Specialist crypto tax accountants
for UK and US investors.

Certified Crypto Accountant is a UK-based specialist firm that does one thing: crypto tax. We reconcile every transaction across your exchanges, wallets and DeFi protocols, calculate your exact liability under HMRC and IRS rules, and file your Self Assessment or IRS return correctly.

If your Koinly or CoinTracker gains figure looks wrong, it probably is. We check before you file, so you never overpay and never get caught out.

£250M+crypto transactions reconciled
300+UK & US investors filed
40+exchanges & wallets supported
100%HMRC & IRS compliance rate

Works with Coinbase, Binance, Kraken, KuCoin, Uniswap, Koinly, CoinTracker and 40+ more

HMRC already has your exchange data. Around 65,000 crypto nudge letters went out in 2024/25, and CARF reporting began in January 2026. Not sure your figures are right? Get a free Crypto Tax Health Check in 48 hours.

Check My Report Free

Why is your crypto tax report probably wrong?

HMRC and the IRS have been clear: crypto is taxable. But the software most investors rely on, and the general accountants most people use, get crypto tax wrong in ways that cost real money, in overpaid tax or in penalties later.

01.

Koinly’s number is usually wrong

Crypto tax software misses cost basis from closed exchanges, misclassifies DeFi transactions, and treats wallet-to-wallet transfers as disposals, creating phantom gains. The output looks official. We have corrected the Koinly or CoinTracker report of almost every client we have onboarded, often reducing overstated gains substantially.

02.

General accountants don’t know crypto

Most accountants see a handful of crypto cases a year. They don’t know HMRC’s Section 104 pooling, the 30-day rule, how staking rewards are taxed as miscellaneous income, or how the IRS treats the same events differently. Crypto tax is the only thing we do, in both jurisdictions.

03.

HMRC and the IRS already have your data

HMRC has collected data from Coinbase, Kraken, Binance and others since 2019 and sent around 65,000 nudge letters in 2024/25. From January 2026, CARF shares your exchange data across 48+ countries automatically. Your filing has to match what they already hold. What to do about a nudge letter

Crypto tax, handled end to end.

Four services cover everything a UK or US crypto investor needs: from fixing a broken tax report to representing you in front of HMRC. Every engagement is a fixed quote, agreed before we start.

01.

Crypto Transaction Reconciliation

The foundation of every accurate crypto tax return. We pull raw data from every exchange, wallet and DeFi protocol you have ever used, match transfers, restore missing cost basis, classify every trade, swap, staking reward, airdrop and NFT event, and produce an audit-ready record under HMRC and IRS rules.

Crypto tax reconciliation service
02.

UK & US Crypto Tax Filing

Your HMRC Self Assessment filed with crypto capital gains and income reported correctly, including the new cryptoasset boxes. For US filers, Form 8949, Schedule D and Form 1040 prepared with the right cost basis method. You review and approve everything before we submit.

Crypto tax accountants for UK & US filing
03.

HMRC & IRS Investigation Support

Received an HMRC nudge letter, an enquiry, or an IRS CP2000 notice? We take over all correspondence, rebuild your full position, and handle voluntary disclosure where it cuts penalties. You do not face the tax authority alone, and the earlier we start, the better the outcome.

Crypto tax advisors for HMRC letters
04.

Ongoing Crypto Accounting

For active traders, DeFi users and founders with token compensation: a year-round retained crypto accountant. Quarterly reviews, tax planning before you make big disposals, and a return that is already prepared when the deadline arrives. No January panic, ever.

All crypto accounting services

The 2025-26 tax year just closed. Now is when to act.

Reconciliation takes time. A multi-year, multi-exchange history can take weeks to rebuild properly, and late filing means automatic HMRC penalties plus interest. The investors who start early pay less and sleep better.

UK: HMRC Self Assessment

31 January 2027

 

Online deadline for the 2025/26 tax year (6 April 2025 to 5 April 2026). Tax owed is also due by this date.

US: IRS Federal Return

15 April 2027

 

Form 8949 and Schedule D filed with your Form 1040 for the 2026 tax year. 1099-DA forms now report your trades to the IRS.

Every UK crypto tax deadline explained

From first call to filed return, in four steps.

01

Free discovery call

Thirty minutes on your exchanges, wallets, DeFi activity and tax years involved. You leave knowing exactly where you stand, what needs doing, and the fixed price. No jargon, no obligation.

02

Data collection

We send a simple checklist: API keys, CSV exports or wallet addresses. You hand over what you have, we extract the rest. Dead exchange? We rebuild the records.

03

Reconciliation & review

We reconcile your full history and calculate your exact gains, losses and income under HMRC rules, IRS rules, or both, with every significant event explained in plain English.

04

Filed and done

You approve, we submit to HMRC, the IRS, or both, and you get filing confirmation. Next year, as your retained crypto accountant, it is already handled.

Fixed pricing agreed up front. No hourly billing, no surprises.

What crypto investors say after we check the numbers.

Verified Google reviews  ★★★★★

Crypto tax questions, answered plainly.

The questions UK and US crypto investors actually ask us, with straight answers. Tap any question to open it.

Getting started
Do I need a crypto tax accountant in the UK?
If you have only bought and held, probably not. If you have sold, swapped, spent, staked, used DeFi, hold across several exchanges, are behind on past years, or have had an HMRC letter, a specialist usually saves you more than the fee by correcting overstated gains and keeping you out of penalties. The annual Capital Gains exemption is now only £3,000, so more people cross the line than expect to.
How much does a crypto tax accountant cost in the UK?
It depends entirely on volume and complexity. A 50 trade year is a different job from 5,000 trades across eight exchanges and three DeFi protocols. We quote one fixed price after a free 30 minute review, so you know the full cost before anything starts. No hourly billing and no surprise invoices.
Is cryptocurrency taxable in the UK?
Yes. HMRC treats crypto as property, not currency. Selling it, swapping one coin for another, spending it, or gifting it to anyone other than your spouse is a disposal for Capital Gains Tax. Earning it through staking, mining, airdrops or as payment is usually Income Tax. Simply buying and holding is not taxed.
How much tax do I pay on crypto in the UK?
Capital gains above the £3,000 allowance are taxed at 18% if you are a basic rate taxpayer and 24% if you are a higher or additional rate taxpayer, following the rate rise on 30 October 2024. Crypto income from staking, mining or payment is taxed at your normal Income Tax rate of 20%, 40% or 45%.
What is the crypto tax free allowance in the UK?
Up to three allowances can apply. The Capital Gains annual exempt amount is £3,000 for both 2025/26 and 2026/27. Your Income Tax personal allowance is £12,570. There is also a £1,000 trading and miscellaneous income allowance that can cover small amounts of crypto income. They cover different types of gain, so which apply depends on your activity.
Do I still pay tax if I only made a small profit?
If your total gains across all assets in the year sit within the £3,000 exemption, there is no CGT to pay, though you may still need to report. Go over £3,000 and the whole excess is taxable. Crypto income can also be caught even when gains are small, so the two need checking separately.
Do I pay tax on crypto if I never cash out to my bank?
Yes, and this is the most common misunderstanding we see. Swapping BTC for ETH, buying an NFT with crypto, or spending it on goods are all disposals for Capital Gains Tax, even though no pound ever hits your bank. Tax is triggered by the disposal, not by the withdrawal.
HMRC, your data and risk
Does HMRC know about my crypto?
Almost certainly. HMRC has pulled customer data directly from exchanges including Coinbase, Kraken and Binance since around 2019 and sent roughly 65,000 crypto nudge letters in 2024/25. From 1 January 2026, UK platforms must collect and report your data under the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework. The real question is whether your filing matches what they already hold.
What is an HMRC crypto nudge letter and what should I do?
It is a letter saying HMRC holds data suggesting you have crypto that may not be fully declared. It is not a formal investigation, but ignoring it often turns into one. Do not reply blind. Reconcile your real position first, then respond, and use a voluntary disclosure if past years need correcting. The earlier you act, the lower the penalties.
What is CARF and how does it affect me?
The Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework is the OECD standard for exchanges to report users to tax authorities automatically. From 1 January 2026, UK crypto platforms must collect your identity and transaction data, with the first reports to HMRC due by 31 May 2027 and international exchange of that data following. In practice, HMRC will soon hold a near complete picture of your activity.
Does Coinbase report to HMRC?
Yes. Coinbase has shared UK customer data with HMRC under earlier data requests, and under CARF it must report account and transaction data as standard from 2026. Most major exchanges operating in the UK are in the same position, so you should assume your activity is visible.
Does Binance report to HMRC?
Any exchange serving UK users falls within the CARF reporting rules from 2026, so treat your Binance activity as visible to HMRC. Even where an exchange has left the UK or closed, HMRC often already holds historic data, and your filing still needs to reflect those years.
I haven't declared my crypto for years. What should I do?
Act before HMRC contacts you. An unprompted voluntary disclosure usually carries far lower penalties than one made after a nudge letter or an enquiry. We handle multi year catch ups regularly: we rebuild each year's history, work out what is actually owed, and manage the disclosure with HMRC on your behalf.
What happens if I don't report my crypto to HMRC?
Undeclared gains can lead to penalties of up to 100% of the tax owed, plus interest, and in serious cases prosecution. Because HMRC increasingly holds the underlying exchange data, non disclosure is far more likely to surface than it once was. Correcting it voluntarily almost always costs less than waiting to be found.
What are the penalties for filing crypto tax late?
Miss the 31 January deadline and there is an automatic £100 penalty even if no tax is due. After three months, daily £10 penalties apply up to £900, then further penalties at six and twelve months, plus interest on unpaid tax. Filing on time matters even when the figures are still being finalised.
How crypto tax actually works
Is swapping one crypto for another taxable?
Yes. HMRC treats a crypto to crypto swap as selling the first asset and buying the second, so a gain or loss is calculated at the moment of the swap using the sterling value at that time. Active traders can build up large taxable gains without ever converting back to pounds.
Do I pay tax moving crypto between my own wallets?
No. Transferring the same asset between wallets or exchanges you control is not a disposal, so it is not taxable. The problem is that tax software often reads these transfers as sells and invents phantom gains. Cleaning those up is a routine part of our reconciliation work.
Is staking taxed in the UK?
Usually twice. Staking rewards are taxed as income at their sterling value on the day you receive them. When you later sell those coins, any change in value from that point is a separate capital gain or loss. That receipt value becomes your cost basis, which is exactly the figure software tends to get wrong.
How are airdrops taxed in the UK?
It depends why you received them. Airdrops given in return for doing something, or as part of a trade, are Income Tax on receipt. Airdrops received for nothing, with no service expected, can fall outside Income Tax but still carry a capital gains position when sold. The distinction changes the bill significantly.
How is crypto mining taxed in the UK?
Mining rewards are taxable as income at their value when received. Whether that is taxed as a hobby or as a trade depends on scale, organisation and commerciality, which also affects the expenses you can claim. Selling the mined coins later is a separate Capital Gains event.
Is DeFi taxed in the UK?
Yes, and it is one of the hardest areas. Lending, liquidity provision, yield farming and wrapping can each trigger income or capital gains depending on how the protocol works and whether beneficial ownership changes. HMRC's DeFi guidance is nuanced, and generic software rarely classifies these events correctly. This is core to what we do.
How are NFTs taxed in the UK?
Buying an NFT with crypto is a disposal of that crypto. Selling or swapping an NFT is a disposal of the NFT. Creators earning from mints or royalties usually have Income Tax. Each leg needs its own sterling valuation, which makes NFT heavy histories time consuming to reconcile properly.
Do I pay tax on crypto I gift to someone?
Gifts to your spouse or civil partner are exempt and pass at your cost. Gifts to anyone else are treated as a disposal at market value, so you can owe Capital Gains Tax even though you received no money. Gifts to registered charities are generally free of CGT.
Is crypto subject to inheritance tax?
Yes. Crypto forms part of your estate at its market value on death and can be subject to Inheritance Tax like any other asset. Because access depends on private keys, planning for how your heirs will actually reach the holdings matters as much as the tax itself.
Software, records and losses
My Koinly gains figure looks wrong. Can you fix it?
Yes, this is the single most common job we do. Koinly and similar tools miss cost basis from closed exchanges, treat your own transfers as disposals, and misclassify DeFi events, all of which inflate the gain. We reconcile the underlying data, restore the missing basis, and recalculate under HMRC pooling rules. The corrected figure is usually meaningfully lower.
Is Koinly or CoinTracker enough to file my crypto taxes?
It is a useful starting point, not a finished return. The software is only as accurate as the data and classifications you feed it, and it cannot judge the grey areas HMRC cares about. For a small, clean history it may be fine. For anything with DeFi, multiple exchanges or missing records, the output needs an expert review before you rely on it.
What records do I need to keep for crypto tax?
For every transaction: the date, the type, the assets and amounts, the value in pounds at the time, the counterparty or wallet, and any fees. HMRC can ask you to evidence your figures, and exchanges routinely delete history or close, so exporting and keeping your own records as you go is essential.
How are crypto gains actually calculated in the UK?
HMRC uses share pooling. Identical coins go into a Section 104 pool with an averaged cost, with special same day and 30 day rules for coins bought around the time you sell. This is very different from the simple first in first out that many people assume, and applying the wrong method changes the gain.
Can I offset my crypto losses against my gains?
Yes. Capital losses on crypto reduce your capital gains in the same year, and unused losses can be carried forward indefinitely once you register them with HMRC, usually within four years. Realising losses deliberately before the tax year ends is a legitimate way to lower a bill, but the timing and rules matter.
US and cross border
Do you work with US crypto investors as well as UK?
Yes. We file UK HMRC Self Assessment returns and US IRS returns including Form 8949, Schedule D and Form 1040, and we handle people with obligations in both countries. With Form 1099-DA now feeding the IRS data on your trades, US filers face the same matching pressure UK investors already do.
What is Form 1099-DA?
It is the new US form on which crypto brokers report your activity to the IRS. Brokers report gross proceeds for trades from 1 January 2025, with cost basis reporting phasing in from 2026. Because basis is not always included at first, the figure the IRS sees can overstate your gain unless your own records fill the gap.
I moved to or from the UK. How does that affect my crypto tax?
Residence drives everything. Where you are tax resident when you dispose of crypto generally decides who taxes the gain, and the rules on arrival, departure and temporary non residence are strict. Getting the timing and residence position right around a move can change the bill substantially, so it is worth planning before you act.
Working with us
What do I need to bring to the first call?
Just a rough idea of which exchanges and wallets you have used and which tax years are involved. You do not need any data prepared or a report ready. The discovery call is for us to understand your situation. We tell you exactly what we need afterwards.
How do you price the work?
One fixed fee, agreed before we start, based on the real complexity of your history rather than an hourly clock. You approve the scope and the price up front, and nothing is ever filed without your sign off.

Still have a question? Ask us on a free 30-minute call

Speak to a crypto tax specialist before HMRC writes first.

Book a free 30-minute call. We will tell you exactly where you stand, what needs doing, and the fixed price, whether you need a full reconciliation, a corrected Koinly report, or help answering a letter that already arrived.

Book Your Free Call

No commitment. Fixed pricing. UK & US specialists.