Crypto Tax Calculator UK 2026/27

Estimate your crypto tax in seconds

Use the crypto tax calculator above to get a quick estimate of the capital gains tax on your disposals this tax year. Pop in your total sale proceeds, your original cost, and your income for the year so the tool knows whether your gains fall in the 18% or 24% band. Treat the figure as a starting point, then read on to understand exactly how HMRC arrives at it.

How crypto is taxed in the UK

The first thing to get straight is that there is no separate "crypto tax" in the UK. HMRC does not see Bitcoin as money. For almost every individual investor, cryptoassets are treated as property, and selling them works the same way as selling shares. That means the tax you pay is Capital Gains Tax (CGT) on the profit, not income tax on the whole amount.

A "disposal" is the trigger, and it catches far more than cashing out to pounds. You make a disposal when you:

• Sell crypto for sterling or any other fiat currency.
• Swap one token for another (for example, trading Ethereum for Solana) - this is a disposal of the Ethereum even though no cash changes hands.
• Spend crypto on goods or services.
• Give crypto to someone other than your spouse or civil partner.

Each of those moments crystallises a gain or a loss, measured in pounds at the date of the transaction. The gain is simply the value when you disposed of the asset minus what it cost you to acquire it, including allowable fees.

A handful of activities are taxed as income instead, and that is where people trip up. If you are paid in crypto by an employer, receive tokens from mining, staking rewards or an airdrop given in return for doing something, that value is income when you receive it. Income is charged at your normal income tax rates, and any later growth before you sell is then a separate capital gain. For the pure buy-low-sell-high investor, though, CGT is the tax that matters, and that is what this crypto tax calculator focuses on.

Capital gains versus income on crypto

Whether your activity is capital or income comes down to how you operate, not how much you make. The vast majority of people - even active hobbyist traders - fall under CGT. HMRC only treats someone as carrying on a financial trade (taxed as income) in fairly rare, high-frequency, business-like circumstances. If you are unsure, the safer assumption for an ordinary investor is CGT, but a profit from staking or mining received as a reward is income from the moment it lands in your wallet.

How the crypto tax calculator works

The maths behind the calculator mirrors HMRC's CGT method. In plain words:

Taxable gain = (total proceeds − allowable cost − fees) − £3,000 annual exempt amount

Then the tax itself:

Crypto CGT = (gain that fits in your remaining basic-rate band × 18%) + (gain above it × 24%)

The reason your income matters is that a capital gain is stacked on top of your taxable income. The slice of gain that still falls within the basic-rate band is taxed at the lower 18% rate; anything above the basic-rate limit is taxed at 24%. So two people with an identical £10,000 gain can owe very different amounts depending on what they earn from their job.

One crucial wrinkle for crypto specifically is how HMRC values your cost. You cannot just pick the cheapest coins you bought. Identical tokens of the same type are "pooled" into a single average cost - the Section 104 pool. When you sell part of your holding, the cost you deduct is the average pool cost for that quantity, not the price of a specific purchase. Same-day and 30-day matching rules can override the pool if you buy back the same token quickly, which is designed to stop people selling and instantly rebuying just to crystallise a loss. The calculator uses an average-cost approach to keep the estimate realistic for a typical investor.

Worked example: how much tax do I pay on crypto

Meet Priya, a marketing manager in Leeds earning £40,000 a year. Back in 2022 she bought 0.5 BTC across a few purchases, putting in £9,000 in total including exchange fees. In the 2026/27 tax year she sells the lot for £21,000. She has no other capital gains.

• Gain = £21,000 proceeds − £9,000 pooled cost = £12,000
• Less the annual exempt amount: £12,000 − £3,000 = £9,000 taxable gain
• Priya's salary of £40,000 leaves £27,430 of taxable income after the £12,570 Personal Allowance. The basic-rate band runs to £37,700 of taxable income, so she has £10,270 of basic-rate band left.
• Her whole £9,000 gain fits inside that remaining band, so it is all taxed at 18%.
• Crypto CGT = £9,000 × 18% = £1,620.

Now change one detail. Suppose Priya earned £55,000 instead. She is already a higher-rate taxpayer, so she has no basic-rate band left for her gain. The full £9,000 taxable gain is taxed at 24%:

• Crypto CGT = £9,000 × 24% = £2,160.

Same coins, same profit, £540 more tax - purely because of her salary. That is why the calculator asks for your income, and why timing a disposal in a lower-income year can genuinely save money.

2026/27 CGT allowance and 18%/24% rates

These are the figures the crypto tax calculator applies for disposals between 6 April 2026 and 5 April 2027.

The 18% and 24% rates apply to crypto the same way they apply to shares and other assets - the rates were aligned from 30 October 2024. You can confirm the official rates and reporting rules at HMRC's guidance on tax on cryptoassets and the gov.uk Capital Gains Tax rates page.

Does Scotland change anything?

No - and this is a common worry. Scotland sets its own income tax rates, but Capital Gains Tax is a UK-wide tax set by Westminster. A crypto investor in Glasgow pays the same 18%/24% CGT rates as one in Cardiff or Belfast. The only indirect effect is that Scottish income tax bands differ, which can shift how much of your gain falls in the basic-rate band, but the CGT rates themselves are identical across the UK.

How to reduce the tax on your crypto

There are several legitimate ways to keep your crypto CGT bill down, and most cost nothing but a little planning.

• Use your £3,000 allowance every year. It does not roll over. If you are sitting on large gains, selling a slice each tax year to bank the allowance can spread the disposal across years and use up multiple allowances.
• Transfer to your spouse or civil partner. Transfers between spouses are tax-free, so a couple effectively has two annual exempt amounts and can use both sets of tax bands. Moving some tokens to a lower-earning partner before a sale can cut the rate from 24% to 18%.
• Offset your losses. Crypto that has fallen below cost can be sold to realise a loss, which reduces your net gains. Report losses to HMRC so they are on record and can be carried forward to future years.
• Mind your income for the year. Because the 18% rate depends on unused basic-rate band, disposing in a year when your income dips - a career break, parental leave, retirement - can move more of the gain into the 18% band.

For a fuller breakdown of the bands and how gains stack on income, the Capital Gains Tax calculator works through the same rules for shares, property and other assets, and the Income Tax calculator shows how your salary fills the basic-rate band in the first place.

Record-keeping and reporting

Crypto is the area where HMRC sees the most sloppy record-keeping, partly because exchanges come and go and wallets are easy to lose track of. You are legally required to keep records of every transaction: the type of token, the date, the number of units, the value in pounds at the time, the running pool cost, and bank or wallet statements. Exchanges do not always provide this in a CGT-ready format, so keep your own log.

If your total gains are above the annual exempt amount, or your total proceeds for the year exceed £50,000, you generally need to report through Self Assessment on the capital gains pages of your tax return. The filing and payment deadline is 31 January following the end of the tax year, so gains made in 2026/27 are reported and paid by 31 January 2028. Keep records for at least the period HMRC can open an enquiry, and longer if your holdings are large.

Common mistakes people make with crypto tax

• Thinking a crypto-to-crypto swap is tax-free. Swapping one coin for another is a disposal. Plenty of people only track their cash-outs and are shocked to learn that every token-for-token trade counted.
• Forgetting that spending crypto is a disposal. Buying a laptop with Bitcoin triggers a gain on the Bitcoin used, valued in pounds at that moment.
• Ignoring the pooling rules. Picking your highest-cost purchase to minimise the gain is not allowed - you must use the average Section 104 pool cost, adjusted by the same-day and 30-day rules.
• Missing the £50,000 proceeds reporting trigger. Even if your net gain is below £3,000, large total proceeds can still create a reporting obligation.
• Assuming losses are automatic. Losses only count once you have claimed them to HMRC; an unreported loss cannot be carried forward.
• Treating staking rewards as capital. Rewards are usually income when received, then a separate capital gain when you later sell them.

Disclaimer: This crypto tax calculator and article provide estimates for general guidance only and are not personal tax or financial advice. Crypto tax depends on your full circumstances - consider a qualified adviser for anything complex.

Related calculators

To dig deeper, try the Capital Gains Tax calculator for the full CGT picture across all assets, the Income Tax calculator to see where your basic-rate band ends, and the Self Assessment tax calculator if you need to report your crypto gains on a tax return.

Related tools

• CGT share matching calculator, match your crypto disposals correctly.