Crypto Tax for Limited Companies and Businesses UK
If you hold or trade cryptoassets through a company, the tax rules are not just a corporate version of the personal ones, they are a different system entirely. Getting the crypto tax limited company UK position wrong is one of the most expensive mistakes we see, because the assumptions that work for an individual investor simply do not carry over to a business.
This guide explains how a UK limited company is taxed on crypto, why it pays Corporation Tax rather than Capital Gains Tax, why it loses the personal allowance most investors rely on, and how the treatment changes depending on whether your company trades in crypto or holds it as an investment. Every rate quoted here is taken from current HMRC and GOV.UK guidance.
Key Takeaways
- A company pays Corporation Tax on its crypto profits, not Capital Gains Tax, and the rules sit under company, not personal, tax law.
- The current Corporation Tax main rate is 25%, with a 19% small profits rate and Marginal Relief in between, from 1 April 2023.
- A company does not get the individual £3,000 annual exempt amount, so there is no tax-free band on company gains.
- How the crypto is taxed depends on whether the company is trading in crypto (trading income) or holding it as an investment (chargeable gains).
- Moving your personal crypto into your own company is a disposal at market value and can trigger a personal Capital Gains Tax bill before the company owns a single token.
Crypto tax for a limited company in the UK: Corporation Tax, not CGT
The single most important point about crypto tax for a limited company in the UK is that companies do not pay Capital Gains Tax at all. CGT is a tax on individuals, personal representatives and certain trustees. A limited company instead pays Corporation Tax on its total taxable profits, and any gain it makes on cryptoassets is a “chargeable gain” that feeds into that Corporation Tax calculation.
In practice the company adds together its trading profits, investment income and chargeable gains, applies the relevant Corporation Tax rate to the whole figure, and pays one Corporation Tax bill. There is no separate, lower capital gains regime sitting alongside it. HMRC sets out how it views company cryptoasset activity in the HMRC Cryptoassets Manual, the primary guidance and the document we work from on every company case.
What are the Corporation Tax rates on crypto profits?
Corporation Tax is charged at a single rate on your company’s total profits for the accounting period, including any crypto gains. The rates below have applied since 1 April 2023.
| Company profits | Corporation Tax position |
|---|---|
| £50,000 or less | Small profits rate of 19% |
| Between £50,000 and £250,000 | Main rate of 25% reduced by Marginal Relief |
| Over £250,000 | Main rate of 25% |
The £50,000 and £250,000 thresholds are reduced proportionately for short accounting periods and where you have “associated companies”, so a group of companies cannot simply split profits to stay in the 19% band. Marginal Relief gives a gradual increase in the effective rate between the two thresholds rather than a sudden jump, and HMRC provides an official Marginal Relief calculator to work it out.
No £3,000 annual exempt amount for companies
Individual crypto investors get an annual exempt amount, the slice of gains that is free of Capital Gains Tax each year, which is £3,000 for 2024/25 and 2025/26. A limited company gets none of this. There is no annual exempt amount in the Corporation Tax system, so the very first pound of a company’s chargeable gain is taxable.
This is one reason “should I put my crypto in a company to save tax?” rarely has the simple yes answer people hope for. The company loses the personal allowance, loses the personal CGT rates, and gains a layer of administration, before you even reach the question of how to get money back out.
Trading company or investment company? It changes everything
Two companies can both “have crypto” and be taxed in completely different ways. The dividing line is whether the company is trading in crypto or holding it as an investment.
- Trading in crypto. If the company’s activity amounts to a genuine trade, for example a high-frequency operation with organised systems and commercial scale, the profits are taxed as trading income. HMRC stresses in its Cryptoassets Manual that only in exceptional circumstances will buying and selling crypto amount to a trade, so this label is far rarer than people assume.
- Holding as an investment. If the company simply holds cryptoassets and disposes of them from time to time, the profits are chargeable gains, computed broadly like a capital disposal but taxed within Corporation Tax.
The classification affects which reliefs apply, how losses can be used, and how the figures are presented. Either way, the company must account for its cryptoassets correctly in its statutory accounts under the relevant UK accounting standards, and the tax computation follows from those accounts. Misclassifying investment activity as trading, or vice versa, is a common and costly error.
Putting your personal crypto into your company is a disposal
This is the trap that catches founders most often. Transferring cryptoassets you hold personally into your own limited company is a disposal at market value for your personal Capital Gains Tax, even though you still ultimately control the assets. Because you and your company are “connected persons”, you cannot use the actual price paid; the disposal is treated as happening at the market value on the day of transfer.
So if your tokens have risen since you bought them, you can crystallise a personal CGT bill the moment you move them in, with no cash changing hands to pay it. The company then holds the crypto at that same market value as its base cost. Planning the timing, and the order of events, before any transfer is essential.
Pros and cons of holding crypto in a company
| Potential advantages | Potential drawbacks |
|---|---|
| Profits taxed at 19%–25% rather than higher personal income rates in some cases | No £3,000 annual exempt amount on gains |
| Profits can be retained and reinvested inside the company | Extracting profits as dividends or salary triggers a second layer of personal tax |
| Clear separation between business and personal assets | Moving personal crypto in is a disposal at market value |
| Wider range of deductible business costs | More administration: accounts, filings and accurate crypto records |
There is no universal right answer. For some active operators a company makes sense; for a buy-and-hold investor it often does not. The decision turns on your numbers, your time horizon and how you intend to take the money out.
Worked example: a company crypto gain taxed at the Corporation Tax rate
Imagine a UK limited company that holds Bitcoin purely as an investment. It bought tokens for £120,000 and sells them in the accounting period for £200,000, producing a chargeable gain of £80,000. The company has no other profits that year.
- Chargeable gain: £200,000 − £120,000 = £80,000.
- There is no annual exempt amount, so the full £80,000 is taxable.
- Profits of £80,000 fall between £50,000 and £250,000, so the 25% main rate applies with Marginal Relief.
Before relief, 25% of £80,000 is £20,000. Marginal Relief then reduces this: using the standard marginal relief fraction of 3/200, the relief is 3/200 × (£250,000 − £80,000) = £2,550. That leaves a Corporation Tax bill of £17,450 on the gain, an effective rate just under 21.9% (use the official GOV.UK Marginal Relief calculator to confirm the exact figure for your own dates and associated-company position). Had the same £80,000 gain been made by an individual, the calculation would instead use the £3,000 annual exempt amount and personal CGT rates, an entirely different sum.
How a specialist handles it
When a company client comes to us, we work in one order: classify, then compute. We establish whether the activity is trading or investment, reconcile every wallet and exchange the company has used, and make sure the cryptoassets are accounted for correctly before we touch the Corporation Tax computation. If you are weighing up incorporating, we model the personal disposal on transfer and the cost of extracting profits, so the decision rests on real numbers rather than a rule of thumb.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does my limited company pay Capital Gains Tax on crypto?
No. Companies do not pay Capital Gains Tax. A company pays Corporation Tax on its total profits, and any crypto gain is a chargeable gain included within that Corporation Tax calculation.
What Corporation Tax rate applies to crypto gains?
The main rate is 25% for profits over £250,000, the small profits rate is 19% for profits of £50,000 or less, and Marginal Relief applies in between. These rates have applied since 1 April 2023.
Does a company get the £3,000 annual exempt amount?
No. The annual exempt amount is a feature of Capital Gains Tax for individuals. Companies have no equivalent, so the whole gain is taxable from the first pound.
Is moving my personal crypto into my company taxable?
Yes. Transferring personally held crypto into your own company is a disposal at market value for your personal Capital Gains Tax, because you and the company are connected persons. This can create a personal tax bill with no cash received.
Is my company trading in crypto or just investing?
HMRC treats most crypto activity as investment, giving rise to chargeable gains. Only in exceptional circumstances, such as organised, high-frequency activity at commercial scale, will it be treated as a trade taxed as trading income.
Should I set up a company to hold my crypto?
It depends entirely on your figures. A company can offer lower headline tax rates and reinvestment inside the company, but loses the personal allowance and adds a second layer of tax on extraction. It is a decision to model, not to assume.
Talk to a specialist about your company’s crypto tax
Whether you already hold crypto in a company or are deciding whether to incorporate, the difference between getting it right and getting it wrong is measured in thousands of pounds. Book a free, confidential review at certifiedcryptoaccountant.com and we will tell you, in plain terms, what your company actually owes. You can also see the full range of our crypto tax services for UK and US clients.
Sources: HMRC Cryptoassets Manual (GOV.UK); Corporation Tax rates (GOV.UK); Capital Gains Tax (GOV.UK).
