- For the 2025/26 tax year, the online Self Assessment return and the tax are due by 31 January 2027. A paper return was due by 31 October 2026.
- The return has a cryptoasset section, in pounds sterling, on the capital gains pages (SA108).
- Since 1 January 2026, crypto providers collect your details and report your 2026 transactions to HMRC by 31 May 2027 (CARF). Not giving them your details can cost you up to £300.
- Owe tax on crypto from earlier years? You can tell HMRC through its Cryptoasset Disclosure Service; penalties are lower when you come forward before HMRC contacts you.
This page covers when and how to report crypto to HMRC. How the tax is calculated is on personal tax and business tax. It is general information, not tax advice; dates in letters from HMRC to you come first.
Deadline calendar
The UK tax year runs from 6 April to 5 April. The dates below are for the 2025/26 tax year (6 April 2025 to 5 April 2026), as published on GOV.UK. Later years follow the same pattern.
| Date | What | Who |
|---|---|---|
| 5 April 2026 | End of the 2025/26 tax year | Individuals |
| 31 July 2026 | Second payment on account, if you make payments on account | Individuals |
| 5 October 2026 | Register for Self Assessment if you have not filed before and need to report gains or income | Individuals |
| 31 October 2026 (11:59pm) | Paper return due | Individuals |
| 30 December 2026 | Online return due if you want tax collected through your tax code | Employees and pensioners |
| 31 December 2026 | Last day to report 2025/26 gains through the real time Capital Gains Tax service | Individuals who do not file Self Assessment |
| 31 January 2027 (11:59pm) | Online return due, and tax due | Individuals |
| 1 January to 31 May 2027 | First CARF report to HMRC, covering 1 January to 31 December 2026 | Crypto providers |
Individuals: step by step
Do you have to report?
GOV.UK says: “If your total gain for the tax year (6 April to 5 April) is above the Capital Gains Tax tax-free allowance, then you must report the gain to HMRC and pay Capital Gains Tax.” For 2026/27 that allowance is £3,000. If you are not already in Self Assessment, you can use the real time Capital Gains Tax service instead (UK residents only), as long as you report by 31 December after the tax year and pay by 31 January. Income from crypto, such as staking or mining rewards, is reported in Self Assessment. You must also report losses if you want to use them later.
Crypto in the return
Since the 2024/25 tax year, the capital gains summary pages (SA108) have a separate cryptoasset section. You report in pounds sterling:
- The number of disposals.
- The disposal proceeds.
- The allowable costs, including the purchase price (from your pool).
- The gains before losses, and the losses.
- Any amounts under the foreign income and gains regime, any claim or election, and gains you already reported through the real time service.
Exchange reports are not tax calculations and they do not track your pooled costs, so you work these figures out from your own records.
Late registration and timing
If you register for Self Assessment after 5 October, HMRC gives you 3 months from the date of its letter to file, but you must still pay by 31 January. Registering late can bring a penalty for failing to notify.
Companies
- Return. The Company Tax Return (CT600) is due 12 months after the end of the accounting period.
- Payment. Companies with profits up to £1.5 million usually pay corporation tax 9 months and 1 day after the end of the accounting period, so before the return is due.
- Large companies. Above £1.5 million, companies pay in 4 quarterly instalments, starting 6 months and 13 days after the start of the period. Instalments do not apply if the liability is below £10,000, or in the first year a company is large.
What providers report (CARF)
The UK applies the OECD Cryptoasset Reporting Framework (CARF) through the Reporting Cryptoasset Service Providers (Due Diligence and Reporting Requirements) Regulations 2025 (SI 2025/744), in force from 1 January 2026.
- Who is reported: users who are tax resident in the UK, as well as in other countries that have signed up to CARF. So HMRC also gets data on UK residents from UK providers, and through exchange with other countries from foreign providers.
- What you must give: your name, date of birth, address, country of tax residence and tax identification number (your National Insurance number or Unique Taxpayer Reference), to every provider you use, “even if they’re not based in the UK”.
- Penalty for users: “If you give inaccurate details or do not give details to a UK service provider, you could get a penalty of up to £300.”
- Timing: the first report is due between 1 January and 31 May 2027, covering 2026, and then by 31 May every year. Providers can get a penalty of up to £300 per user for failures.
The guidance covers stablecoins and NFTs as well. For you as a user, nothing changes in how you file, but HMRC will see more of your crypto activity.
Records to keep
HMRC says you must keep separate records for each transaction:
- the type of token and the date of each transaction
- whether you bought or sold, and the number of tokens
- the value in pounds sterling at the date of the transaction
- the number of tokens you have left, and your pooled costs before and after each disposal
- bank statements, and if useful wallet addresses
| Who | How long to keep records (per GOV.UK) |
|---|---|
| Individuals filing Self Assessment | At least 22 months after the end of the tax year (15 months after you file, if the return was late) |
| Self-employed and partners | At least 5 years after the 31 January submission deadline |
| Companies | 6 years from the end of the last financial year they relate to |
Your pooled cost carries forward for as long as you hold the tokens, so in practice you need the purchase records for the whole time you hold them, not just the minimum period.
Penalties and voluntary disclosure
| Late Self Assessment return | Penalty |
|---|---|
| Up to 3 months late | £100 |
| More than 3 months late | £10 per day, up to £900 |
| 6 months late | 5% of the tax due or £300, whichever is greater |
| 12 months late | Another 5% or £300, whichever is greater |
Late payment costs 5% of the unpaid tax at 30 days, 6 months and 12 months, plus interest.
| Inaccuracy in a return | You told HMRC first (unprompted) | After HMRC found it (prompted) |
|---|---|---|
| Careless | 0–30% of the extra tax | 15–30% |
| Deliberate | 20–70% | 35–70% |
| Deliberate and concealed | 30–100% | 50–100% |
Offshore matters can carry higher penalties.
Forgot to report crypto? Use HMRC’s Cryptoasset Disclosure Service. It covers exchange tokens, NFTs and utility tokens. How far back you go depends on why the tax was not paid: 4 years if you took reasonable care, up to 6 years if you were careless, and up to 20 years if it was deliberate. You pay within 30 days of submitting the disclosure. As the table shows, penalties are lower when you come forward before HMRC contacts you, and with CARF data arriving from 2027 HMRC will increasingly know about crypto held at providers.
Sources
- GOV.UK: Self Assessment tax return deadlines (last checked October 2026)
- GOV.UK: Self Assessment penalties (last checked October 2026)
- GOV.UK: Check if you need to pay tax when you sell cryptoassets (last checked October 2026)
- HMRC: Self Assessment capital gains summary (SA108) (last checked October 2026)
- GOV.UK: Report and pay your Capital Gains Tax (last checked October 2026)
- GOV.UK: Company Tax Returns (last checked October 2026)
- GOV.UK: Pay your Corporation Tax bill (last checked October 2026)
- GOV.UK: Corporation Tax, paying in instalments (last checked October 2026)
- GOV.UK: Reporting cryptoasset user and transaction data (last checked October 2026)
- GOV.UK: Information you’ll need to give to cryptoasset service providers (last checked October 2026)
- HMRC: Cryptoassets Manual, CRYPTO49000 (CARF) (last checked October 2026)
- legislation.gov.uk: The Reporting Cryptoasset Service Providers (Due Diligence and Reporting Requirements) Regulations 2025 (last checked October 2026)
- HMRC: Cryptoassets Manual, CRYPTO10400 (records) (last checked October 2026)
- GOV.UK: Keeping your pay and tax records, how long to keep them (last checked October 2026)
- GOV.UK: Business records if you’re self-employed, how long to keep them (last checked October 2026)
- GOV.UK: Running a limited company, company and accounting records (last checked October 2026)
- HMRC: Compliance checks factsheet CC/FS7a, penalties for inaccuracies (last checked October 2026)
- GOV.UK: Tell HMRC about unpaid tax on cryptoassets (last checked October 2026)
This page is general information, not tax advice. Rules, amounts and dates change, so check the official sources above before you act.