Australia Crypto Tax Guide: Capital Gains Tax, Staking and DeFi Explained

Australia taxes cryptocurrencies under its existing income tax and capital gains tax rules rather than through a separate crypto tax regime. Depending on the transaction, investors may owe capital gains tax, ordinary income tax, or both.

As of 2025-26, people who own crypto assets must report the following transactions: selling, trading, using, earning through staking, and using crypto in DeFi.

The outcome of taxation will vary depending on the type of activity. Selling, swapping, spending, or gifting crypto can produce a capital gain or loss, while staking and some DeFi activities may create ordinary income.

How Does Australia Tax Crypto?

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) considers investment cryptocurrency as a capital gains tax asset. CGT is not a separate tax; its rate depends on an individual’s marginal tax rate, and the investor simply includes net capital gain in assessable income.

Australian residents for tax purposes, excluding temporary residents, report crypto income and capital gains from Australian and overseas platforms. Using a foreign exchange does not remove this reporting obligation.

The 2025–26 income year ran from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026. Taxable crypto income and CGT events that occurred during this period belong in the 2026 tax return.

Which Crypto Transactions Are Taxable?

A CGT event happens when an investor disposes of crypto. This includes selling it for dollars, swapping it for another token, spending it, or giving it away. Using investment crypto to buy an NFT also disposes of the payment tokens.

This does not automatically mean tax is payable. It means the investor must calculate whether the disposal produced a gain or loss.

If an investor acquires Bitcoins for A$8,000 and subsequently exchanges them for Ethereum with a value of A$10,500, there will be an A$2,500 capital gain prior to any applicable deductions. Ethereum is a new asset with its own cost base and acquisition date.

A cryptocurrency exchange is a disposal and an acquisition of a new asset in the eyes of the ATO. There is no CGT event when buying crypto assets using Australian dollars and holding them. Transferring crypto assets from one wallet to another under the same beneficial ownership is not a disposal.

Capital gains may be exempt if crypto qualifies as a personal-use asset and was acquired for less than A$10,000. However, the ATO states that investment crypto generally does not qualify as a personal-use asset.

How Capital Gains Tax Is Calculated

Once a disposal is identified, the investor compares the capital proceeds with the cost base. The cost base includes the purchase price and eligible expenses such as exchange commissions.

An investor buys Ethereum for A$4,000 and pays a A$40 fee. If the investor later sells it for A$6,500 with A$20 of eligible selling costs, the gain is A$2,440.

Investors then combine their gains and losses for the year. Capital losses are applied before any CGT discount. An A$4,000 gain reduced by an A$1,000 loss leaves A$3,000. If the investor qualifies for the 50% discount after holding the asset for at least 12 months, the net gain falls to A$1,500.

Capital losses can offset eligible capital gains, but not salary, staking rewards, or other ordinary income. Unused losses can be carried forward. The ATO provides the order in its crypto CGT guidance.

How Staking Rewards Are Taxed

Staking works differently because the investor earns new tokens. Their Australian-dollar market value is ordinary income when received, even if they stay in a wallet. That value also becomes the tokens’ cost base.

Suppose an investor receives rewards worth A$500 and later sells them for A$700. The first A$500 is ordinary income, while the sale creates an A$200 capital gain before fees. A sale for A$350 would instead create a A$150 capital loss.

The loss cannot cancel the earlier income because it only offsets capital gains. Reward tokens begin a new holding period when received.

How DeFi Transactions Are Treated

DeFi can combine income, asset exchanges, and new legal rights in one transaction. A protocol’s name does not decide the tax result. The key questions are whether the investor gave up an asset, received a different token or right, or earned a reward.

Consider a liquidity pool. Depositing crypto can trigger a CGT event if the investor receives LP tokens representing a new CGT asset or legal right. Returning those LP tokens to withdraw crypto can trigger another CGT event.

Wrapping ETH into WETH can trigger a CGT event. The treatment of lending, bridging and liquid staking depends on whether beneficial ownership remains unchanged or the original asset is exchanged for a receipt token or another right.

Interest, yield, and incentive tokens can also be ordinary income when received. Selling them later creates a separate capital gain or loss. The ATO provides examples covering DeFi lending, liquidity arrangements, and wrapped tokens.

ATO Tracking and Record Keeping

The ATO’s>Crypto investors should keep complete records of wallet transactions, overseas trades, cost bases and DeFi activities.

Records should show the date, token quantity, transaction type, Australian-dollar value, and fees. Investors should also retain exchange receipts, wallet addresses, account statements, and transaction IDs.

Crypto Tax Filing Deadlines and Reporting Rules

In myTax, disposals go in the “Capital gains or losses” section. Staking rewards and similar non-business receipts go under “Other income.” A reward reported as income still requires a later gain or loss calculation when sold.

For most self-lodgers, the deadline is Monday, November 2, 2026, because October 31 falls on a Saturday. Tax-agent deadlines can differ.

The new 30% minimum CGT rate does not affect the 2025–26 return. It applies to affected real capital gains accruing from July 1, 2027, alongside cost-base indexation. It is not a flat tax on every crypto gain

Tax rules apply to crypto transactions even when no cash enters a bank account. Selling, swapping, spending, or gifting investment crypto triggers a CGT event. Staking and certain DeFi rewards count as ordinary income when received.

Disposing of those rewards later triggers a separate CGT event. The calculation determines whether the disposal produces a capital gain, a capital loss, or neither.

Relevant transaction values and taxable amounts must be recorded in Australian dollars. Investors uncertain about ownership changes or DeFi arrangements should consult an Australian tax professional.

Related: US Crypto Exchange Licensing Explained From FinCEN to State Rules