Calculate capital gains tax on Bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrency using current ATO rules. Includes the 50% CGT discount, crypto-to-crypto swaps, and the personal use asset exemption.
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Crypto is property, not currency: The ATO does not treat cryptocurrency as money. It is a CGT asset, similar to shares or property. This applies to coins, tokens, NFTs, and stablecoins.
What counts as a disposal: Selling crypto for AUD, swapping one crypto for another (e.g. Bitcoin for Ethereum), using crypto to buy goods or services, and gifting crypto are all CGT events — not just cashing out to dollars.
The 50% CGT discount: If you held the crypto as an investment for more than 12 months before disposing of it, only 50% of the net capital gain is included in your assessable income.
Personal use asset exemption: A crypto asset may be exempt from CGT if you acquired and used it within a short period mainly to buy personal items — for example, buying crypto specifically to immediately pay for a concert ticket. Crypto held for some time, used to buy goods only occasionally, or kept with the intention of profiting from price movements is generally not a personal use asset and remains subject to CGT.
Record keeping: Keep the date, AUD value, and details of every acquisition and disposal. Australian exchanges report transaction data directly to the ATO, which actively data-matches against what individuals report.
The Federal Government's Budget 2026-27 (announced 12 May 2026) proposes replacing the 50% CGT discount for individuals, trusts and partnerships with cost base indexation (uplifting your cost base for inflation using CPI) plus a 30% minimum tax on the real capital gain. This is not yet law.
If passed, it would apply to gains accruing on assets from 1 July 2027 onward — gains made before that date would keep the existing 50% discount under transitional rules. Companies and superannuation funds (including SMSFs) are not affected, since they don't currently receive the 50% discount.
Because this measure has been announced but has not passed Parliament, treat any "2027 rules" figures you see — on this site or elsewhere — as indicative only until the legislation is finalised.
For most Australians holding cryptocurrency as an investment, tax works the same way it does for shares: a CGT event occurs on disposal, the gain is the disposal value minus the cost base, and holding for more than twelve months may qualify the gain for the CGT discount.
The complications are practical rather than conceptual — tracking AUD values across hundreds of transactions, distinguishing investing from trading, and handling staking, airdrops, and DeFi activity. Use this calculator to estimate a single disposal, and speak to a registered tax agent with crypto experience before lodging a return with significant activity.
For an individual holding cryptocurrency as an investment, the calculation follows the same structure as any other CGT asset:
Capital gain = Capital proceeds (AUD) − Cost base (AUD)
Your cost base is the AUD value of what you paid, plus acquisition costs such as exchange and brokerage fees. Your capital proceeds are the AUD value of what you received on disposal, less any costs of disposal. If the result is negative, you have a capital loss rather than a gain.
Where the asset was held for more than 12 months, an individual may then apply the CGT discount to the net gain remaining after any capital losses have been deducted. Note the order matters: losses are applied first, then the discount.
You buy 0.5 BTC for an AUD equivalent of $30,000, paying $150 in exchange fees. Your cost base is $30,150. Eight months later you sell the same 0.5 BTC for $38,000, paying $190 in fees, giving capital proceeds of $37,810.
Your capital gain is $37,810 − $30,150 = $7,660. Because you held the asset for less than 12 months, no CGT discount applies. The full $7,660 is added to your assessable income and taxed at your marginal rate.
You hold ETH with a cost base of $4,000. You swap it directly for another token at a time when your ETH has an AUD market value of $6,500. You never touch Australian dollars.
This is still a disposal. Your capital gain is $6,500 − $4,000 = $2,500, reportable in the year of the swap. Separately, the $6,500 becomes the cost base of the new token for when you eventually dispose of it. This is the scenario people most often overlook.
You buy a parcel of tokens for $10,000 and dispose of them 18 months later for $22,000, with negligible fees. Your gross capital gain is $12,000. You have no carried-forward capital losses.
Because you held the asset for more than 12 months, the CGT discount for individuals may apply to the gain, meaning only a portion of the $12,000 is added to your assessable income. The identical trade closed at eleven months would have added the full $12,000. This is why the holding period is the single most consequential input in the calculator.
📚 Crypto asset tax rules referenced from the Australian Taxation Office. Rules change — verify current guidance before lodging.