Crypto Tax Calculator
Estimate UK Capital Gains Tax on a crypto disposal after proceeds, pooled costs, fees, losses and the annual exempt amount. It is designed for quick sense-checking when you already know the pound-sterling proceeds and allowable cost basis.
Before you rely on the number
Crypto tax is often a record-keeping problem before it is a tax-rate problem
HMRC does not only look at cashing out to a bank account. Selling crypto, swapping one token for another, spending tokens, and gifting tokens to someone other than a spouse or civil partner can all be disposals. If you have lots of buys, sells, swaps, DeFi transactions or exchange transfers, use this calculator as a CGT estimate after you have worked out the correct cost basis, not as a full transaction-matching engine.
Estimate crypto Capital Gains Tax
Enter values in pounds sterling. For swaps, gifts or spending, use the GBP market value at the disposal date.
For swaps or gifts, use market value in GBP at the disposal time.
Use your matched cost, section 104 pooled cost, or simple acquisition cost where appropriate.
GOV.UK stacks taxable gains on top of taxable income.
Losses made in the same tax year are set against gains before the annual exemption.
Unused earlier losses are only used as far as needed after the annual exemption.
Earned tokens can have Income Tax consequences before later CGT.
Optional section 104 pool helper
Use this only for one token pool where same-day and 30-day matching do not apply. It estimates the pooled allowable cost for the quantity disposed and can fill the cost basis field.
Cost-basis warning checks
Annual exemption
GBP 3,000
The CGT annual exempt amount used here for 2025/26 and 2026/27.
Basic-rate slice
18%
Crypto gains falling within the remaining basic-rate band are estimated at 18%.
Higher-rate slice
24%
Gains above the remaining basic-rate band are estimated at 24%.
What counts as a crypto disposal?
The everyday trap is thinking tax only appears when money lands back in your bank account. HMRC's crypto manual is wider than that. Selling Bitcoin for pounds is the obvious disposal, but swapping ETH for SOL, using USDC to pay for something, or gifting tokens to a friend can also create a gain or loss that needs a GBP value.
Moving coins between two wallets you control is different. If you keep beneficial ownership throughout, the transfer itself is not normally a disposal. You still need records because transfers often explain why a token left one exchange and later appeared somewhere else. Without those records, tax software and HMRC can misread an internal transfer as a sale.
This is why the calculator asks for proceeds or market value, not just "cash received". For a swap, the proceeds are the pound value of the token you gave up. For a gift to someone who is not your spouse or civil partner, you may have to use market value even if no money changed hands.
| Crypto action | Calculator treatment |
|---|---|
| Sell for GBP | Use sale proceeds after valuing in sterling. |
| Swap token A for token B | Use GBP value of token A disposed. |
| Spend crypto | Use GBP value of what you spent. |
| Move between own wallets | Usually not a disposal, but keep evidence. |
The cost basis bit people underestimate
If you bought one token once and sold it later, the cost basis can be pleasantly boring: what you paid, plus allowable acquisition or disposal costs where HMRC rules allow them. Crypto rarely stays that neat for long. A few exchange trades, a partial sale, a rebuy during a dip, and a transfer to a cold wallet can turn a simple profit calculation into a matching exercise.
HMRC says each type of exchange token generally has its own section 104 pool. Bitcoin sits in a Bitcoin pool; Ether sits in an Ether pool. Same-day matching and the 30-day rule can take priority before the pool is used. NFTs are different because they are separately identifiable, so they are not pooled in the same way.
The practical advice is simple: if your exchange tax report already gives you a matched allowable cost in GBP, you can use that number here. If all you have is a rough memory of what you paid, tick the matching warning and treat the result as a broad estimate. It may still help you decide whether the tax is likely to be small, painful, or worth getting checked properly.
Worked examples
Simple sale
You sell tokens for GBP 18,000. Your matched cost is GBP 9,000 and fees are GBP 120. The gain is GBP 8,880 before any other gains, losses and the annual exemption.
Token swap
You swap one coin for another and receive no cash. HMRC can still treat that as a disposal, so you need the GBP value of the token you gave up at the time of the swap.
Loss year
If proceeds are lower than the allowable cost and fees, the calculator shows no CGT. You may still want to keep records and consider whether an allowable capital loss should be reported.
How this calculator works
Inputs used
- Tax year, disposal type, GBP disposal proceeds or market value.
- Allowable cost basis, including the matched or pooled cost where relevant.
- Allowable fees, other gains, same-year losses, brought-forward losses, and taxable income after allowances and reliefs.
Calculation method
- Calculate the crypto gain or loss as proceeds minus allowable cost minus allowable fees.
- Add other gains and set same-year allowable losses against same-year gains.
- Deduct the GBP 3,000 annual exempt amount where there is a gain left after same-year losses.
- Use brought-forward losses only as far as needed to reduce the remaining gain after the annual exemption.
- Stack taxable gains on top of taxable income and use the remaining basic-rate band first.
- Apply 18% to gains within the remaining basic-rate band and 24% above it.
Assumptions
- The estimate is for a UK individual disposing of cryptoassets treated as capital assets.
- You have already calculated the correct allowable cost basis if pooling, same-day matching or 30-day matching applies.
- The annual exempt amount is GBP 3,000 and the basic-rate band used for stacking is GBP 37,700.
What this does not cover
- This page does not run full exchange imports, wallet reconciliation, section 104 pool maintenance, NFT-by-NFT matching, DeFi income analysis, staking/mining Income Tax, remittance basis, non-UK residence, companies, trusts or professional trading cases.
- Use the Capital Gains Tax Calculator for wider non-crypto assets, or the Self-Employed Tax Calculator if your crypto activity is genuinely trading rather than investing.
Crypto records checklist
A good crypto tax estimate is only as reliable as the transaction history behind it. Before you put a number on a tax return, try to build a trail that another person could follow without needing your memory of what happened on each exchange.
The most useful export is usually a full CSV from every exchange and wallet provider, plus screenshots or statements where the export is thin. Keep the record even where a transfer is not taxable, because it helps prove that tokens moved between your own wallets rather than being sold.
When this estimate is probably not enough
You traded often
Lots of buys, sells and swaps usually need proper transaction matching before the CGT rate is even relevant.
You used DeFi
Lending, liquidity pools, wrapping, bridging and rewards can have different tax consequences. The label in an app is not always the tax answer.
You earned tokens
Mining, staking, employment rewards or airdrops can involve Income Tax before a later CGT disposal is calculated.
Records are missing
If you cannot prove dates, values, quantities and fees, the calculator can only show a rough planning number.
How losses are handled here
Losses are not just a single deduction box. If you make allowable capital losses in the same tax year, those losses are normally set against gains of that year first, even if that means you cannot use the annual exempt amount fully. That is why this calculator now separates current-year losses from losses brought forward from earlier years.
Brought-forward losses are more flexible. GOV.UK says you can use losses carried forward to reduce gains to the annual exempt amount, which means the calculator uses them only where taxable gains remain after same-year losses and the GBP 3,000 exemption. If your crypto result is a loss, keep the evidence and check whether you need to claim it within HMRC's time limits so it can be used in a later year.
This section matters for ordinary investors because a bad year in one token can change the tax on a good year in another. It also prevents a common overestimate: using all old losses automatically when the annual exemption would have covered part of the gain anyway.
Crypto tax FAQs
Do I pay UK tax when I sell crypto?
Is swapping one crypto for another taxable?
Can this calculator do full crypto pooling?
Are staking or airdrops covered?
How are crypto losses used?
What records should I keep?
Official sources
Last verified: May 10 2026. Calculations are estimates based on the published rules and assumptions shown on this page.
- HMRC Cryptoassets Manual - HMRC manual covering the tax treatment of cryptoassets, updated November 2025
- HMRC CRYPTO22100 - what is a disposal - selling, exchanging, spending and some gifts of tokens can be disposals for CGT
- HMRC CRYPTO22200 - pooling - section 104 pooling, same-day matching and 30-day matching for exchange tokens
- HMRC CRYPTO22150 - allowable expenses - costs that may be deductible when calculating gains or losses on token disposals
- HMRC CRYPTO20050 - which taxes apply - when individuals are normally within CGT and when Income Tax or trading treatment can take priority
- GOV.UK - tax when you receive cryptoassets - Income Tax and National Insurance warning for tokens received from employment, mining, staking, lending or liquidity pools
- GOV.UK Capital Gains Tax rates - 2026/27 CGT rates and income-stacking method for gains
- GOV.UK Capital Gains Tax allowances - annual exempt amount and allowance rules
- GOV.UK Capital Gains Tax losses - same-year losses, brought-forward losses and loss reporting deadlines