15/10/2026
I haven't cashed out, so there's no tax. Right?
That's the bit a lot of crypto holders get wrong.
For Capital Gains Tax, the question is usually not whether you moved money back into your bank account. It's whether you disposed of the cryptoasset.
Selling is one trigger. Swapping one token for another is another. Using crypto to pay for goods or services is another. And if you gift tokens to someone other than your spouse, civil partner, or charity, that can also count.
So the tax point can happen long before any cash leaves the exchange.
That matters because HMRC looks at the disposal, then the gain on that disposal, then whether your total gains for the tax year go over the £3,000 annual allowance.
A simple example helps.
If you bought a token for £2,000 and later swapped it when it was worth £3,500, the disposal is the swap. The gain is not based on whether you withdrew £3,500 to your bank. It is based on the transaction itself.
And if you have lots of trades, pooling rules can change the numbers again. The cost of each token type is grouped together, so the latest purchase price is not always the figure you use.
This is why crypto records matter so much. You need to know what moved, when it moved, what it was worth in sterling, and what happened next.
If you are only tracking cash in and cash out, you may be missing the taxable event.
If you'd like us to look over your crypto records with you, we're happy to help.
Book a free call with our team: www.kara-accountants.net/contact/
