- ASIC says crypto-assets that meet the legal definitions are financial products, and persons dealing in them generally need an Australian financial services (AFS) license. A new law for digital asset platforms commences on 9 April 2027.
- The ATO treats crypto held as an investment as a capital gains tax (CGT) asset. If you are an Australian resident and owned it for at least 12 months, you can reduce the capital gain by 50%.
- Staking rewards are ordinary income. Crypto kept or used mainly for personal use can be a personal use asset, which is exempt if it cost AUD 10,000 or less.
- Companies pay 25% if they are a base rate entity (aggregated turnover under AUD 50 million) and 30% otherwise, for 2025-26.
- Since 31 March 2026, crypto exchanges are regulated by AUSTRAC as virtual asset service providers, with a travel rule for transfers.
This page covers private individuals and companies that hold, trade or accept crypto in Australia. Australia’s tax year runs from 1 July to 30 June. It is general information, not legal or tax advice. Some official pages were hard to open for this guide, and we say so where it limits what we describe.
Legal status
ASIC’s information sheet on crypto-assets says that a crypto-asset can be a financial product when it meets the legal definitions, such as a facility for financial investment, a managed investment scheme interest, a security, a derivative or a non-cash payment facility. Persons who deal in, or give advice on, such products are generally required to hold an AFS license.
The Digital Assets Framework Act
The Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Act 2026 received Royal Assent on 8 April 2026 and commences on 9 April 2027, according to ASIC. It introduces two new financial products, digital asset platforms and tokenised custody platforms, which need an AFS license. When the bill was introduced on 26 November 2025, the Treasury said that smaller, low-risk platforms holding less than AUD 5,000 per customer and facilitating less than AUD 10 million in transactions per year would be exempt. We have not checked whether those thresholds are in the final Act.
AUSTRAC registration
AUSTRAC, the anti-money-laundering regulator, says that digital currency exchange providers are automatically registered as virtual asset service providers from 31 March 2026. The designated services include exchanging virtual assets for money, exchanging them for other virtual assets, providing virtual asset safekeeping, and accepting instructions to transfer virtual assets on behalf of customers. A business that starts a new virtual asset service from 31 March 2026 must enrol by 28 April 2026 and apply for registration before it provides the service. For providers of both an existing and a new registrable service, the obligations for the new services were deferred until 1 July 2026.
Tax for individuals
Crypto as a CGT asset
In a tax determination (TD 2014/26) the ATO says that bitcoin is a CGT asset. For investors, crypto assets are taxed as CGT assets. Your capital gain or loss when you sell or dispose of one goes into your tax return.
The 12-month discount
When you sell or otherwise dispose of an asset, you can reduce your capital gain by 50% if you owned the asset for at least 12 months and you are an Australian resident for tax purposes. Section 115-25 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 says that a discount capital gain must be on an asset acquired at least 12 months before the CGT event.
Personal use assets
If you hold crypto as an investment, it is not exempt as a personal use asset. The ATO says crypto is a personal use asset if you keep or use it mainly for personal use, for example to buy items for personal use or consumption. Under section 118-10 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997, a capital gain from a personal use asset is disregarded if the first element of its cost base is AUD 10,000 or less. A capital gain on a crypto asset is therefore exempt if it is a personal use asset that you acquired for less than AUD 10,000.
Staking
The ATO says that rewards from staking crypto assets are ordinary income. They are often additional tokens you receive for holding the original tokens. You convert their value to Australian dollars and report them in your tax return under “Other income”. The ATO pages we read do not cover mining and airdrops in a way we could confirm, so we do not describe them.
Income tax rates
Capital gains and income are added together and taxed at the resident rates. The ATO’s rate table for residents shows:
| Taxable income | Tax |
|---|---|
| AUD 0 to AUD 18,200 | Nil |
| AUD 18,201 to AUD 45,000 | 16 cents for each dollar over AUD 18,200 (the ATO says this falls to 15% from 1 July 2026 and 14% from 1 July 2027) |
| AUD 45,001 to AUD 135,000 | AUD 4,288 plus 30 cents for each dollar over AUD 45,000 |
| AUD 135,001 to AUD 190,000 | AUD 31,288 plus 37 cents for each dollar over AUD 135,000 |
| AUD 190,001 and over | AUD 51,638 plus 45 cents for each dollar over AUD 190,000 |
These rates apply to Australian residents who were residents for tax purposes for the full income year. The table does not include the Medicare levy or other charges.
Tax for companies
| Company tax rate (2025-26) | Rate |
|---|---|
| Base rate entities (aggregated turnover under AUD 50 million) | 25% |
| All other companies | 30% |
For GST, the ATO says that if you trade digital currency for money or other digital currency with an Australian resident who is located in Australia, the supply is an input-taxed financial supply, and you do not pay GST on it. If you sell digital currency through a digital currency exchange located outside Australia, the supply is GST-free. We could not read the ATO’s guidance on how companies treat crypto as trading stock or as a CGT asset, so we do not describe it.
Reporting and filing obligations
Records. The ATO says you must keep your records for 5 years from the latest of: when you prepare or obtain the records, when the transactions or acts are completed, or the year the CGT event happens.
Crypto reporting by providers (CARF)
On 17 December 2025, in the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook, the government announced it will implement the OECD Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework and a domestic crypto tax transparency reporting regime. The ATO gives a proposed start date of 1 January 2027, with the first exchange of information with other countries expected in 2028. We could not confirm that the law has been passed, so treat the dates as proposed.
Exchanges and KYC
Check that an exchange is registered with AUSTRAC. Registered virtual asset service providers must follow the anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism financing rules, which include identifying customers.
A new travel rule applies to financial institutions, remittance service providers and virtual asset service providers from 31 March 2026. AUSTRAC says that businesses that transfer or receive money, virtual assets or property on behalf of customers may need to collect, verify and share specific information with the other businesses in the transfer. For providers that also offer a newly registrable virtual asset service, the travel rule obligations for those transfers were deferred until 1 July 2026. We could not confirm what the rule requires for transfers to or from a private wallet.
Self-custody
We found no Australian rule that restricts private wallets. The ATO says that you cannot recover a lost private key, and that if you lose it you lose access to your crypto assets. If a crypto asset is lost or stolen, you can claim a capital loss if you have evidence that you owned it and have lost access to it. The ATO lists evidence such as the public key, the dates you acquired and lost the private key, the digital wallet address, the cost of acquiring the crypto, its value at the time of the loss, and documents showing that the wallet was in your control or that transactions from exchanges are linked to your identity.
Sources
- ASIC: Crypto-assets (Information Sheet 225) (last checked October 2026)
- ASIC: ASIC’s roadmap for digital assets law reform implementation (last checked October 2026)
- Treasury: New digital asset laws unlock innovation and safeguard consumers (last checked October 2026)
- AUSTRAC: Register as a remittance or virtual asset service provider (last checked October 2026)
- AUSTRAC: Virtual asset designated services (last checked October 2026)
- AUSTRAC: Travel rule overview (last checked October 2026)
- ATO: Crypto asset investments (last checked October 2026)
- ATO: CGT discount (last checked October 2026)
- ATO: Loss or theft of crypto assets (last checked October 2026)
- ATO: Keeping crypto records (last checked October 2026)
- ATO: Tax rates, Australian residents (last checked October 2026)
- ATO: Company tax rates (last checked October 2026)
- ATO: GST and trading digital currency (last checked October 2026)
- ATO: OECD Crypto Asset Reporting Framework and domestic reporting (last checked October 2026)
- ATO: TD 2014/26, is bitcoin a CGT asset (last checked October 2026)
- Income Tax Assessment Act 1997, section 115-25 (AustLII) (last checked October 2026)
- Income Tax Assessment Act 1997, section 118-10 (AustLII) (last checked October 2026)
This page is general information, not legal or tax advice. Rules and rates change, so check the official sources above before you act.