End of Financial Year Crypto Tax: What to Review Before 30 June

Last reviewed by Rafael Franco, on 22 June 2026

Summary

With 30 June approaching, now is the time for Australian crypto investors to review their portfolios and understand the tax consequences of their activity over the past financial year. Most disposals of cryptocurrency trigger a taxable event, including selling for Australian dollars, swapping one token for another, spending crypto on goods or services, or gifting assets. Individuals and trusts may be eligible for the 50% CGT discount where an asset has been held for more than 12 months. Staking rewards are generally treated as ordinary income rather than capital gains. Importantly, unless you are carrying on a business of crypto trading for tax purposes then unrealised losses do not reduce your taxable position. To offset capital gains, the loss must be realised before 30 June. 

Tax On Chain is a Chartered Accounting firm specialising in cryptocurrency and digital assets. With the end of the financial year approaching, now is the time to review your crypto activity, identify potential tax planning opportunities, and ensure your records are in order. This article outlines the key issues Australian crypto investors should consider before 30 June.

Key Takeaways

• A common misconception is crypto is only taxable when you cash out for AUD. In reality, most crypto transactions or activity have tax consequences.
• Disposing of crypto is generally a crypto CGT event, including selling, swapping one token for another, spending crypto and gifting assets.
• Individuals and trusts holding an asset for more than 12 months may be eligible for the 50% CGT discount.
• Staking rewards are ordinary income at their Australian dollar value when received. The value at the time of receipt then forms the cost base for capital gains tax purposes.
• For most investors, unrealised losses do not reduce taxable gains. To utilise a loss, it generally needs to be realised before 30 June. 
• Crypto capital losses can only offset capital gains, not salary, staking rewards or business income.
• In some circumstances, taxpayers carrying on crypto activities in a sufficiently business-like manner may be treated as traders rather than investors. This can result in gains being taxed as ordinary income and losses potentially being deductible against other income sources. 
• Ensure your records are complete and up to date, including exchange transaction histories, wallet addresses and year-end balances. 
• Reviewing your position before 30 June may identify legitimate tax planning opportunities and help avoid surprises at tax time. Talk to your crypto accountant about tax planning strategies.

Want your position reviewed before 30 June? Book a consultation with the Tax On Chain team while there is still time to act this financial year.

With 30 June approaching, it is worth understanding how the Australian Taxation Office views your crypto activity. The end of the financial year is the point at which decisions stop being theoretical. The concepts below are the ones every Australian crypto investor should understand before they lodge, and the ones that most often catch people out.

Disposing of Crypto Is Generally a CGT Event

A disposal of crypto is generally treated as a capital gains tax event. This is the concept that underpins most crypto tax positions, and it covers more activity than many investors expect.

A crypto CGT event includes selling crypto for Australian dollars, swapping one cryptocurrency for another, using crypto to pay for goods or services, and even gifting crypto to family or friends. If you have done any of these during the financial year, you have likely triggered a CGT event, resulting in either a capital gain or a capital loss. A crypto-to-crypto swap is the one people forget most often, because no Australian dollars are exchanged.

The 50% CGT Discount

The holding period matters. For the current financial year, individuals and trusts holding crypto for more than 12 months may receive the 50% CGT discount. In practice, that can mean paying tax on only half of an eligible gain.

The discount applies to the gain on assets held for longer than 12 months, calculated from the date of acquisition to the date of disposal. It does not apply to companies, and self-managed super funds receive a different rate. The 50% CGT discount is one reason the timing of a disposal, and the order in which parcels are sold, can change your crypto capital gains tax position considerably.

Not Everything Is a CGT Event

Crypto income does not all fall under the capital gains rules. Staking rewards, for example, are treated as ordinary income, assessed at their Australian dollar value at the time they are received. Think of staking rewards being similar to how bank interest is taxed.

This distinction matters because income and capital gains are taxed differently – and a capital loss cannot be used to offset income derived from staking rewards. Other receipts such as airdrops can also be ordinary income on receipt, depending on when they were issued. When you later sell tokens you received as staking rewards or airdrops, a separate CGT event occurs, with a cost base equal to the value already declared as income. For investors with significant on-chain activity, ensuring everything has been accounted for correctly can become complex. Our tax preparation service for investors helps crypto investors navigate these obligations with confidence, ensuring their reporting is accurate, complete and compliant. 

Unrealised Capital Losses Cannot Offset Realised Capital Gains

One thing that catches many investors out is that unrealised capital losses cannot be used to offset realised capital gains. If your crypto has fallen in value, that paper loss does nothing for your tax position while you continue to hold the asset.

To claim a capital loss, you generally need to sell or swap the asset before 30 June. The disposal can be into Australian dollars, stablecoins or even another cryptocurrency. Simply holding an investment that is down in value is not enough. The loss must be realised through an actual disposal for it to count this financial year.

A caution applies here. The Australian Taxation Office targets wash sales, where an investor sells an asset purely to create a loss and then buys back the same or a substantially similar asset shortly after. Disposals made for that purpose can be denied under the anti-avoidance rules, so a loss should reflect a genuine change in position.

Capital Losses Only Offset Capital Gains

Capital losses are useful, but only against the right income. Capital losses can only be used to offset other capital gains. They cannot reduce other ordinary income such as salary, staking rewards or business income.

Where your losses exceed your gains in a year, the net capital loss is not lost. It carries forward to offset capital gains in future financial years. This is why a clear record of prior-year losses matters when you prepare your crypto tax return.

Crypto Traders Are Taxed Differently

Most cryptocurrency investors are taxed under the capital gains tax (CGT) regime. However, in some circumstances, a taxpayer’s activities may be sufficiently organised, frequent and profit-driven that they are considered to be carrying on a business of crypto trading.

Where this occurs, crypto assets are generally treated as trading stock rather than capital assets. Profits are taxed as ordinary income and losses may be deductible against other forms of income, such as salary, business income or staking rewards. Traders are also generally required to account for year-end trading stock values, meaning unrealised gains and losses may impact their taxable position.

There is no single factor that determines whether you are a trader or an investor. The Australian Taxation Office considers factors such as the scale and frequency of transactions, the existence of a trading strategy, record-keeping systems, and whether the activity is conducted in a business-like manner with the intention of generating short-term profits. If you believe you may qualify as a trader, specialist advice should be sought, as the tax consequences can differ significantly from those applying to investors.

Review Your Portfolio Before Year-End

Reviewing your portfolio and taxable position before 30 June can reveal legitimate tax planning opportunities that can yield significant tax savings. Importantly, this review should extend beyond your crypto assets and consider your broader investment portfolio as a whole.

If you have realised capital gains during the year – whether from crypto, shares, property, precious metals or other investments – crystallising losses on underperforming investments before year-end may help reduce your overall tax liability. This can be an effective portfolio rebalancing strategy, provided the disposals reflect genuine investment decisions rather than arrangements designed solely to generate a tax benefit.

The objective is not to make investment decisions based solely on tax outcomes, but rather to ensure your tax position appropriately reflects your investment portfolio and intentions before the financial year closes. 

Crypto Tax Software Still Requires Human Review 

One of the biggest misconceptions in crypto tax is that software does all the work for you. In reality, crypto tax software is only as good as the data, settings and assumptions behind it. Something as simple as selecting the wrong tax settings, failing to import all wallets, or incorrectly classifying transactions can produce materially incorrect tax outcomes. This can result in overpaying tax and reports that are difficult to substantiate in the event of an ATO audit.

This becomes even more important where DeFi, staking, NFTs, bridging activity, self-custody, or high transaction volumes and leverage trading are involved. While crypto tax software is an incredibly useful tool for aggregating data, it should generally be viewed as the starting point rather than the finished product. Generating a tax report is easy; ensuring that report accurately reflects the underlying activity is where much of the real work occurs.

 

The Bottom Line

With 30 June approaching, now is the time to review your crypto activity, ensure your records are complete, and understand the tax consequences of your transactions. A proactive review can help identify reporting issues, uncover legitimate tax planning opportunities, and avoid surprises when it comes time to lodge your return.

If your activity extends beyond simple buy-and-hold investing – such as staking, DeFi, NFTs, on-chain activity, high transaction volumes or potential trader treatment – engaging a specialist crypto tax accountant can be worthwhile. The reconciliation of digital assets is often more complex than investors expect, and the right adviser may not only help ensure your current-year reporting is accurate and tax-efficient, but also identify opportunities to better structure your affairs going forward and improve long-term tax outcomes.

 

Your End of Financial Year Crypto Tax Checklist

Work through this before 30 June:

• List every exchange and wallet you used this financial year.
• Export the full transaction history as a CSV from each exchange, including spot trades, deposits/withdrawals, realised PnL etc.
• Record each wallet address and its balance as at 30 June.
• Review any staking, DeFI, NFT, lending, borrowing or other onchain activity to ensure it has been correctly classified.
• Identify every disposal: sales for Australian dollars, crypto-to-crypto swaps, crypto spent on goods or services, and crypto gifted.
• Flag any assets held for more than 12 months, which may qualify for the 50% CGT discount.
• Record staking rewards and airdrops at their Australian dollar value on the date received.
• Review realised capital gains and losses for the year
• Review your whole portfolio, crypto and otherwise, for unrealised losses.
• Decide whether to crystallise any genuine losses before 30 June, avoiding wash sales.
• Check for any prior-year capital losses available that can also be used to offset current year capital gains.
• If in doubt, speak to your accountant to assist with your crypto reconciliation and to uncover potential tax saving opportunities.

When to Get Help

Everyone’s situation is different, and the tax implications can become complex very quickly. A portfolio spanning several exchanges, blockchains, DeFi and wallets is rarely a simple tax return.

If you need help understanding your tax position, consider speaking with a qualified accountant who specialises in cryptocurrency taxation. Our crypto tax reporting service can reconcile your activity, review your records and prepare your tax return, taking the complexity and stress out of the process. Importantly, seeking advice before 30 June may also uncover legitimate tax planning and structuring opportunities that may no longer be available once the financial year has ended. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping one cryptocurrency for another a taxable event? Yes. A crypto-to-crypto swap is generally a taxable event, even though no Australian dollars change hands. You may make a capital gain or loss on the asset you dispose of.

Do I pay tax if my crypto has only dropped in value? No – you will only pay tax on realised capital gains. Importantly, you also cannot claim the loss while you still hold the asset – the loss must be crystallised by disposing of the asset.

How does the 50% CGT discount work? Individuals and trusts who hold an asset for more than 12 months may be taxed on only half the capital gain. The discount does not apply to companies, and self-managed super funds use a different rate.

Are staking rewards taxed as income or capital gains? Staking rewards are ordinary income at their Australian dollar value when received. A later sale of those tokens is a separate CGT event.

Can I use crypto capital losses to reduce my salary tax? Generally, no. Crypto capital losses can only be used to offset capital gains. They cannot be used to reduce other forms of income, such as salary and wages, staking rewards, interest, dividends or business income. If your capital losses exceed your capital gains for the year, the unused losses are carried forward and can be applied against capital gains in future financial years. 

Speak With Our Team Before 30 June

If you have traded, swapped, spent or earned crypto this year, it is worth reviewing your position while you can still act on it. Book a consultation with the Tax On Chain team to understand your crypto tax position before the financial year closes.

About the author: Rafael Franco is a co-founder and Director of Tax On Chain and a Chartered Accountant registered with CAANZ. He specialises in crypto tax for high net worth investors and is an active crypto investor himself. Tax On Chain is an Australian Chartered Accounting firm specialising in crypto and digital assets.

This article is general in nature and does not constitute financial, legal or tax advice. Always seek professional advice tailored to your individual circumstances.