Crypto Tax Ultimate Guide 2022

 

Do you have to pay tax on cryptocurrency in the UK? Wondering how UK crypto tax works and how HMRC views Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies? We've covered everything you need to know about crypto tax in the UK in our ultimate UK crypto tax guide for 2022. We'll explain crypto capital gains tax, crypto income tax, which UK crypto exchanges report to HMRC, how to avoid paying tax on cryptocurrency, and how to use a crypto tax calculator to work out your taxes - all in time for the 31st of January deadline!

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Do you have to pay tax on crypto in the UK?

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Yes - cryptocurrency is taxable in the UK. HMRC are clear that crypto may be subject to both Capital Gains Tax and Income Tax depending on the specific transaction.

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How much tax do you pay on crypto in the UK?

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For capital gains from crypto over the £12,300 tax free allowance, you'll pay 10% or 20% tax. For additional income from crypto over the personal allowance, you'll pay between 20% to 45% in tax. The exact amount you'll pay will depend on the transaction you've made, the tax that applies and the Income Tax band you fall into.

 

Can HMRC track crypto?

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Yes - HMRC can track cryptocurrency.

• HMRC has a data sharing program with all UK exchanges.

• HMRC has crypto transaction data from as far back as 2014.

• HMRC has the KYC information you provided when signing up for any UK exchange or wallet.

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HMRC confirmed a couple of years ago that they were working with large crypto exchanges to share customer information provided from Know Your Customer (KYC) identification records. HMRC is using this information to send nudge letters to crypto investors reminding them to report their crypto and pay their taxes.

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In January 2022, Coinbase began contacting customers with more than £3,000 in crypto to let them know they were sharing account information with HMRC.

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Is any crypto tax free?

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Let's start with the good news - you won't always pay tax on crypto in the UK. Transactions that are tax free include:

• Buying crypto with GBP.

• HODLing crypto.

• Transferring crypto between your own wallets.

• Donating crypto to charity.

• Gifting crypto to your spouse. (Use this to your advantage if your partner has not used their capital gains allowance this year!)

With that out the way... let's get into all the transactions that are taxed.

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How is crypto taxed in the UK?

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There is no specific Bitcoin tax or cryptocurrency tax in the UK. Instead, your crypto will either be subject to Capital Gains Tax or Income Tax.

The crypto tax you'll pay depends on the specific transactions you're making with your crypto. If you're seen to be making an income, you'll pay Income Tax. If you're seen to be making a capital gain, you'll pay Capital Gains Tax.

We'll look at both.

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Crypto Capital Gains Tax UK

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Because HMRC see crypto as a capital asset, when you dispose of a capital asset - you'll pay Capital Gains Tax. Disposals of crypto include:

• Selling crypto for GBP or another fiat currency.

• Trading crypto for crypto, including stablecoins.

• Spending crypto on goods and services.

• Gifting crypto - unless it's to your spouse or civil partner.

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So anytime you sell, trade, spend or gift crypto in the UK - you'll pay Capital Gains Tax as a result.

Don't worry - you won't pay tax on the entire proceeds when you make a disposal. You'll only pay tax on crypto gains, so whenever you've made a profit.

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In addition to this, HMRC has finally released some guidance on DeFi transactions - in particular lending and staking - but it hasn't really clarified too much. The guidance now states that DeFi transactions may be subject to Income Tax or Capital Gains Tax depending on the "nature of the transaction" and whether that transaction has the nature of capital or the nature of income. In essence, a capital transaction happens when you dispose of your crypto, regardless of whether you have the right to claim that crypto back or not, this could include:

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• Adding/removing your crypto in a liquidity pool - if the DeFi protocol can benefit from your liquidity.

• Staking your crypto through a DeFi protocol - though the return from staking may be chargeable under Income Tax.

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Capital Gains UK Tax Free Allowance

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HMRC are pretty generous when it comes to capital gains and give every UK taxpayer a Capital Gains Tax Allowance of £12,300 a year. We'll explain this in more depth later, but this means you'll only pay Capital Gains Tax on any capital gains over your £12,300 allowance.

Let's look at how much Capital Gains Tax you'll pay on your crypto.

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Crypto Capital Gains Tax rates UK

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Unlike many other countries, the UK doesn't have a short-term and long-term Capital Gains Tax rate. All capital gains are taxed under the same rates. The amount of Capital Gains Tax you'll pay depends on how much you earn:

So as you can see, you'll pay either 10% or 20% tax on any crypto gains, depending on what band you fall under.

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• If you earned less than £50,270 (total income) - you'll pay 10% on crypto gains. 

• If you earned more than £50,279 (total income) - you'll pay 20% on crypto gains.

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Crypto capital losses

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Not every investment ends with a gain, many result in a loss , or a capital loss.

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You won't pay Capital Gains Tax on any capital losses - but you do want to keep good records of these and register losses with HMRC as you can offset capital losses against capital gains, as well as carry forward registered losses to offset future gains.

In the UK, there is no limit on how large of a capital loss you can offset against your capital gains. What this means is you can use as many capital losses as you want to reduce your capital gains back down to the Capital Gains Tax free allowance amount of £12,300, so you'll pay no Capital Gains Tax.

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When it comes to carrying forward capital losses to future financial years - HMRC has some specific rules. You can carry forward registered capital losses indefinitely until they're fully utilised. However, you must register capital losses when you submit your self assessment tax return. So even if you're not required to submit a self assessment as your capital gains are below the allowance, if you've got capital losses you want to carry forward, you should still do this to make sure they're registered with HMRC.

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In general, it's always advisable to register capital losses in the year you made them, although HMRC gives taxpayers a four year time limit to register capital losses. After the four year period, you'll no longer be able to register your losses and utilise them to offset future gains.

If you don't need to complete a self assessment tax return and want to swerve accountant fees - you can also notify HMRC in writing to register your capital losses too.

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EXAMPLE

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Oliver made a £20,000 gain selling Bitcoin this year, but last year he made a loss of £10,000. He has not used any of his £12,300 Capital Gains Tax free allowance this year.

So Oliver can use his £10,000 loss from the previous year to offset his £20,000 gain, bringing it down to £10,000. This figure is less than his allowance, in fact, he still has £2,300 in his personal allowance pot to spare! This leaves Oliver with no Capital Gains Tax to pay for the year.

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Lost or stolen crypto

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HMRC has clear guidance on lost and stolen crypto - and it's not all good news. HMRC does not consider theft or loss as a capital loss. But you may be able to make a negligible value claim in some specific circumstances and later claim a capital loss. Find out more in our HMRC lost crypto tax guide.

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How to calculate crypto gains and losses

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To calculate tax on crypto gains, you need to start by figuring out your cost basis.

Your cost basis is how much it cost you to buy your crypto, plus any transaction fees. If you acquired your crypto by other means - like an airdrop or fork - you'll take the fair market value of the crypto on the day you received in GBP it as your cost basis instead.

Once you know your cost basis, it's easy to figure out your capital gain or loss. A capital gain or loss is the difference in value from when you acquired the asset to when you disposed of it by selling it, swapping it, spending it or gifting it. So subtract your cost basis from the price you sold the asset for. If you spent, swapped or gifted your asset, subtract your cost basis from the fair market value of the asset on the day you disposed of it.

If you have a profit then you have a capital gain and you'll pay Capital Gains Tax on that gain. If you have a loss, you have a capital loss and you won't pay Capital Gains Tax on your loss - but you do want to keep track of these as they can reduce your tax bill. We'll explain this in a minute - but first let's look at an example of calculating tax on a crypto capital gain.

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Example

Oscar bought 1 BTC in May 2020. The price of BTC on the day he bought it was £7,000 and he paid an extra £100 in transaction fees. This is his cost basis.

In May 2021, Oscar sells his BTC. The price of BTC on the day he sells is £38,000. He needs to subtract his cost basis from his sale price to figure out his capital gain.

£7,000 + £100 = £7,100. This is the cost basis of the BTC.

£38,000 - £7,100 = £30,900. This is his capital gain and he'll pay Capital Gains Tax on this amount. To figure out how much tax he'll pay, he needs to look at his regular income to figure out which Capital Gains Tax band he falls into.

Remember to deduct your capital gains allowance of £12,300!

Oscar earned £70,000 in income in the 2021 financial year. This puts him in the 20% Capital Gains Tax band. He'll pay 20% tax on his crypto gains of £30,900, less £12,300

£30,900 - £12,300 = £18,600

£18,600 x 20% = £3,720. This is how much tax is liable for.

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UK cost basis method

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Most investors aren't just buying and selling one asset like in the example above, they have multiple assets of the same kind and potentially hundreds of trades in a year. This is where a cost basis method comes in - it dictates the way you deal with identical assets when calculating gains and losses.

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The UK’s HMRC has very specific rules for crypto cost basis methods, known as share pooling. This is to stop crypto investors from manipulating the ACB cost basis method by purchasing and selling assets at a loss in a short period of time to create an unrealistic view of gains and losses.

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In the UK, there are three possible cost basis methods you can use and you need to work through them in order of which applies to your assets:

1. Same-Day Rule: If you buy and sell coins on the same day, you need to use the cost basis on this day to calculate your gains/losses. If you’re selling more than you bought on that day, move onto the next rule.

2. Bed and Breakfasting Rule: If you sell and repurchase the same coins/tokens within 30 days, you’ll use the cost basis of coins/tokens you bought within this month to calculate your gains/losses. If you’re selling more than you bought within this month, move onto the final rule.

3. Section 104 Rule: If the above two rules don’t apply to any of your crypto transactions, you need to use this cost basis method when calculating your crypto taxes. This works like the ACB method in that you calculate an average cost basis for a pool of assets by adding up the total amount paid for all assets and dividing it by the total amount of coins/tokens held.

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Check out our article on calculating tax with share pooling for examples on how this works. These rules exist to prevent crypto investors from tax loss harvesting.

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Crypto tax breaks

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UK crypto investors can pay less tax on crypto by making the most of tax breaks.

1. £12,570 Personal Income Tax Allowance: Your first £12,570 of income in the UK is tax free for the 2021/2022 tax year. This matters for your crypto because you subtract this amount when calculating what Income Tax band you're in. Please note you do not get a Personal Income Tax Allowance if you earn more than £125,140 a year.

2. Trading and Property Allowance: £1,000 of income from trading or property is tax free thanks to the Trading and Property Allowance. If you've got income from both, you can get £2,000 tax free.

3. Capital Gains Tax Free Allowance: We know we've harped on about this already - but it's a big deal. The UK has a Capital Gains Tax Free Allowance of £12,300. So you'll only pay Capital Gains Tax after you've already gone over this allowance. Provided you make no more than £12,300 from capital gains in a single financial year, you'll pay no Capital Gains Tax.

Income Tax on crypto UK

Now we've covered everything you need to know about crypto capital gains, let's look at crypto income and Income Tax.

There are cases where crypto is treated as income and thus attracts Income Tax. Cryptocurrency transactions that are classified as income are taxed at your regular Income Tax band. In some instances, you'll also need to make National Insurance contributions on income from crypto too.

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In the UK, crypto is taxed as Income when it comes from:

• Getting paid in crypto - known as 'money's worth' and is subject to National Insurance too.

• Staking rewards

• Mining tokens

• Airdrops - in most instances.

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HMRC has finally released guidance on DeFi transactions - in particular lending and staking. The guidance now states that DeFi transactions may be subject to Income Tax or Capital Gains Tax depending on the "nature of the transaction" and whether that transaction has the nature of capital or the nature of income. If your DeFi activities have the 'nature of income', they'll be subject to Income Tax.

In general, Income Tax will only apply to 'returns' from activities, so rewards from staking, yield farming, lending and more could be considered income and subject to Income Tax. HMRC say it's likely to be considered income if:

• The return to be received has been agreed - as opposed to speculative and unknown.

• If the return is paid by the borrower/DeFi platform.

• If the return is paid periodically throughout the period of lending/staking.

So if you're earning new coins or tokens, potentially at an agreed APY through a DeFi protocol - it's likely this would be seen as income. Therefore this could include:

• Earning new crypto tokens through yield farming on lending protocols like AAVE or Compound.

• Earning new liquidity pool tokens, governance or reward tokens.

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HMRC haven't yet released guidance on engage-to-earn or play-to-earn platforms which appeared primarily in the DeFi space recently. However, as earning crypto through staking and mining is considered income, we can infer that earning tokens and coins through these platforms would also likely be considered income by HMRC. Examples of potential crypto income include:

• Referral rewards like Binance Referral.

• Learn to earn campaigns, like Coinbase Learning Center or CoinMarketCap Learning Center.

• Watch to earn platforms like Odysee.

• Browse to earn platforms like Brave.

• Play to earn games like Axie Infinity.

• Shop to earn through browser extensions like Lolli.

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In summary - any time you're earning new tokens as a result of an investment activity, this is likely to be seen as Income and subject to Income Tax.

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How much tax will you pay on crypto income?

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To figure out how much tax you'll pay on crypto income, you need to first know the crypto Income Tax rates. These are the same Income Tax Bands for your regular income:

The UK uses a progressive income tax banding - so you won't pay the same flat rate of income on all your earnings, instead you'll pay a higher rate of tax only on earnings in higher tax bands. Taxpayers earning more than £125,000 a year do not receive the £12,570 personal allowance.

Scottish taxpayers have slightly different Income Tax Bands. See here.

How to calculate crypto income

Calculating income from crypto is easy - albeit time consuming. You need to identify the fair market value of the coins or tokens on the day you received them in GBP.

This is easy if you've earned a small amount of irregular income, but far more time-consuming if you have regular amounts of small income like through mining or staking. Going back through an entire financial year to identify the fair market value of each transaction can take hours!

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Example

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Aida earns £4,000 in additional income from a variety of crypto investments. She needs to figure out how much Income Tax she'll pay on this.

She earns £40,000 in income in the 2021 financial year. Remember £12,570 of this is tax free.

This puts her in the basic rate tax allowance of 20%. Aida will pay 20% tax on her crypto income of £4,000, so a total of £800.

With the foundations out the way... let's take a look at a variety of transactions and the kind of tax that would apply.

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Do you pay tax when you buy crypto in the UK?

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Yes and no - it depends what you're buying crypto with. Let's break it down.

Buying crypto with GBP

You're not taxed when you buy crypto with fiat currency - like GBP - in the UK.

But, it's really important you keep records of your crypto transactions so you can keep a detailed account of your cost basis. This makes sure you can accurately calculate your crypto gains and losses later on.

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Buying and HODLing crypto

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Waiting for the moon? Great plan and great news for your taxes. You'll pay no tax on crypto you HODL.

Again, do make sure to keep records of how much it cost you to acquire your crypto so you can accurately calculate your capital gains and losses later on.

For those long-term HODLers, it may be worth using a platform that tracks and stores trading information for long periods of time, as exchanges often only keep information for a matter of months.

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Buying crypto with crypto

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Crypto trading in the UK is taxed. So if you're trading Bitcoin for Ether or any other cryptocurrency - you'll pay Capital Gains Tax. HMRC view this as too separate transactions. Trading your asset is a disposal - just like selling or spending it. They're not interested that you're using it to buy another asset, just that you're disposing of one. So it is the asset you dispose of that you'll pay Capital Gains Tax on, if you've made a gain.

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To calculate your capital gain, you'd use the cost base of the crypto you disposed of and subtract it from the fair market value for that asset on the day you traded it for another crypto.

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CAPITAL GAINS TAX

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Buying crypto with stablecoins

Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies that are pegged to a reserve currency, often a fiat currency. For example, the cryptocurrency USDT is tethered to the US dollar. This allows for reduced price volatility

Buying crypto with stablecoins is viewed as trading crypto for crypto, so any profits are subject to Capital Gains Tax.

Of course, you may not actually pay any tax on these transactions as stablecoins are often pegged to a fiat currency and therefore the price remains relatively stable, so you'll have no capital gain or loss when you trade stablecoins for another cryptocurrency.

Despite this, you'll still need to keep record of these transactions for HMRC.

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CAPITAL GAINS TAX

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Do you pay tax when you sell cryptocurrency in the UK?

Yes - you'll pay tax whenever you sell cryptocurrency in the UK. The amount you pay will vary depending on your income.

Selling crypto for GBP

Selling crypto for fiat currency like GBP is a disposal and subject to Capital Gains Tax.

You'll pay either 10% or 20% on the profits from your sale, depending on how much you earn in regular income.

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Example

Archie buys 1 ETH in July 2021. The price of ETH the day he buys it is £1,500. This is his cost basis.

He sells 1 ETH in November 2021 for £3,500. He needs to figure out his capital gain by subtracting his cost basis from his sale price.

£3,500 - £1,500 = £2,000. This is his capital gain.

Archie earns £40,000 a year. This puts him in the Basic Income Tax Band, so he'd pay 10% tax on his capital gains.

However, Archie has no other capital gains this year, so he is within the Capital Gains Tax Free allowance of £12,300. He'll pay no tax on his capital gain.

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Selling crypto for crypto

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Selling your crypto for another crypto is a disposal - so it's subject to Capital Gains Tax.

To calculate your capital gain or loss, subtract the cost basis of the asset you disposed of from the fair market value of the asset on the day you traded it.

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Do you pay tax when transferring crypto?

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No! You shouldn't pay tax on your crypto when you're transferring it between the wallets or exchange you use. This said - things are rarely this simple when it comes to UK crypto tax and transactions like transfer fees or adding and removing liquidity are a little more confusing from a tax perspective.

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Moving crypto between wallets

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Transferring crypto between your own crypto wallets or exchanges is tax free. It isn't viewed as a disposal by HMRC so you won't pay Capital Gains Tax on these transactions.

Think of moving crypto between wallets like moving fiat currency between two bank accounts that you own.

Having said all this, it's still really important you keep good records of these transfers because when it comes to transfer fees, things get a little more complicated.

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Transfer fees

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When you transfer your crypto - your wallet provider or crypto exchange will often charge you a transfer fee to do so.

If you pay this transfer fee in fiat currency - like pounds - this is tax free.

However, in most instances you won't be paying this fee in fiat currency, you'll be paying it in cryptocurrency and spending crypto is a taxable event. It's seen as a disposal of an asset and you'll need to pay Capital Gains Tax on any profit.

HMRC has pretty specific guidance on what is an allowable cost in crypto. These are costs you can add to your cost basis and transfer fees are not included in this list. So we can safely assume transfer fees cannot be added to your cost basis and they would be viewed as disposals in some instances.

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Example

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You bought 1 ETH. The price of 1 ETH when you bought it is £3,338.

You decide you want to move your ETH from your Binance wallet to your MetaMask wallet. Binance charge you a flat transfer fee of 0.005 ETH.

You're paying in ETH - so you're disposing of ETH. So you need to calculate your cost basis and the fair market value of your crypto at the point of disposal. To keep it simple, let's say the price of ETH hasn't changed since you bought it as you moved it straight out your Binance wallet.

0.005 ETH = £16.70 This is your disposal. You don't have a capital gain or loss, but HMRC may wish to see records of disposals during tax compliance checks, so you should always keep a record of these disposals.

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Adding or removing liquidity

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Deep into DeFi? Most DeFi protocols use liquidity pools. If you're investing in these, at a glance you might not think of them as a taxable event. They're more akin to transferring your crypto from one place to another because you're not actually disposing of the asset.

HMRC however disagrees. They say if you receive a liquidity pool token in exchange for your crypto - it's a disposal. You can add up your cost basis based on tokens you've sent to the pool and then subtract that amount from the fair market value of the tokens at the point of disposal. Your liquidity pool tokens then inherit this as the cost basis for when you want to remove them from the pool.

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How are airdrops and forks taxed in the UK?

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HMRC has clear guidance on how both airdrops and forks are taxed in the UK. It's good news for forks, but bad news for airdrops. You'll pay no tax on soft or hard forks in the UK. But you'll pay both Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax on airdrops. Let's break it down.

Soft and hard forks

HMRC has clear guidance on how they tax forks.

For soft forks, you'll receive no new assets - you can't pay any tax.

For hard forks, where you receive a new coin as a result of a fork - you still won't pay any Income Tax on receipt of these coins. However, your cost basis from any coins received from a hard fork is derived from your existing tokens from the previous blockchain - not the fair market value of the coin on the day you received it.

This matters because when you later spend, sell, swap or gift coins you received from a hard fork - they will still be subject to Capital Gains Tax at this point, just like any other crypto.

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Receiving an airdrop

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In most instances HMRC say you'll pay Income Tax on airdrops.

HMRC consider airdrops income whenever you've done something to earn them. This could include actions as simple as sharing a social media post or being rewarded due to your previous trades on a given blockchain. So in most instances, your airdrops are going to be considered income and subject to Income Tax.

However, airdrops are not considered income if you receive them without providing some kind of service or action in return.

You can calculate how much income you have by identifying the fair market value of the tokens on the day you received them in GBP.

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Example

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You receive 200 1INCH tokens from an airdrop. On the day you receive them, the fair market value per token is £3.50. Your tokens are subject to Income Tax, so you need to calculate their total worth.

£3.50 x 200 = £700. You've made additional income of £700 which you need to pay tax on at your normal Income Tax rate.

You earn £45,000 a year. Your additional income of £700 doesn't push you into a higher tax band, so you'll pay 20% tax on £700, or a total of £140 in tax.

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Selling or swapping coins from an airdrop

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The bad news keeps on coming. Not only will you pay Income Tax when you receive an airdrop, but you'll pay Capital Gains Tax when you later sell, swap, spend or gift coins or tokens you received from an airdrop.

 

Your cost basis for airdrops is the fair market value on the day you received them in GBP.

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Example

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You sell your 200 airdropped 1INCH tokens a couple of days after. The fair market value per token is £4, so you make £800. You already know your cost basis is £700.

£800 - £700 = £100. You've made a capital gain of £100.

Your income is £45,000. This puts you in the basic tax band, so you'll pay 10% in Capital Gains Tax, so a total of £10.

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Crypto gifts and donations tax

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Gifting crypto in the UK is taxed. It's seen as a kind of disposal and therefore subject to Capital Gains Tax.

However, you can gift crypto to your spouse or civil partner tax free and you can donate crypto to a registered charity tax free. Let's look at each different transaction.

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Gifting crypto to a friend

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If you give cryptocurrency as a gift to someone other than your spouse or civil partner, you will have to figure out the market value (in pound sterling) of the crypto on the date that it was given away as a gift. This will be considered as sales proceeds for Capital Gains Tax purposes.

Importantly, if income tax has already been charged on the value of the tokens that are gifted, section 37 Taxation of the Capital Gains Tax Act 1992 will apply. This basically means that the "sales proceeds" will be reduced by the amount that has already been subject to income tax, and then be subjected to CGT.

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Example

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Janie is a UK resident who received crypto worth £500 as a gift from her mother. She sold it in May 2018 for £700. The pooled value of her crypto was £500 and her capital gain was £200. Janie's taxable income is £160,000 and she falls in the category of additional rate tax payer. As a result her total CGT on the disposal of the crypto would be 20% of £200 or £40.

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Gifting crypto to your spouse or civil partner

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You can gift crypto to your spouse or civil partner tax free in the UK. There is no limit on how much you can gift.

This might not seem like a big deal, but it is. This legal tax loophole can let you take advantage of each individual Capital Gains Tax allowance in your household, as well as potentially a lower Income Tax band - all reducing your overall Capital Gains Tax bill.

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Example

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Mark buys 2 BTC for £10,000 each. He sells 1 BTC himself for £25,000, making a capital gain of £15,000. He subtracts his Capital Gains Tax allowance of £12,300 from his capital gain and is left with £2,700. This is the amount he'll pay tax on.

Mark earns £160,000 a year, which puts him in the 20% Capital Gains Tax band. So he'll pay 20% tax on £2,700, or a total of £540.

Mark has used up his Capital Gains Tax allowance and he'd still like to sell his other BTC. He gifts 1 BTC to his wife Hannah. He pays no tax to do this.

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Hannah receives the 1 BTC and sells it for £25,000. She inherits the cost basis of £10,000, so she's also made a capital gain of £15,000.

Hannah hasn't used her Capital Gains Tax allowance yet, so she also subtracts her Capital Gains Tax allowance of £12,3000, leaving £2,700.

Hannah earns £45,000 a year, which puts her in the 10% Capital Gains Tax Band. She'll pay 10% tax on £2,700, so a total of £270.

Overall, Mark has reduced their Capital Gains Tax bill from a worse case scenario of 20% tax on a net capital gain of £17,700 (a whopping £3540) to a total Capital Gains Tax bill of £810 between him and his wife, saving £2,730 in tax!

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Donating crypto to a registered charity

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Donating crypto to a registered charity is tax free in the UK.

If an individual donates crypto to charity, they are entitled to Income tax relief on the donated amount. They can also get an exemption from Capital Gains Tax although there are two exceptions:

In case the individual sells the crypto assets to the charity at a cost which is more than the acquisition cost, they will have to pay CGT on the difference between the selling price (instead of market price) and the acquisition cost.

In case they make a tainted donation — this refers to a situation where an individual makes arrangements with a charity to get some form of kickback/financial advantage.

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Crypto mining tax UK

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Mining of cryptocurrency in the UK can either be considered as a hobby or as a full-fledged business. This will depend on several factors such as:

• degree of activity

• organisation

• risk

• commerciality

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Hobby miners will pay Income Tax on mined coins, as well as Capital Gains Tax when they later dispose of those mined coins. Meanwhile, for business miners, mining income will be added to trading profits and be subject to Income Tax.

Mining crypto as a hobby

If your mining activity is classified as a hobby, then any income from mining has to be declared separately under the heading of "miscellaneous income" on your tax return.

The income in this case will be the fair market value of the crypto at the time you receive it in GBP.

Appropriate expenses can be deducted from this income before adding it to the taxable income, which should be found here.

Also keep in mind that when you dispose of this crypto, that will be subject to Capital Gains Tax.

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Mining as a business

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If mining is classified as a business based on the criteria mentioned above, then the mining income will be added to trading profits and be subject to Income Tax. Similarly, fees or rewards received in exchange of any mining/staking activity will also be added to taxable income. Appropriate expenses would be deductible, of course.

While disposing of such cryptocurrency, any gain in value from the time of acquisition will be added to the trading profits. You will also have to pay National Insurance Contribution for this transaction.

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Crypto day trading tax UK

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HMRC doesn't have specific guidance on crypto trading like margin trading, crypto futures and other CFDs. However, there is guidance on general day trading tax in the UK. How you're taxed depends on whether you're:

• Speculative - like gambling. No tax applied.

• Self-employed - same rules as normal business activity. Business Tax applied.

• Private investor - not doing this full time. Capital Gains Tax on profits from closed positions, excluding spread betting.

The vast majority of crypto investors will be considered private investors. It all depends on the scale at which you're doing it, but if you're working a regular job alongside crypto investing - chances are you'll be considered a private investor. Let's look at how each different trading product is taxed.

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Margin trading and other CFDs

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If you're seen to be trading as an private investor - you'll pay Capital Gains Tax on profits from margin trades and other CFDs. So when you open a position, you won't pay tax. It's only when you close your position that you'll realise a capital gain or loss and pay Capital Gains Tax on any profits.

In the instance of liquidation - when your collateral is sold - this is a disposal from a tax perspective and therefore should be reported to HMRC.

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Derivatives, futures and spread betting

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Spread betting in the UK is controversial to say the least. It's the reason thousands of crypto exchanges have been banned from operating in the UK as they won't remove derivative products like Bitcoin futures or agree to be regulated by the FCA.

Spread betting in the UK is considered gambling - like speculation - which means it isn't subject to Capital Gains Tax. For private investors in the UK, this means you won't pay Capital Gains Tax on spread bets.

This is however, a bit of a legal grey area. The FCA has banned crypto derivatives products without written consent from the FCA. So you should speak to a crypto tax advisor for more bespoke advice on these investments.

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DeFi crypto taxes UK

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DeFi is a fairly new concept, but HMRC have now released proposed guidance about it as of February 2022. You might think it's good news but it doesn't really clarify too much as it all comes down to how your specific DeFi protocol works.

It all comes down to the 'nature of the transaction' and whether it has the nature of capital or the nature of revenue. The former would be subject to Capital Gains Tax, while the latter would be subject to Income tax. Helpful, right?

To try and simplify this a bit more, a lot of your DeFi trades are going to be seen as disposals now. This includes adding/removing liquidity, staking crypto and in some instances the rewards you receive from DeFi protocols - if you receive that reward in one large sum (like if you traded a liquidity pool token that had increased in value).

Meanwhile, returns may be seen as income in some instances. HMRC say this is more likely if:

• The return to be received has been agreed - as opposed to speculative and unknown.

• If the return is paid by the borrower/DeFi platform.

• If the return is paid periodically throughout the period of lending/staking.

So if you're earning new tokens or coins on a periodic basis through your DeFi activities - this is more likely to be seen as income and subject to Income Tax.

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The tax you'll pay on DeFi transactions depends on whether you're seen to be 'earning' crypto or 'disposing' of crypto. Anytime you're seen to be 'earning' crypto - you'll pay Income Tax. Anytime you're seen to be disposing of crypto by swapping it, selling it or spending it - you'll pay Capital Gains Tax. Based on the current guidance from HMRC, we can infer DeFi taxes would likely break down into the following:

• Lending/loaning crypto through DeFi protocols or P2P: Capital Gains Tax.

• Interest payments from lending crypto: Income or Capital Gains Tax depending on how it's paid.

• Borrowing from DeFi protocols: Capital Gains Tax when the loan is paid back.

• Paying interest in DeFi protocols: An allowable expense.

• Selling or swapping NFTs: Capital Gains Tax.

• Buying NFTs: Capital Gains Tax if you pay in crypto. Tax free if it's GBP.

• Staking rewards from DeFi protocols: Income Tax/Capital Gains Tax depending on how rewards are paid.

• Yield farming rewards from DeFi protocols: Income Tax/Capital Gains Tax depending on how rewards are paid.

• Earning liquidity pool tokens from DeFi protocols: Income Tax/Capital Gains Tax depending on how rewards are paid.

• Adding liquidity to liquidity pools: Capital Gains Tax if you receive a liquidity pool token in return.

• Removing liquidity from liquidity pools: Capital Gains Tax if you're exchanging a liquidity pool token to do so.

• Earning through play/engage to earn DeFi protocols: Likely Income Tax.

• Profits from DeFi margin trading and options protocols: Capital Gains Tax.

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Earning from DeFi protocols

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Anytime you're seen to be 'earning' from DeFi - whether that's new coins or tokens - it's likely that HMRC will view this as additional income and you'll pay Income Tax based on the fair market value of the asset in GBP on the day you received it.

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Selling or trading tokens on DeFi protocols.

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Anytime you sell or trade a coin or token on a DeFi protocol, this is likely to be viewed as a disposal by HMRC, making it subject to Capital Gains Tax. You'll pay tax on any profits as a result of a disposal.

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Do you pay tax when spending crypto?

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Thinking of putting your crypto towards a console? Bad news, you might need to pay Capital Gains Tax.

Spending crypto on goods or services

Spending your crypto is subject to Capital Gains Tax because you're disposing of your asset.

You'll need to calculate any capital gain or loss by subtracting your cost basis from the fair market value of your crypto on the day you spent it.

If the price of your asset has increased since you acquired it, you'll need to pay Capital Gains Tax on that profit.

If the price of your asset has decreased since you acquired it, you have a capital loss you can offset against gains.