HolderTax / Australia
Jurisdiction · Schedule H–AU · income year 2026–27
Australia
Crypto is a CGT asset, gains stack onto your income at marginal rates — and the country is mid-way through the largest capital-gains reform in a generation. The 50% discount is in its final year. What you hold, and when it accrued, now matters more than it ever has.
Lodgment deadline31 October 2026 (self-lodged, for 2025–26)
Answer first
What HolderTax can say from the current evidence
Pre-publicationThese claims are still awaiting licensed human approval. Use the evidence bundle below to inspect the authority and review state.
Action-sensitive pageA deadline, disclosure route, examination or other consequential step is involved. Use the instructions on the authority document you actually received and do not treat this summary as advice.
Crypto as CGT assetDisposal of crypto held as an investment can trigger a CGT eventATO — What is capital gains tax?
CGT discount through 30 June 2027Eligible Australian resident individuals who hold an asset at least 12 months can use the 50% CGT discount under current rulesATO — Crypto myth busting
CGT reform from 1 July 2027Legislation/reform replaces the 50% discount for gains accruing from 1 July 2027 with cost-base indexation and a 30% minimum tax rate, subject to transition rulesAustralian Treasury — Budget 2026–27 tax system changes
Wash sales / Part IVAAustralia has no simple day-count crypto wash-sale rule; arrangements entered for dominant purpose of obtaining a tax benefit can be caught by Part IVAATO TR 2008/1 — Part IVA and wash sales
Current position
The schedule.
Status marks: — settled in practice, ! watch (moving or commonly misapplied), ? unresolved. All lines are a working draft pending licensed review.
Schedule H · Part INature, discount, income events, losses, data and deadlines
FORM H–AU / 2026-27
STATUS: WORKING REVIEW| Line | Position | Current treatment | What it means | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Nature of the asset | CGT asset · not foreign currency | Disposals are CGT events; transfers between your own wallets are not. | — |
| 02 | Investor vs trader | Investor by default · facts decide | Business-like trading moves everything to revenue account — no discount, different losses. Most holders are investors. | ! |
| 03 | Disposal events | Sell, swap, spend, gift | Token-for-token swaps and stablecoin legs included, at AUD market value on the day. | — |
| 04 | Cost base & parcels | Per parcel · identification with records | No pooling. FIFO or specific identification are workable where records support them — the records are the method. | ! |
| 05 | CGT discount · final year | 50% if held >12 months — until 30 Jun 2027 | Legislated 26 Jun 2026: from 1 Jul 2027 the discount is replaced by CPI indexation plus a 30% minimum tax. Pre-reform accrual keeps the old treatment. | ! |
| 06 | Rates | Marginal · gains stack on income | No separate CGT rate. Second bracket is 15% from 1 Jul 2026, 14% from 1 Jul 2027. | — |
| 07 | Personal use asset | ≤$10,000 · narrow | Only where acquired and used to buy things for personal consumption, promptly. Holding first, spending later fails the test — this exemption is smaller than the internet says. | ! |
| 08 | Staking & established airdrops | Ordinary income at receipt | AUD value on the day received; that value becomes the cost base. Initial-allocation airdrops differ — cost base zero, no income. | — |
| 09 | Chain splits | New token · zero cost base (investor) | No income on receipt; the whole proceeds are gain on eventual disposal. | — |
| 10 | DeFi, wrapping & liquidity | Interactions can be disposals | ATO web guidance (2023) treats many smart-contract interactions as CGT events. It is guidance, not law, and it is contested — position by transaction, on advice. | ? |
| 11 | Loss harvesting & wash sales | No mechanical rule · Part IVA purpose test | Losses offset capital gains only and carry forward. Sell-and-rebuy for the tax benefit invites the anti-avoidance provision — a different animal from the US gap and the UK 30-day rule. | ! |
| 12 | Exchange data matching | DSP program · 2014–15 through 2025–26 | 700,000 to 1.2 million records a year, matched to returns, surfacing as prefill prompts and data-matching letters with case-specific response dates. | ! |
| 13 | CARF | Announced · not yet law | MYEFO (Dec 2025): CARF plus domestic reporting from 2027, first international exchange expected 2028. | ! |
| 14 | Lodgment & records | 31 Oct self-lodged · later via agent | Keep records five years: dates, AUD values, fees, wallet trails. myTax prefill already knows you traded. | — |
Working draft · all 14 lines pending licensed review · sign-off dates will appear per lineStart with line 05 →
Data-matching letterExchange records don't match your returnA response date will be printed on the letter. The data may come from platform reporting or ATO data matching.Use letter deadline
myGov / myTax promptA tailored message at lodgment timePrefill knows about the accounts. Lodging past the prompt is a statement.Before lodging
Review or audit letterA formal engagement has openedThe voluntary-disclosure discount just changed. Representation first.Formal
No letter yetVoluntary — the 80% momentDisclosure before you are told of an examination cuts shortfall penalties by 80%.Voluntary
Published pages · Australia
Read in the order trouble arrives.
Letter
The data-matching letter
The ATO already has the exchange records. How to read the response date on the letter, reconcile the data, and avoid lodging a rushed correction.
→ RuleThe last year of the 50% discount
Legislated: indexation plus a 30% minimum tax from 1 July 2027. What the transition preserves, and for whom.
→ DecisionAmending and disclosing prior years
Two-and four-year amendment windows, the 80% voluntary-disclosure reduction, and the timing that decides it.
→ AnalysisWash sales: the purpose test
No mechanical rule — a general anti-avoidance provision aimed at your dominant purpose. The third answer to the same question.
→Evidence bundle
Canonical claims used on this page
Claim IDs are the publication contract. A translation or article may explain a claim, but cannot silently change its source, status or review lifecycle.
au.crypto_cgtCrypto as CGT assetDisposal of crypto held as an investment can trigger a CGT eventau.cgt_discount_currentCGT discount through 30 June 2027Eligible Australian resident individuals who hold an asset at least 12 months can use the 50% CGT discount under current rulesau.cgt_reform_2027CGT reform from 1 July 2027Legislation/reform replaces the 50% discount for gains accruing from 1 July 2027 with cost-base indexation and a 30% minimum tax rate, subject to transition rulesau.wash_saleWash sales / Part IVAAustralia has no simple day-count crypto wash-sale rule; arrangements entered for dominant purpose of obtaining a tax benefit can be caught by Part IVAau.data_matchingCrypto data matchingATO obtains crypto transaction/account data from designated service providers and matches it to returnsau.penalty_behaviourShortfall penalty behaviour bandsBase shortfall penalties include 25% failure to take reasonable care, 50% recklessness, 75% intentional disregardau.voluntary_disclosureVoluntary disclosure reductionBefore notification of examination, base penalty can be reduced by 80%; after notification, reduction can be 20% where statutory conditions are metau.recordsCrypto record keepingKeep transaction, exchange, AUD valuation and wallet records for crypto assets