Tax implications

Do you have to pay tax on crypto at all?

Depending on where you live in the world, your crypto investments may not incur a tax liability at all. If you live in El Salvador, Dubai or the Cayman Islands you will pay no tax on your crypto investing as an individual.

If you live in Germany, Belarus, Portugal, Singapore, Malaysia, Malta, Puerto Rico, Switzerland or Georgia you will likely not pay any tax as an individual investor. The exception is if you invest as a company structure which does attract tax liabilities in some countries. Personal tax liability can also depend on the amount of crypto you hold and how long you have held it for.

Every where else taxes crypto as either income or capital gain or sometimes both depending on how you acquire it and how you deal with it.

Laws relating to taxation of crypto assets are likely to face increasing international co-ordination due to efforts by the OECD introducing such measures as the “Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework”. Keeping ahead of tax developments that apply to you is becoming increasingly important.

We suggest that you obtain specialist tax advice tailored to your specific circumstances as the laws are different from country to country.

There are a number of services that specialise in crypto tax. Here are some of them.