crypto in Canada?

The amount of tax you'll pay on crypto depends on the kind of transaction (income or capital gain) and how much you earn. For transactions classed as income, you'll pay Income Tax at your Federal and Provincial tax rate. For transactions classed as capital gains, you'll pay Income Tax at your Federal and Provincial tax rate on half of any gain.

Calculate what you owe with our crypto tax calculator.

Can the CRA track crypto?

Yes. The CRA can track your cryptocurrency investments.

The CRA has confirmed it’s working with crypto exchanges to share customer information. Key reporting rules you should know include:

• Large transactions: All money services businesses in Canada must report transactions over $10,000 to the CRA. That means if you send $10,000 or more to a crypto exchange, it will be flagged.

• FINTRAC registration: The CRA is registered with FINTRAC (Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada), which monitors financial institutions for money laundering and tax evasion. Even trades under $10,000 may be reported.

• ID requirements: Exchanges registered with FINTRAC must collect a copy of your government-issued ID and proof of address. This links your identity directly to your exchange account and wallet addresses.

While the CRA has only publicly confirmed working with Coinsquare, large exchanges operating in Canada, such as Coinbase, CoinSmart, and Crypto.com, have probably received similar data requests.

The most reliable way to remain tax compliant is to calculate your cryptocurrency taxes accurately and report them in full, and this guide covers how to do just that.

CRA crypto guidance

Cryptocurrency isn't seen as a fiat currency in Canada. Instead, it's viewed as a commodity, which is a capital property, like a stock or a rental property.

It's this classification that dictates the tax treatment of crypto in Canada.

How is crypto taxed in Canada?

As a commodity, crypto is subject to Income Tax, but not always in the same way as regular income is.

If your crypto is taxed as income, you'll pay Income Tax on the entire proceeds of a crypto transaction. If your crypto is taxed as a capital gain, you'll only pay Income Tax on half of any profits of a crypto transaction.

Whether your crypto is taxed in full or part all comes down to whether your investment is seen as business income or a capital gain.

Business income vs. capital gain

The CRA decides on whether you have business income or capital gains on a case-by-case basis, but an individual transaction may be considered business income, while other transactions by the same investor may be considered capital gains.

The CRA guidance says common signs of business income include:

• You conduct crypto activity for commercial reasons

• You promote a product or service

• You show that you intend to make a profit

• Your crypto activities are regular or repetitive

With the above in mind, many Canadian crypto investors could be considered to be making business income as opposed to capital gains. Their own example of business income is of a crypto investor who buys and sells crypto on a regular basis and makes a profit of $40,000 through active trading.

The more active you are in crypto trading and the more profit you make, the more likely it is that your crypto profits will be classed as business income as opposed to a capital gain.

You should always speak to an experienced crypto tax accountant in Canada for advice on your investments and the tax implications, but we can cover the general rules on how business income and capital gains from crypto are taxed in Canada.

Crypto capital gains Canada

When you dispose of a capital asset (as an individual investor), you'll have a capital gain or loss, and any capital gain is taxable. Crypto transactions that are considered a disposal in Canada include:

• Selling crypto for CAD

• Trading crypto for crypto

• Spending crypto on goods or services

• Gifting crypto

• Many DeFi transactions where you trade tokens

Provided your profit is classed as a capital gain and not business income, you won't pay tax on the entire proceeds when you make a profit from a disposal. Instead, you'll pay Income Tax on half of any capital gain.

Capital Gains Tax on crypto in Canada

Canada doesn’t have a specific Capital Gains Tax rate. Instead, your crypto capital gains are taxed at the same rate as your Federal Income Tax rate and Provincial Income Tax rate. But remember, you'll only pay tax on half your capital gain. You can see the Federal Income Tax rates for the 2025 and 2026 financial years below.

Want to see the Provincial Income Tax Rates for Canada? See our Canada Crypto Tax Rates Guide

Crypto capital losses

You won't pay any tax on any capital losses from crypto, but you can offset your capital losses against your capital gains to reduce your overall tax bill.

The 50% rule for capital gains equally applies to your capital losses, so just as you only pay tax on half of any gain, you can only offset half of any loss.

If you've done this and you still have more losses to offset, you may carry this figure forward to future financial years to offset future gains. Similarly, if you have no capital gains in a year, you can carry forward capital losses to offset against future gains.

Tax on lost or stolen crypto

The CRA has not released specific guidance stating whether you can claim lost or stolen crypto as a capital loss.

However, it does allow taxpayers to deduct capital losses due to the theft of other capital property.  As crypto is considered to be capital property under Canadian law, you may be able to make a claim for a capital loss for stolen crypto.

Learn more in our guide: Are crypto losses tax deductible in Canada?

How to calculate gains on crypto in Canada

You can calculate this with a simple formula:

Proceeds - cost basis = gain/loss

What are proceeds?

Your proceeds are your sale price, or the total value you received in exchange for disposing of your crypto. This is typically the fair market value of your asset in CAD on the day you disposed of it.

What is cost basis?

Cost basis is the original value of your asset, so how much it cost you. It also includes any allowable fees, like purchase fees.

If you acquired crypto for free, your cost basis is zero.

Canada cost basis method

Canada uses the adjusted cost basis method when calculating crypto capital gains and losses. If you have multiple identical assets, the CRA says to use the average cost basis method. We have a whole guide on calculating crypto taxes with the Canadian cost basis method (with the superficial loss rule).

The superficial loss rule

Canada’s superficial loss rule stops investors from claiming capital losses when they sell and quickly rebuy the same crypto.

If you sell a coin and then you, or someone connected to you, buy the same coin within 30 days before or after the sale, and you still hold it at the end of that period, the loss is denied. 

If you recently moved to Canada

When you become a Canadian tax resident, the CRA treats most assets you already own, including crypto, as if you sold and repurchased them at their fair market value on the day you arrived. This is called a deemed disposition.

From that date forward, your cost basis is reset to the crypto’s fair market value in CAD. Keeping accurate records of these values is essential for calculating future gains or losses.

Crypto income

Anytime you're earning new tokens, this may be subject to income tax upon receipt. Examples include:

• Getting paid in crypto

• Mining crypto

• Staking rewards

• Referral bonuses

• Selling an NFT you've created

• A variety of DeFi transactions where you earn new tokens

Remember, if you're not classed as an individual investor, any profits from disposals will be taxed in their entirety as business income as well.

How to calculate crypto income

Take the fair market value of the crypto in CAD on the day you received it and apply your Federal and Provincial income tax rates to the entire amount to calculate how much income tax you'll pay.

What’s fair market value?

Fair market value is the price an asset would reasonably sell for on the open market between a willing buyer and seller.

Is any crypto tax-free in Canada?

Let's start with the good news. There are some specific crypto transactions that are tax-free in Canada.

You won't pay tax on crypto when you're:

• Buying crypto with fiat currency.

• HODLing crypto

• Moving crypto between your own wallets

• Being gifted crypto

• Creating a DAO (Decentralised autonomous organisation)

Crypto tax breaks

Canada has a few tax breaks that crypto investors will be interested in.

1. Only half of any capital gains is taxed: You'll only pay tax on half your capital gains. You can calculate this in a couple of different ways, but the easiest way is to add up all your capital gains and then halve the amount.

2. Personal tax allowance: The first $16,129 for the 2025 financial year is tax-free.

3. Spousal tax credit: If you don't use up your personal tax allowance (Basic Personal Amount) mentioned above, then you can transfer it to your partner, provided you're married or in a common law partnership. For example, if you earn $60,000 a year and your partner earns $10,000 a year, you’d be able to claim the difference between your partner’s income and the BPA. Learn more about filing Canadian crypto taxes as a married couple in our blog.

Please note that when filing your taxes via CRA (or through TurboTax, etc.), you shouldn't try and factor in these breaks yourself. The CRA wants to see your totals across all asset classes, and then they will work out any applicable discounts on your behalf.

How are different crypto transactions taxed in Canada?

How is buying crypto taxed?

You're not taxed when you buy crypto with fiat currency, like Canadian Dollars.

But it’s still really important you keep good records of your crypto transactions so you can keep a detailed account of your cost basis. This lets you calculate accurate crypto gains and losses when you later dispose of your crypto.

How is holding crypto taxed?

Waiting for the moon? Great news, you'll pay no tax to do so.

How is trading crypto taxed?

Trading one crypto for another crypto is subject to income tax. The type of asset is irrelevant from a tax perspective, whether you're trading stablecoins, NFTs, or crypto.

How is selling crypto taxed?

Selling crypto for fiat currency like Canadian Dollars is a disposition of an asset from a tax perspective. This makes it subject to Income Tax. Provided you're an individual investor, you'll only pay Income Tax on half your capital gain or profit.

How is spending crypto taxed?

Whatever you're buying, if you're spending your crypto on goods and services, the CRA views this as a disposition of a capital asset. 

How is transferring crypto taxed?

Transferring your crypto from one wallet to another isn't seen as a disposition by the CRA. You still own the asset, so it's tax-free. But you still need to keep records of these transactions in case the CRA ever wishes to audit your crypto assets.

How are crypto transfer fees taxed?

Most exchanges will charge you a transfer fee to move your crypto. Similarly, for transfers from wallets, there may be blockchain network fees (gas fees), generally in the native token. 

This may be a disposal from a tax perspective, as you no longer retain ownership of the asset.

How are airdrops taxed?

The Canada Revenue Agency is unlikely to view airdrops as a type of income, as long as you're seen to be trading as an individual and not as a business.

However, you will pay tax when you later dispose of tokens received from an airdrop. Because CRA uses the adjusted cost basis method, your cost basis will be zero.

How are hard forks taxed?

For individual investors, it's likely you wouldn't pay any tax when you receive coins from a hard fork. But you will pay tax if you later dispose of coins received in a hard fork.

Because Canada uses the adjusted cost basis method, the cost basis for any new coins received as a result of a fork would be zero.

How is gifting crypto taxed?

This is seen as a disposition of an asset by the CRA and is taxable.

The recipient of the gift uses the FMV of the asset the day they received it as their cost basis, should they later wish to sell it.

How is donating crypto taxed?

Donating crypto to a registered charity is a generous thing to do, but it has complicated tax implications.

Because crypto is considered a commodity by the CRA and not cash, donations of crypto don't follow the same rules as cash donations. So when you donate crypto, the CRA views this as a disposition of an asset, and it has tax consequences. If your crypto has increased in value from acquisition to the time you donate, you'll be liable for tax on that donation.

Donating crypto to a registered charity is considered a Gift-in-Kind donation. This means it's subject to the deemed fair market value rule. So upon donation, you'll need to tell the charity when you acquired your crypto asset. If you received and donated it within three years of the acquisition date, the charity may only issue a tax receipt for the obtained value.

How is crypto mining taxed?

The CRA guidance on crypto mining tax revolves around the scale and intentions of your crypto mining activities.

If the CRA views your crypto mining activities as a hobby, you won't pay income tax when you receive mined coins.

But you will pay tax on any gain from disposing of your mining rewards. Because the cost basis of mined coins is zero, all proceeds from a disposition are considered a capital gain.

If you mine cryptocurrency as a business, your holdings are considered inventory. You can value them in one of two ways:

1. Value each item at its acquisition cost or its fair market value at year-end, whichever is lower.

2. Value the entire inventory at its fair market value at year-end.

You may choose the lower value for each specific cryptocurrency you hold. “Cost” includes the purchase price plus any reasonable expenses to acquire it. You must use the same valuation method consistently each year. Mining expenses such as electricity and equipment can be allocated on a per-coin basis and deducted from your sales proceeds.

How is crypto staking taxed?

The CRA will likely view any PoS earnings as chargeable to income tax.

The taxable amount will be the FMV of the tokens earned through staking on the date they are received.

If you later dispose of your staking rewards, any gain from these transactions would be taxable.

How are profits from margin trades & futures taxed?

The tax treatment of crypto margin trading, derivatives products like futures, and other CFDs all depends on whether you're a business or an individual investor.

If you're seen to be trading as a private investor, you'll pay tax on half of any capital gain from margin trades, derivatives, and other CFDs. It's only when you close your position that you'll realize a capital gain or loss.

Margin fees are deductible provided they relate to your crypto trading, and liquidation is a disposition from a tax perspective.

If you're seen to be trading at the same scale and frequency as a day trader or business, you'll pay income tax on 100% of the profits from your trades. Like above, you'll pay tax at the point you close your position and realise a gain or loss.

How is DeFi taxed?

There is no clear guidance from the CRA about DeFi tax in Canada. This doesn't mean you won't pay tax on DeFi investments, but instead means you need to infer the tax treatment from the existing guidance.

Anytime you're earning new tokens from a DeFi protocol, it's likely that this would be subject to income tax upon receipt. Meanwhile, anytime you make a disposal by trading tokens within a DeFi protocol, like trading LP tokens, any gain would be taxable.

If your DeFi transactions are regular, repetitive, intended to make a profit, or of a commercial nature, you'll pay income tax on the entirety of your profits from DeFi investments instead of tax on half of any capital gain.

How are NFTs taxed?

The CRA hasn’t issued any specific guidance on NFT taxes, but from a tax perspective, they’d be treated the same as any other crypto asset. That means:

• Creating and selling NFTs triggers income tax on receipt.

• Buying an NFT with crypto is a disposition of an asset, and gains are taxable

• Selling or trading an NFT is a disposition of an asset, and gains are taxable

How are DAOs taxed?

Members of a DAO can profit from the DAO in various ways. For example, they might receive a share of the profits that result from the activities of the DAO, or they might sell their DAO tokens to investors.

The CRA has no specific guidance on the taxation of DAOs. However, given that the DAO is not a registered entity in any jurisdiction and has no central control, it cannot pay taxes itself. 

It’s most akin to a flow-through entity, which is a business entity that passes any income it makes straight to its owners, shareholders, or investors. Under this interpretation, any income passed on to the members of the DAO would likely be subject to income tax, and the sale of DAO tokens that have appreciated since acquiring them would be subject to capital gains taxes.

When to report your crypto taxes to the CRA

The Canadian tax year runs from January 1 to December 31. The next filing period covers January 1, 2025, to December 31, 2025.

The deadline to report crypto income, gains, and losses for most taxpayers is April 30, 2026. Returns can be submitted from February 2026.

Payments must be received by the CRA or processed at a Canadian financial institution on or before April 30 to be considered on time.

Self-employed individuals have until June 15, 2026, to file, but payments are still due by April 30.

How to report cryptocurrency on taxes in Canada

You file your crypto taxes as part of your annual Income Tax Return.

• Report crypto capital gains and losses on Schedule 3 Form

• Report crypto income on Income Tax Return T1

You can file both of these online using CRA's My Account or through tax apps like TurboTax.

How to file crypto taxes on TurboTax Canada

Filing crypto with TurboTax Canada? No worries, here's how:

How to file crypto taxes with CRA paper forms

Still filing by post? Koinly can still help you file your crypto taxes. Just follow these steps.

1. Calculate your crypto tax. You need to know your capital gains, losses, income, and expenses.

2. Complete Schedule 3 with your capital gains and losses from crypto

3. Fill out your Income Tax Return and include any crypto income.

4. Post your Income Tax Return to the CRA. You should post tax returns at least 12 weeks before the deadline to ensure you're not late on filing your taxes.

How to pay tax on cryptocurrency in Canada

Once you've filed your tax return, the CRA will let you know how much tax you owe on your crypto and give you options for payment.

The deadline to pay your taxes in Canada is the same day as the deadline to file, so for the 2025 financial year, this is the 30th of April 2026. This is why we recommend filing well ahead of the deadline to ensure you're not stuck in the lurch with a large tax bill.

How to use crypto tax software like Koinly

Here's how easy it is:

1. Sign up for a free Koinly account.

2. Select your base country and currency. In this instance, Canada and CAD.

3. Select your accounting method. Koinly supports the adjusted cost basis method with the superficial loss rule for Canadian users. This is the only cost basis method the CRA allows, so you shouldn't change it.

4. Connect Koinly to your wallets, exchanges, or blockchains. Koinly integrates with more than 1,000+ exchanges, wallets, and blockchains. (See all integrations) If you can't find yours, let us know; we're always adding more.

5. Let Koinly crunch the numbers. Make a coffee. Koinly will calculate your cost basis for each crypto asset and calculate each capital gain or loss from your dispositions, as well as the fair market value of any crypto income and expenses.

6. Ta-da! Your data is collected, and your full tax report is generated! To download your crypto tax report, upgrade to a paid plan. Download what you need, when you need it. For Canadian investors, you can download the pre-filled Schedule 3 to submit to the CRA or download a TurboTax online file to upload to your TurboTax account.

7. Send your report to your accountant, or complete your tax return yourself. Use the generated file to complete your income tax Return or send it over to your accountant. Done!

What cryptocurrency records will the CRA want?

The CRA is clear that you must keep extensive records of your crypto transactions. You need to keep all of the required records along with supporting documents for at least six years from the end of the last tax year that the records relate to. Information the CRA expects you to document includes:

• Transaction dates

• Receipts of purchase and transfer of crypto

• The fair market value of the cryptocurrency in CAD at the time of the transaction(s)

• A description of the transaction and the cryptocurrency address of the other party

• Accounting and legal costs

• Exchange records

• Digital wallet records and cryptocurrency addresses

• Software costs related to managing your taxes

Unfortunately, most exchanges and wallets do not store historical data long-term, so the onus is on you to periodically export information and maintain records.

You can use Koinly for your record-keeping, free of charge. Just import your data via API or by uploading CSV files and store all your records from every platform you use in one spot.

How to reduce your crypto tax bill in Canada

Want to know how to avoid tax on cryptocurrency in Canada? You can't outright avoid all your taxes - but there are a few ways to reduce your tax bill by a sizeable amount! You can see our complete guide to legally avoiding crypto tax in Canada, but some common options include:

• Investing in an RSP

• Investing in a TSFA

• Tracking and harvesting unrealized losses