Crypto Taxes In Canada: Complete CRA Guide

• Capital gain50%
• Business income100%

How Is Crypto Taxed In Canada?

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) does not treat cryptocurrency as government-issued currency, so spending it is a barter transaction, not a payment in dollars. Profits are either business income or a taxable capital gain, and losses are either business losses or capital losses. Which one applies to you is the whole game.

The CRA lays this out in its guide for crypto-asset users, updated in late 2025. It also says plainly that it does not endorse any software product, so every tool below is a way to do the maths, not a government stamp.

How Much Do You Get Taxed On Crypto Gains In Canada?

For capital gains, you include half of the gain in your income (the taxable capital gain) and it is taxed at your marginal rate, along with the rest of your income. There is no flat crypto tax rate. Your rate depends on your total income and your province.

A word on what changed, because older articles (including an earlier version of this one) got it wrong. In April 2024 the federal budget proposed raising the inclusion rate to two thirds on gains above $250,000. On March 21, 2025, the Prime Minister announced the government was cancelling that increase. The CRA's own examples for the 2025 tax year use the 50% rate. If you see a page telling you the 66.67% rule applies to your crypto, it is out of date.

Worked example: you bought Bitcoin for $10,000 and sold it for $500,000. Your capital gain is $490,000, and the taxable capital gain is half of that, $245,000. That $245,000 is added to your other income for the year.

The smaller version, from the CRA's own example: you bought crypto in 2018 for $3,500 and sold in 2025 for $4,000. The gain is $500, and you include $250 on your return.

You can run your own numbers in my Free Canada Crypto Tax Calculator.

What Crypto Transactions Are Taxable In Canada?

Any sale or transfer of ownership is called a disposition and may be taxable. Per the CRA, a disposition happens when you trade or exchange crypto for government-issued currency or another crypto-asset, use it to buy goods or services, or hand over ownership as a gift or donation. That list is not exhaustive. Moving coins between wallets you own is not a disposition.

Selling Crypto For Fiat

Selling crypto, whether you make a profit or a loss, is a reportable transaction. You can buy crypto and hold it for as many years as you like without telling the CRA about the purchase. When you sell, you report it on your tax return as a capital gain or as business income.

Trading Crypto For Another Crypto

Trading one crypto for another is a sale of the first one. Say there is an altcoin you want but it is not sold for CAD, so you have to buy Bitcoin in Canada first. Once you have bought Bitcoin, you can buy the altcoin with the Bitcoin you just bought. Since you are trading crypto to crypto, this is a taxable event. Purchasing a new coin during its ICO with another coin counts as a taxable event too. When you swap that Bitcoin for the altcoin, you have disposed of the Bitcoin at its fair market value that day. The CRA example: you used units of one coin worth $20,600 that cost you $15,000 to buy another coin, so you have a $5,600 capital gain, of which $2,800 is taxable.

Using Crypto To Pay For Goods And Services

Crypto is not government-issued currency, so paying with it is treated as a barter transaction: you swapped the coin for the goods. The vendor must include in income the value of what they provided or the value of the crypto accepted, whichever is more readily valued.

For example, you buy 0.0017 BTC for $100. The next day you spend it on something and that Bitcoin is now worth $110. You disposed of it, and the extra $10 is a capital gain. If it had slipped to $95, you would have a $5 capital loss.

The person receiving the crypto has tax obligations too and will most likely need to report it as business income. The person spending it might owe capital gains tax. Canadian investors therefore need to keep track of all transactions involving cryptocurrency, because a single transaction can have tax consequences.

Gifting Crypto

Giving or donating crypto is a disposition by the giver. The receiver does not pay tax on receiving it. Whether the giver has a gain depends on whether the coin gained value between purchase and gift.

How much the giver owes depends on whether the value of the crypto increased between the time they bought it and gave it away, since that is a capital gain. If the digital assets lost value in that time, the result is a capital loss.

Is Crypto Taxed As Business Or Personal Income In Canada?

It can be either, and the CRA decides case by case. Generally, if your crypto activity looks like that of a person carrying on a business, the profit is business income and 100% of it is taxable. Otherwise it is capital, and you include half.

The CRA points to these factors as signs of a business:

• Frequency of transactions: a history of extensive buying and selling.
• Period of ownership: short holds and quick turnover.
• Knowledge of crypto markets: you have knowledge of, or experience in, the market.
• Time spent: a substantial part of your time goes to studying crypto markets.
• Financing: you pay for crypto with some form of debt.
• Advertising: you advertise that you will buy crypto-assets.

The CRA also says even an isolated transaction can count as business income if it is an adventure or concern in the nature of trade. So holding for the long term is the safer position for capital treatment, but it is not a guarantee. If you trade a lot, talk to an accountant before you file.

Should I Report As Business Income Or Capital Gains?

Report crypto dispositions on your taxes as business income if you:

• Operate a cryptocurrency business, for example running an exchange or an ATM, or selling cryptocurrency
• Have a business plan or seek investors for your business
• Regularly trade cryptocurrency, like a day trader
• Intend to make profits and undertake your activities in a business-like way

These activities suggest you are operating a cryptocurrency business, and it might mean you have to pay business income tax. Report crypto dispositions as capital gains and losses if you treat your crypto purchases as investments and you do not operate any kind of commercial business involving cryptocurrency.

What Do The Numbers Look Like At The Half Inclusion Rate?

If you bought Bitcoin at $42,000 and sold it at $50,000, you have an $8,000 profit. Treated as a capital gain, you include half of it, $4,000, and that $4,000 is taxed at your marginal rate. A $20,000 gain works the same way: $10,000 goes on your return.

If you bought Bitcoin at $50,000 and sold it at $42,000, that $8,000 loss is a business loss or a capital loss, depending on your trading patterns. As a capital loss, half of it ($4,000) is an allowable capital loss that offsets taxable capital gains that year or in other years. For the most current rules, check the CRA guidance or speak to a tax professional.

Oleg's takeI have run into the capital gains versus business income question myself. I did not guess: I asked my accountant, and I would tell anyone who trades often to do the same before filing.

How Do I Report Crypto On My Tax Return?

If you report business income, you complete form T2125 with your return. The CRA points to Guide T4002 for business income, including from crypto dispositions. The CRA's own business example: you sold $240,000 worth of crypto, your cost of goods sold was $198,000 and your expenses were $2,000, so net business income is $40,000.

If you report capital gains, you complete Schedule 3. A positive amount on line 19900 goes on line 12700 of your return as taxable capital gains. A negative amount is a net capital loss, which is not entered on line 12700 and is carried to other years.

One thing people miss: the CRA says you must file a return to report a disposition even when you do not owe tax. There is no small-amount exemption on the CRA page, so a small sale still gets reported.

For the 2025 tax year the deadline was April 30, 2026, or June 15, 2026 for self-employed filers, with any balance still due April 30. Check the CRA due dates page each year, because the dates move with the calendar.

Reporting Your Crypto Income

If you stake crypto (my guide on crypto staking for Canadians goes deeper), receive rebases, or lend stablecoins, what you receive in return is income. Add the total to your income for the year.

Taxes are part of life, and if you do not accurately report your income, the CRA may fine you or worse. Keep in mind that the CRA can track cryptocurrency in some cases, and it treats tax evasion very seriously. If you are selected for an audit, it is done on a case by case basis and can be time consuming and costly. Make sure you understand what counts as income and what counts as a capital gain before you file. If you simply buy and hold crypto, you do not need to report it on your taxes.

Reporting Your Crypto Trading Gains

If you trade one crypto for another, you can realize a capital gain or loss. If you sell for fiat, same thing, depending on whether the value rose between purchase and sale.

How Do You Calculate Crypto Taxes In Canada?

For every disposition, the capital gain is the proceeds minus your adjusted cost base (ACB, usually what you paid plus the expenses to acquire it) and the costs of selling. The result is a gain or a loss.

When you hold the same coin bought at different prices, the CRA rule for identical properties is to calculate the average cost of the group at each purchase. Buy 1 BTC at one price and 1 BTC at another and your ACB per coin is the average, not the cheapest or the latest. Each type of crypto is a separate asset and is valued separately.

Every figure must be in Canadian dollars at the time of the transaction. The CRA will generally accept fair market value, and says to use a reasonable method and use it consistently from year to year. Its example is a rate from the same exchange you use, or an average of high, low, open and close across several high-volume exchanges.

Capital losses work like this: half of a capital loss is an allowable capital loss, and you can only deduct it against taxable capital gains, not against employment income. Unused amounts become net capital losses that you can carry back three years or carry forward indefinitely.

If you do not want to do this by hand, use a crypto tax calculator like Koinly or CoinLedger. Neither is endorsed by the CRA, but both do the average cost maths for you.

How Much Capital Gains Tax Will I Pay On $300,000?

Include half: $150,000 is your taxable capital gain. It is added to your other income and taxed at your marginal rates. The actual tax bill depends on your province and your other income, so there is no single number. Under the cancelled proposal, the first $250,000 would have been at 50% and the other $50,000 at two thirds, but that never became the rule.

How Long Do I Need To Hold Crypto To Avoid Higher Taxes?

Canada has no long-term rate. Holding for a day or ten years makes no difference to the inclusion rate, which stays at one half for capital gains. What can raise your bill is trading so often that the CRA sees a business, because then the full profit is taxed as business income. Holding longer helps mainly by keeping you out of that pattern and by delaying when you realize the gain.

How Much Crypto Can I Cash Out Without Paying Taxes?

There is no small-amount exemption in Canada, and no $600 style reporting threshold. Every disposition goes on your return, even at a loss or with nothing owing. Only the part of your total income that falls under your personal tax credits ends up untaxed, so the honest answer is that it depends on your whole tax picture, and an accountant can run the numbers.

How Do Crypto Millionaires Cash Out Legally?

The legal routes are dull. People sell in stages across tax years rather than all at once, hold crypto inside a TFSA or RRSP through eligible funds, offset gains with realized losses, and set money aside for the bill. Large sales usually go through a registered platform or OTC desk with wire settlement. See my page on OTC crypto brokers in Canada.

Do I Pay Tax If I Lose Money On Crypto?

No tax on the loss, and it can reduce tax elsewhere. Selling for less than your ACB is a capital loss. Half of it is an allowable capital loss that offsets taxable capital gains, with a three year carry back and unlimited carry forward. You still report the sale. If your trading is treated as a business, the loss is a business loss instead.

How Is Crypto Mining Taxed In Canada?

Different from what I used to say here. The CRA says that in most cases mining is considered carrying on a business, given the scale and resources involved, so the value of the coins you receive is business income at the time earned. The CRA also says ASIC miners and GPU rigs used in a mining business can meet the conditions for capital cost allowance class 50. If you later sell mined coins, the business treatment already counted the income, so keep clean records of the value when received.

For GST/HST, the CRA says a person engaged in mining is generally not engaged in commercial activity, so they do not collect GST/HST on mining payments or claim input tax credits for it, with limited exceptions.

How Is Staking Crypto Taxed In Canada?

The CRA now has guidance on this. Rewards from staking on a centralized exchange are generally income at the time the rewards are credited to your wallet on the platform. They go on your return at their value in CAD at that moment, and that value becomes your cost for a later sale. If you later sell the coins, you report the capital gain or loss on top. If you stop staking or yield farming and then sell your crypto, you still pay tax on any capital gain, as set out above. My separate staking and taxes guide goes through examples.

Are NFTs Taxable In Canada?

NFTs in Canada are one of the crypto-asset types in the CRA guide, so the same logic applies. Sell one for more than you paid and you have a gain, for less and you have a loss. Trading an NFT for another asset, gifting one, or using one to pay for something is a disposition. Depending on your circumstances it is a capital gain or loss, or business income.

Is GST/HST Charged On Cryptocurrency In Canada?

For most people, no. The CRA says that when a person sells a crypto-asset that meets the definition of a virtual payment instrument, the sale is an exempt supply of a financial service and GST/HST does not apply. It names bitcoin, ether and litecoin as examples generally accepted as virtual payment instruments.

Other crypto-assets that do not meet the definition are likely a taxable sale of intangible personal property, so a Canadian resident seller has to collect GST/HST unless they are a small supplier or the sale is zero-rated. A small supplier is someone whose worldwide taxable revenue was $30,000 or less in a single calendar quarter and over the last four consecutive calendar quarters.

What If My Business Accepts Crypto As Payment?

If you run a business and accept cryptocurrency as a form of payment, you report it as income. Because it is barter, you note the fair market value of the crypto when you received it. If you sold a guitar for 0.1 BTC, you record what 0.1 BTC was worth that day and add that to your business income. If you are a GST/HST registrant, the CRA says to calculate GST/HST on the fair market value of the crypto at the time of the exchange, and to keep records showing how you got that value.

Are Crypto-To-Crypto Transactions Taxable In Canada?

Yes. Exchanging one crypto for another is a disposition. Say you bought Bitcoin at $20,000 and six months later swapped it for Ethereum when the Bitcoin was worth $25,000. You have a $5,000 capital gain on that swap. If it had dropped to $15,000 you would have a capital loss. At $20,000, no gain or loss.

Can I Hold Crypto In A TFSA Or Invest Tax-Free In Canada?

The Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) shelters growth inside the account. The usual route for crypto exposure is a Bitcoin or Ether ETF that trades on a Canadian exchange, which you buy through a brokerage account in CAD. You do not hold the coins yourself, and funds charge management fees. I have not re-checked fund fees for this update, so go to my Bitcoin ETFs guide and the fund company pages for the current numbers, and confirm with your broker that a given fund qualifies for your registered account.

Can The CRA Track Crypto Wallets?

Treat it as yes. Canadian exchanges verify your identity when you sign up, so there is a trail from your name to your trades and deposits. Blockchains are public, and I covered how the CRA can follow wallets in a separate piece on whether the CRA can track cryptocurrency. A change is coming too: Finance Canada's draft legislation from August 2025 would bring in the OECD's Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework, with reporting by crypto-asset service providers proposed to start on January 1, 2028. It is a proposal, so check its status before relying on the date.

What Happens If I Do Not Report Crypto?

You are risking a reassessment, interest and penalties, and in serious cases evasion charges. I will not quote penalty percentages here because I could not confirm the current figures on a CRA page. What I can say from the CRA guide: you must keep adequate books and records to support each transaction, and the CRA can ask for them. If you did leave out past gains, speak to a tax professional about correcting it before the CRA contacts you.

Can The CRA Audit My Crypto Transactions?

Yes. The CRA can audit any return, and crypto is a stated area of compliance work. Audits are case by case and take time, which is why records matter. If you are chosen, you should expect questions about which coins you bought and sold, which exchanges and wallets you used, and where the money for purchases came from. Having a full transaction report ready cuts the work.

If you are audited, the CRA will notify you and specify the years subject to the audit. An audit is a thorough investigation, which is why it is so important to keep records. Expect questions on areas like:

• The types of cryptocurrencies you purchased and sold
• The exchanges or wallets you used
• The origin of the funds you used for crypto purchases
• Any participation in initial coin offerings (ICOs)
• Passive income activities such as staking

Using Koinly To Report Crypto Taxes In Canada

Koinly is the crypto tax calculator I use. You can import for free, but paid plans are needed to download tax reports. Prices and plan limits are in my full Koinly review, which I keep current.

Koinly cannot know your tax rate or your employment income, so it will not tell you what you owe. What it does is detect crypto income and capital gains and total them for the return, using average cost.

Step 1: Sign Up

Create an account on the Canadian page. Then add every exchange and wallet you have ever used. If you bought Bitcoin in 2017 and sold in 2021, Koinly needs both years. If it only sees the 2021 sale, it assumes your cost was zero and your gain looks far bigger than it is.

Step 2: Add Exchanges

Click Wallets, then search for your exchange. Koinly supports hundreds of exchanges and wallets, so check the list for yours. You can import by API key or by uploading a transaction file. In some cases the API only brings in a limited history, so for your full history, export a spreadsheet from the exchange dashboard and upload that.

How Do You Upload Crypto Exchange Data To Koinly?

Say you have traded on a Canadian exchange. Select it in Koinly and you will be given a choice to import your transaction history via a file or automatically via an API key. If you choose the API key option, you generate the key in your exchange account (usually under API management), then paste it into Koinly. Other crypto exchanges also let you generate an API key for Koinly. Use a read-only key so the software cannot move your money.

Importing From Wallets

You can import from hardware and software wallets by public address or by uploading a history file. For Ledger, you can find the history in Ledger Live.

Step 3: Review Transactions

Open the Transactions page and go through them. Koinly labels staking rewards as rewards, and your totals count them as income. If you have a crypto Visa card, Koinly detects the cashback as deposits. A transfer between your own wallets is labelled a transfer.

Koinly is not 100% accurate. Click the three dots next to a transaction to edit it, and enter a value by hand if a token price is missing. A missing purchase history error means Koinly sees one half of a transaction, usually a sale with no matching buy. Add every exchange you have used. Network fees sometimes land labelled as sent: change those to cost, because costs reduce your gain.

What About Paying With Crypto In Koinly?

Remember that if a business accepts cryptocurrency and you use crypto to pay for goods and services, it counts as a barter transaction and the same tax rules apply. Koinly calculates the fair market value at the time you bought the crypto and when you disposed of it. If you have bought and sold, traded or mined, it detects those transactions and labels them so the right treatment can be applied. Remember, swapping capital assets like crypto can create a capital gain or loss.

If you have a capital gain or loss, Koinly shows the amount in green or red, and your total capital gain for the tax year appears on your dashboard. Your transactions also stay in the system, so you can reuse them for future tax years.

Step 4: View Tax Reports

Once the transactions are clean, open Tax Reports. On the free plan you cannot see your capital gains for the year or download reports, so you need a paid plan at tax time. Accountants will want your exchange records and a transaction report, and a Koinly download saves time.

Is Koinly Worth It? My Conclusion

Koinly can be a big help when you have to report cryptocurrency on taxes in Canada. If you simply buy and hold crypto, you will not need to report anything, but as soon as you trade, sell or stake crypto, it becomes much harder to track.

Crypto transactions add up, especially if you make a few trades a week or even monthly. Keeping track is time consuming because you must note down the price of the asset when you bought and sold it. You must also note the value of staking rewards at the time you received them. If you receive rewards daily this soon becomes impossible, especially if you stake more than one asset in more than one place.

Using a crypto tax calculator like Koinly is therefore the easiest option. It does the hard work for you. I have been using Koinly for a few years now and recommend it to anyone looking to declare income from crypto or calculate crypto capital gains. You can check my Koinly review here or sign up here.

What Records Should I Keep For Crypto Taxes?

Keep records for at least six years from the end of the last tax year they relate to, per the CRA. Its list for crypto-asset transactions:

• The number of units and type of crypto-asset for each transaction
• The date and time of each transaction
• The CAD value at the time of each transaction
• What the transaction was and who the other party was, even if only an address
• The addresses of each wallet you use
• Opening and closing wallet balances for each coin each year, with cost
• Receipts for accounting, legal and third-party software costs
• For miners: hardware receipts, power costs, pool fees and pool records

The CRA says to export your history regularly, in case an exchange shuts down, leaves Canada or you lose access. The full guidance is on the CRA crypto-asset page.

What Is The Final Word On Crypto Tax In Canada?

In a nutshell, you do not need to report purchases of cryptocurrency if you simply purchase it and hold it. If you sell it, trade it for another crypto, spend it, or give it away as a gift, then you will need to report these transactions on your tax return. You will need to note the value in Canadian dollars at the time of the transaction.

That is why it is so important to keep track of all your crypto transactions, so you can accurately report crypto on your taxes. Keep records for at least six years, and keep legal fees or accounting costs along with the transaction details. If you are not an accountant, a tool like Koinly will make your life easier. The official government guidance on cryptocurrency is on the CRA crypto-asset guide page.

What Changed For Crypto Tax In Canada In October 2026?

• Mar 21, 2025: The government cancelled the proposed increase in the capital gains inclusion rate. The rate stays at one half.
• Aug 2025: Finance Canada published draft legislation to bring in the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework, with provider reporting proposed from January 1, 2028.
• Nov 10, 2025: The CRA updated its crypto-asset guide pages on records, valuation, mining and staking, and GST/HST. Staking rewards on an exchange are income when credited.
• Dec 2, 2025: The CRA updated its page on reporting income from crypto-asset transactions, using 2025 examples at the 50% rate.
• Apr 30, 2026: Filing deadline for most people for the 2025 return (June 15, 2026 for the self-employed, with payment still due April 30).

What Else Should You Know About Crypto Tax In Canada?

• Can I File Crypto Taxes With TurboTax Canada?
• Free Canada Crypto Tax Calculator For 2025
• Donating Or Gifting Crypto In Canada: Tax Rules And Charitable Receipts
• Crypto Mining And Staking Income Tax In Canada
• Crypto Tax Accountants In Canada: How To Choose One And What They Cost
• Crypto Capital Gains Tax Rates In Canada With Examples
• NFT Taxes In Canada: How The CRA Treats Them
• Crypto Taxes In Quebec: Revenu Quebec And The CRA
• How To Claim Crypto Losses On Your Canadian Tax Return
• How To Report Crypto On Your Canadian Tax Return (Schedule 3 Walkthrough)
• CoinLedger Review For Canadians In 2026: Is It Worth It For Crypto Taxes?
• CoinTracker Review For Canadians
• Koinly Review For Canadians: How I Filed My Canadian Crypto Taxes In Just 10 Minutes

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Crypto Taxed In Canada?

Yes. Selling, swapping, spending or gifting crypto is a disposition that you report on your return. Buying and holding, and moving coins between your own wallets, is not taxable.

How Much Do You Get Taxed On Crypto Gains In Canada?

For capital gains you include half of the gain in your income and pay your marginal rate on it. The proposed two-thirds rate for gains over $250,000 was cancelled on March 21, 2025. Business income is 100% taxable.

Can The CRA Track Crypto Wallets?

Assume it can. Exchanges verify your identity, blockchains are public, and Finance Canada's draft CARF rules propose provider reporting from January 1, 2028.

Do I Have To Report Crypto Under $600?

The CRA page does not set a minimum. It says you must file a return to report a disposition, even if you owe nothing, so report small sales too.

Do I Pay Tax If I Lose Money On Crypto?

You pay no tax on the loss. Half of a capital loss is an allowable capital loss that offsets taxable capital gains, carried back three years or forward indefinitely. You still report the sale.

Is Crypto-To-Crypto Trading Taxable In Canada?

Yes. A swap is a sale of the first coin at fair market value in CAD on the day, so it can create a gain or loss even though no dollars were involved.

Are Staking Rewards Taxable In Canada?

Yes. The CRA says rewards from staking on a centralized exchange are generally income when credited to your wallet on the platform. Report their CAD value at that time.

How Long Should I Keep Crypto Records?

At least six years from the end of the last tax year they relate to, per the CRA. Export your exchange history regularly so you do not depend on the platform keeping it.

How Long Do I Need To Hold Crypto To Avoid Higher Taxes?

There is no long-term rate in Canada. Capital gains are included at one half whether you held for a week or for years. Trading very often can push the CRA to treat your profits as business income, which is taxed in full.

How Much Crypto Can I Cash Out Without Paying Taxes?

There is no tax-free amount for crypto sales and no reporting threshold. Every disposition is reported. Whether you owe anything depends on your total income and credits, so run the numbers or ask an accountant.