Crypto tax advisors
for the decisions before you file.

A crypto tax advisor tells you what a decision will cost before you make it, answers HMRC when a letter arrives, and puts right years that were filed wrong or never filed. The value of getting there first is measurable. An unprompted disclosure of a careless error can carry a penalty of nil, while the same error found by HMRC starts at 15% of the tax, per HMRC’s Compliance Handbook at CH82470, checked on 17 October 2026.

Filing looks back at a year that has closed. Advice looks ahead at the decisions still open, and at the letters already on the table. We do both, remotely, for UK taxpayers only.

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40+

Exchanges, wallets and DeFi protocols

HMRC rules, one licensed firm

2027

First CARF exchange reports reach HMRC

When do you need a crypto tax advisor?

When something is still open. A sale you have not made yet, a letter you have not answered yet, a year you have never reported. If you only need a clean return for a year that has closed, our crypto tax filing service covers that, and where the history itself has to be rebuilt first, our reconciliation work comes before either.

The decisions on the right are the ones where advice changes the number. Each is worth a conversation before you act, because most of them cannot be undone afterwards.

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Signs it is time to call

✓You hold a large unrealised position and want the tax cost of selling before you sell
✓You are paid in tokens, hold a vesting schedule or a SAFT, and need to know when the income charge arises
✓You have received an HMRC nudge letter or a Section 9A enquiry notice
✓You have unfiled years and want to disclose before the first CARF reports reach HMRC in 2027
✓You are leaving the UK, or have come back, with crypto gains in the gap
✓A previous return or software report looks wrong and you want a second opinion

What is the difference between a crypto tax advisor and a crypto tax accountant?

An accountant reconciles the history and files the return. An advisor also plans the disposals still ahead of you, answers HMRC when it asks about a return, and runs the disclosure of years that were never filed. In most firms these are different people. Here the same two people do both, because the advice is only as good as the reconciled ledger underneath it, and that ledger is what we build all day on the crypto tax accountant side of the practice.

The two carry different kinds of risk. A filing error costs interest and a penalty. A planning error, such as selling in the wrong tax year or triggering a disposal you thought was a transfer, costs tax that was never due in the first place and can rarely be reversed. The services page sets out which engagement covers which.

What do we advise on?

This is the work most general accountants refer out.

Tax planning

For the 2026 to 2027 tax year the annual exempt amount is £3,000 and gains are taxed at 18% inside the basic rate band and 24% above it, per the Capital Gains Tax rates on gov.uk, checked on 17 October 2026. Timing a disposal across two tax years, claiming a loss so it carries forward, and keeping a gain inside the £37,700 basic rate band all move the number legally. The crypto tax calculator shows what a disposal would cost today, and our guide to moving abroad with crypto covers the residence rules that catch people who leave mid gain.

HMRC letters and disclosure

We answer nudge letters and Section 9A enquiries, and we run voluntary disclosures through HMRC’s cryptoasset disclosure service, the Digital Disclosure Service or the Worldwide Disclosure Facility, whichever fits the years and the exchanges involved. Every disclosure rests on a reconciled ledger first, because a disclosure built on incomplete data can turn an honest correction into a careless one.

Token pay and DeFi

Vested tokens that fell before you could sell, SAFTs with no market, and grants in tokens nobody will buy. We work out when the income charge arises and what the tokens were worth that day, which our guide to tax on vesting tokens works through with the HMRC manual references.

We do not guarantee tax savings. We model the options under HMRC rules and tell you what each one does to your position, so you can decide with full information.

I have received an HMRC letter about crypto, what happens next?

First, work out which letter it is, because they carry different clocks. A nudge letter asks you to check your crypto affairs and reply by the date it gives, and it is a prompt rather than an investigation. HMRC sent around 81,000 of them in the year to 5 April 2026. A notice of enquiry under section 9A of the Taxes Management Act 1970 is a formal check into one return, and for a return filed on time HMRC has to open it within twelve months of the day you filed, per section 9A itself. Our guides to the HMRC crypto nudge letter and an HMRC crypto enquiry go through each, and how to tell a routine HMRC letter from a serious one covers the rest of the post HMRC sends.

Second, check it is real. HMRC keeps a published list of the letters it is currently sending, and our note on HMRC scams shows how to check yours against it before you reply.

Third, do not reply with a guess. Once HMRC has written to you about crypto, any disclosure that follows counts as prompted, which lifts the minimum penalty on a careless error from nil to 15%. What HMRC already holds matters here. It takes bank and account data under existing powers, which our guide on whether HMRC can see your bank account explains, and for an established debt that stays unpaid after contact it can take the money directly from an account. A letter is the start of a process with steps in it, and the cheapest step is the first one.

How does a voluntary disclosure work?

It depends on how old the year is. A Self Assessment return can be amended for twelve months after its filing deadline, per gov.uk on changing a return, so the 2024 to 2025 return filed online can still be corrected until 31 January 2027 with no formal disclosure at all. Older years go through a disclosure.

HMRC opened a dedicated cryptoasset disclosure service on 29 November 2023. You tell HMRC how many years you are disclosing, which depends on behaviour, four years where you took reasonable care, six where you did not, and up to twenty where the omission was deliberate. You calculate the tax, the interest from each original due date and the penalty you believe applies, and HMRC checks whether it agrees. Payment is due within 30 days of submitting the disclosure, and the letter with your payment reference should arrive within 15 working days. Where none of the tax relates to crypto, the general Digital Disclosure Service does the same job. Where an offshore exchange or wallet is involved, the Worldwide Disclosure Facility may apply instead, and the assessing time limit stretches to twelve years for an offshore matter under HMRC’s extended time limits.

The order of work matters more than the form. Reconcile every wallet and exchange first, including the dead ones, then calculate, then disclose. A disclosure built on a partial history is the one HMRC reopens. Our guides to disclosing unpaid crypto tax and how far back HMRC can go set out the steps and the time limits, and the rebuild itself is our crypto reconciliation service.

What are the penalties for getting crypto tax wrong?

A penalty for an inaccurate return is a percentage of the tax understated, and the percentage is set by behaviour and by who spoke first. Under HMRC’s Compliance Handbook at CH82470, read on 17 October 2026, a careless error carries 0% to 30% if you disclose it unprompted and 15% to 30% if HMRC prompts you. A deliberate error runs 20% to 70% unprompted and 35% to 70% prompted. Deliberate and concealed runs 30% to 100%, or 50% to 100% once prompted. Reasonable care carries no penalty at all, only the tax and interest. Higher ranges apply where an offshore matter is involved, and never registering for Self Assessment at all is a separate failure to notify penalty under HMRC factsheet CC/FS11.

Take a £20,000 gain above the allowance taxed at 24%, which is £4,800 of tax. Disclosed unprompted as a careless error with full cooperation, the penalty can be nil. The same error after a nudge letter starts at £720. Treated as deliberate after HMRC finds it, the floor is £1,680 and the ceiling £3,360, on the same £4,800 of tax. Our guide to crypto tax penalties carries the full bands, the lookback periods and the interest rules.

How much does a crypto tax advisor cost?

Among UK firms that do only crypto tax, one properly reconciled and filed year costs £750 to £2,000, checked against published prices in September 2026. A simple year filed from a clean software report can cost £300 or less, heavy DeFi or NFT years usually run £1,200 to £2,500, and a multi year catch up with a disclosure to HMRC comes in between £1,500 and £3,500.

We quote one fixed price in writing after a free review of your actual files, and nothing is charged until you accept it. The pricing page sets your own case against those bands before you speak to anyone, and our list of services says what each engagement includes.

Common questions about crypto tax advice

Can a crypto tax advisor reduce my tax bill?

Sometimes, and never by guarantee. Timing a disposal into a year where the £3,000 allowance and the basic rate band are unused, claiming a loss so it carries forward, and correcting a software report that overstated the gain all reduce the figure legally. We model each option under HMRC rules and tell you what it does, then you decide.

Can you avoid tax on crypto in the UK?

Not once a disposal has happened. Swapping, selling, spending or giving crypto to anyone other than your spouse, civil partner or a charity is a disposal, and the gain is taxable above £3,000. What you can do is plan the timing, use losses and keep gains inside the lower band, and our UK crypto tax guide sets out the rules that planning works within.

I have unfiled crypto years. What should I do?

Disclose before HMRC writes to you. An unprompted disclosure sits at the bottom of every penalty band, and for a careless error it can be nil, while a prompted one starts at 15%. Reconcile every wallet and exchange first, then use HMRC’s cryptoasset disclosure service, and pay within 30 days of submitting. We run the whole process, from the ledger to the payment reference.

Can HMRC see your crypto?

Almost certainly. Every platform serving UK users now has to collect your name, date of birth, address and National Insurance number or UTR under the Cryptoasset Reporting Framework, and the first reports reach HMRC between 1 January and 31 May 2027, per gov.uk on CARF reporting. HMRC already takes data from UK exchanges and sent around 81,000 crypto letters in the year to 5 April 2026. Our CARF guide explains what is reported and when.

Who can help with crypto taxes?

An accountant who files crypto returns every week and can show you a licence number, because anyone in the UK can call themselves an accountant. Here the work is done by Fahad Zar, lead chain analyst and crypto tax expert, with Sehar Javed, chain analyst, and the about page says who they are. The firm is licensed and regulated by the AAT, licence 1010475, and works remotely with UK taxpayers only.

Do you advise people who are paid in tokens?

Yes. Vesting schedules, SAFTs and illiquid grants are a core part of the advisory work, and the two questions are always the same, when the income charge arises and what the tokens were worth on that day. Our guide to tax on vesting tokens covers both.

What happens if I ignore an HMRC nudge letter?

Nothing immediate, and nothing good. The letter itself carries no penalty, but HMRC has written because its data does not match your return, and any later disclosure counts as prompted. If the data is wrong, say so with evidence. If it is right, disclose. Either answer beats leaving it.

How much does a crypto accountant cost?

Firms that do only crypto tax charge £750 to £2,000 for one reconciled and filed year, checked against published prices in September 2026, and a multi year catch up with a disclosure runs £1,500 to £3,500. We quote one fixed price after a free review, and the pricing calculator shows the range for your own history.

What stands behind every figure on this page

Every guide on this site is written by a practising crypto tax accountant who files these returns with HMRC. Every figure and every date is checked against gov.uk before a page goes live. When the guidance changes, the page is re-read and the checked date moves with it.

Certified Crypto Accountant is the trading name of Zar Enterprises Ltd, a UK limited company. The firm is licensed and regulated by the Association of Accounting Technicians, which also supervises it for anti-money laundering. The company is registered with the ICO as a data controller and holds professional indemnity insurance, so a named entity answers for every figure you read here. More about the firm, or get in touch.

Last checked against gov.uk: 17 October 2026
Company: Zar Enterprises Ltd, company number 17310916
Regulation: Licensed and regulated by the AAT, licence 1010475
Data protection: ICO registration ZC225094
Insurance: Professional indemnity insurance with Hiscox

Know what it costs before you act.

Whether you need planning, a disclosure, enquiry support or a second opinion, start with a free 30 minute call. We will tell you where you stand and what your options are.