Why use this calculator
The Australian Taxation Office treats most crypto as a capital gains tax asset, so every sale, swap, gift or purchase made with crypto is a disposal that can create a tax bill. Many people guess the bill by multiplying the gain by a single tax rate, which is wrong twice over: the gain is added on top of your salary so it can push you into a higher bracket, and a long held gain is halved before any tax is worked out.
This calculator does it the way your tax return does. It adds the fees to your cost base, applies any capital losses before the discount, halves what is left if you held for twelve months or more, and then works out the extra income tax and Medicare levy that the gain causes using the 2026-27 brackets. Knowing the number before you sell is the difference between a planned bill and a nasty surprise in October.
How to use it
- Enter the Australian dollar amount you paid for the crypto, which your exchange's transaction history or annual tax report shows for each purchase.
- Enter the fees you paid on the buy and the sell, also listed in the exchange history.
- Enter the Australian dollar value you received, or for a swap the market value of the coin you received at that moment.
- Choose whether you held it twelve months or more, counting from your trade dates.
- Enter your other taxable income from your income statement in myGov.
- Finally enter any capital losses available, which appear as net capital losses carried forward on last year's notice of assessment.
What each result means
- Estimated tax on this disposal
- The extra income tax and Medicare levy you pay because this gain is added to your income for the year.
- Holding past twelve months saves
- The tax you would avoid by holding the crypto for more than twelve months before disposing of it, so the 50% CGT discount applies. It assumes the same sale value and the same other income.
- Sale value to break even
- The disposal value that would recover what you paid for the crypto plus the fees to buy and sell it. Below this figure the disposal makes a capital loss.
- Capital gain or loss
- What you received minus what you paid including fees. A negative number is a capital loss.
- Capital losses applied
- The part of your available capital losses used against this gain before the discount is worked out.
- CGT discount
- The half of the gain after losses that is excluded from tax because you held the asset twelve months or more.
- Net capital gain added to income
- The amount that ends up in your taxable income and is taxed at your ordinary marginal rates.
- Marginal tax rate on the gain
- The highest income tax bracket your income reaches once the gain is added, before the 2 per cent Medicare levy.
- Effective tax rate on the gain
- Tax as a percentage of the whole gain. The discount usually brings this well below your marginal rate.
- Profit after tax
- The gain you keep once this disposal's tax is paid. Negative when the sale was a loss.
- Capital loss to carry forward
- Losses left over after this disposal, which you can use against capital gains in later years with no time limit.
The formula
Cost base equals the amount paid plus fees. Capital gain equals disposal value minus cost base. Losses applied equals the smaller of available capital losses and the gain. If the asset was held twelve months or more, the CGT discount equals the gain after losses times 50 per cent. Net capital gain equals gain after losses minus the discount. Tax equals income tax less low income tax offset plus Medicare levy on other income plus net gain, minus the same on other income alone, using the 2026-27 brackets in src/lib/tax-au.ts.
How this number is used in practice
Timing matters more than most crypto holders realise. Selling a day before the twelve month mark means the whole gain is taxed, and selling a few days later halves it. On a $20,000 gain for someone earning $85,000 that difference is several thousand dollars. The financial year matters too: a disposal on 30 June lands in this year's return, while one on 1 July lands in next year's, which can help if your income will be lower then.
Swaps are the trap. Trading one coin for another is a disposal of the first coin at its market value, even though no Australian dollars reached your bank account, so a year of active trading can leave a tax bill with no cash set aside to pay it.
The ATO receives data from Australian exchanges and matches it to tax returns, so keep your own records of every trade with its date and Australian dollar value. Crypto earned from staking, mining or as payment for work is ordinary income when received, not a capital gain.
Worked examples
$5,000 of crypto sold for $12,000 after two years, $100 fees, $85,000 salary
A $6,900 gain is halved to $3,450, adding about $1,104 of tax. You keep roughly $5,796.
Same trade sold after eight months
No discount, so the full $6,900 is taxed and the bill roughly doubles to about $2,208.
$20,000 bought, sold for $8,000 within a year, $150,000 salary
A $12,100 capital loss with no tax payable, carried forward to reduce future capital gains.
When people use it
- Estimating the tax before you sell, so you can set the cash aside
- Deciding whether to wait until the twelve month mark before selling
- Checking how much a carried forward loss reduces a gain this year
- Working out the tax on a coin to coin swap valued in Australian dollars
- Choosing which financial year to sell in when your income is changing
Tips
- Coin to coin swaps, buying goods with crypto and gifting crypto are all disposals. Record the Australian dollar value at the time of each one.
- Moving crypto between wallets you own is not a disposal, but keep the records that prove both wallets are yours.
- Capital losses must be used against capital gains before the discount is applied, so losses are worth twice as much against short term gains.
- If you bought the same coin at different prices, you can identify which parcel you sold if your records support it, which can reduce the gain.
- Staking rewards and airdrops are generally ordinary income when you receive them, and they then have a cost base equal to that value.
- The personal use asset exemption is narrow. Crypto held as an investment or traded does not qualify, however small the amount.
What it assumes, and where it stops being accurate
- Income tax uses the 2026-27 resident brackets and low income tax offset, plus the 2 per cent Medicare levy with its low income phase in.
- The disposal is treated as a capital gains event by an individual investor, not as trading stock of a business.
- The discount applies at 50 per cent to individuals holding for twelve months or more. Companies get no discount and super funds get one third.
- The Medicare levy surcharge, HELP repayments and any other capital gains or losses in the same year are not included.
- All values are in Australian dollars at the time of each transaction.
Terms used on this page
- Cost base
- What you paid to acquire an asset plus incidental costs such as fees, used to work out the capital gain.
- CGT discount
- The rule that halves the capital gain for individuals who held an asset for at least twelve months.
- Capital loss
- A negative result on disposal, usable only against capital gains now or in later years.
- Disposal
- Any event that ends your ownership of a crypto asset, including a sale, swap, gift or purchase of goods.
Questions people ask
- Is crypto taxed in Australia?
- Yes. The ATO treats most crypto as property for capital gains tax. Selling it for dollars, swapping it for another coin, gifting it or spending it on goods are all disposals, and any gain is added to your taxable income for the year. Crypto received as salary, from staking or from mining is ordinary income instead.
- How does the 50 per cent CGT discount work for crypto?
- If you are an individual and you held the crypto for at least twelve months before disposing of it, only half of the gain left after capital losses is added to your taxable income. The twelve months exclude the day you acquired it and the day you disposed of it, so check your trade dates before selling near the line.
- What happens if I swap one coin for another?
- The swap is a disposal of the coin you gave up. Its capital proceeds are the Australian dollar market value of the coin you received at that moment. You compare that with what you originally paid, and the new coin starts with a cost base equal to the same market value.
- Can crypto losses reduce tax on my salary?
- No. Capital losses can only be used against capital gains, in the same year or in any later year. They never reduce salary or other ordinary income. Unused losses carry forward indefinitely, so recording them in your tax return keeps them available for future gains.
- Is crypto under $10,000 tax free?
- Only if it is a personal use asset, which means it was acquired for less than $10,000 and kept and used mainly to buy items for personal use. The ATO rarely accepts this for crypto that was bought as an investment, held for a long time or traded, so most people cannot rely on it.
Use this with
Crypto Tax Calculator (Australia) answers one part of the question. These pick up where it stops: Capital Gains Tax Calculator, Australian Income Tax Calculator, Salary After Tax Calculator, Investment Return Calculator and Tax Refund Estimator.
Where these figures come from
Figures and rules on this page follow Australian law and ATO guidance.
- ATO: Crypto asset investments. How the ATO treats crypto disposals, swaps and records
- ATO: Tax rates for Australian residents. Income tax brackets for 2026-27
- Moneysmart: How to invest. Independent guidance on crypto and investment risk
Crypto Tax Calculator (Australia) produces an estimate for general information. It is not financial, tax, medical, legal or engineering advice. read the full disclaimer. Spotted a wrong number? Report it and it gets fixed. The form picks up this calculator and the inputs you used.