Crypto and share investing has become mainstream, but the tax treatment still catches a lot of people out. Here’s what actually matters when it comes time to lodge.
Every disposal is a taxable event
Selling, swapping one crypto asset for another, and even using crypto to buy goods or services all count as a disposal for capital gains tax (CGT) purposes. The same goes for shares — selling, or in some cases having shares bought back or converted, can trigger a CGT event. A lot of people assume tax only applies when they cash out to Australian dollars; that’s not correct.
The 12-month discount
If you’re an individual and you’ve held an asset for more than 12 months before disposing of it, you may be entitled to a 50% CGT discount on the gain. Getting your acquisition dates right — and matching them to the correct parcel if you’ve bought the same asset multiple times — is essential to claiming this correctly.
Record-keeping is where most people fall down
The ATO expects you to keep records of:
- Purchase and sale dates and amounts (in AUD at the time of the transaction)
- Wallet-to-wallet transfers and exchange records
- Fees paid on each transaction
- Any staking, airdrop, or interest income received
If you’ve traded across multiple exchanges or wallets, reconstructing a full year of activity from scratch is genuinely painful. We use reconciliation tools to pull this together accurately, so nothing gets missed — and nothing gets double-counted.
Losses aren’t wasted
Capital losses can offset capital gains in the same year, and unused losses carry forward indefinitely to offset future gains. It’s worth reviewing your full portfolio at tax time rather than looking at winners and losers in isolation.
Get it right the first time
Crypto and share tax is an area the ATO has specifically flagged for increased data-matching and compliance activity. If your records are messy or you’re not sure what’s reportable, book a consultation — it’s far easier to fix before lodgement than to amend afterwards.