Self Assessment and Cryptocurrency: How to Report Crypto Income

HMRC treats cryptocurrency as property, not currency. This means crypto transactions can trigger both Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax obligations.

When You Owe Capital Gains Tax

You owe CGT when you dispose of cryptocurrency — which includes:

• Selling crypto for pounds or another fiat currency
• Exchanging one crypto for another
• Using crypto to pay for goods or services
• Giving crypto away (unless to a spouse or civil partner)

The gain is the difference between what you paid for the crypto and what it was worth when you disposed of it. The annual exempt amount (£3,000 for 2026/27) applies.

When You Owe Income Tax

Crypto income is taxed as self-employment income if you:

• Mine cryptocurrency as a trade
• Receive crypto as payment for services
• Earn staking or lending rewards
• Receive airdrop tokens related to a trade

This income goes on the self-employment pages of your Self Assessment return.

Record Keeping

You need to record:

• Date of every acquisition and disposal
• Amount of crypto in each transaction
• Value in GBP at the time of each transaction
• Fees paid
• Running total of your holdings

HMRC uses the pooled cost method for calculating gains — all units of the same crypto are pooled, and the average cost is used.

Reporting on Self Assessment

• Capital gains: Report on the capital gains supplementary pages
• Trading income: Report on the self-employment pages
• Staking/lending income: Report as miscellaneous income

HMRC Is Watching

HMRC receives data from UK crypto exchanges and has issued nudge letters to crypto holders. Accurate reporting is essential.

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