How to Declare Crypto on Your Tax Return (myTax 2026)

Crypto capital gains are declared in the Capital gains or losses section of myTax — item 18 on the paper supplementary return — while staking rewards and airdrops are declared at Other income (item 24). All figures must be in Australian dollars. This page covers the lodgment mechanics for FY2025-26; the rules behind the numbers sit in our Australian crypto tax guide.

What you need before you open myTax

myTax 2026 opens on 1 July 2026 for the financial year ending 30 June 2026. Before starting, the ATO expects you to hold records for every crypto asset and transaction: dates, the Australian dollar value at the time, what the transaction was for, and the other party (a wallet address is sufficient).

Each crypto asset is a separate CGT asset, so a swap from one token to another is a disposal of the first token even though no dollars changed hands. How the gain or loss itself is calculated — cost base, the 50% CGT discount for assets held at least 12 months, and loss offsetting — is covered in our guide to capital gains tax on crypto, and you can estimate the numbers with our crypto tax calculator.

You enter totals, not individual trades, into myTax. Those totals come from either your own spreadsheet or a crypto tax software report.

Step by step: declaring crypto capital gains in myTax

The labels below are taken from the ATO’s myTax 2026 instructions, published 1 June 2026.

1. Sign in to myGov, open ATO online services, and start your 2025-26 tax return in myTax.
2. At Personalise return, tick “You had Australian interest, or other Australian income or losses from investments or property”, then tick “Capital gains or losses that aren’t from a managed fund or trust distribution”.
3. At Prepare return, select Add/Edit at the Capital gains or losses banner.
4. Answer the question “Have you applied an exemption, rollover or additional discount?” Most investors who simply bought, held and sold crypto answer No. (The standard 50% discount for assets held over 12 months is not an “additional” discount — answer No unless a specific exemption or rollover applies.)
5. Enter your Total current year capital gains. This is the gross total of all capital gains for the year, before applying any capital losses or the CGT discount.
6. Enter your Net capital gain. This is what remains after subtracting capital losses (current-year and carried-forward) and then applying any CGT discount.
7. If your losses exceeded your gains, enter the unapplied amount at Net capital loss carried forward to later income years instead. Losses cannot be deducted from salary or other income.
8. Complete the Capital gains tax schedule if your current-year capital gain or loss is more than $10,000 — myTax builds the schedule within the same flow.
9. Select Save and continue.

myTax may already display pre-filled information in this section, including an indicator that you may have a CGT event for a crypto asset. More on that below.

Where staking rewards and other crypto income go

The ATO treats the market value of staking rewards, and of established tokens received by airdrop, as ordinary income at the time you receive them — not as a capital gain. The myTax 2026 instructions explicitly list “crypto staking rewards and airdrops” under Other income.

1. At Personalise return, tick “You had other income not listed above (including employee share schemes)”.
2. At Prepare return, select Add/Edit at the Other income banner.
3. At the Any other income banner, select Add, choose the Type of payment, and enter a description (for example, “crypto staking rewards”) and the total Australian dollar value at the time of receipt.
4. Select Save.

Two points stop double-counting confusion. First, tokens received from staking or airdrops take a cost base equal to their market value at receipt — when you later sell them, only growth after that date is a capital gain. Second, tokens from an initial airdrop of a brand-new token are generally not ordinary income on receipt but carry a zero cost base. Rewards from comparable mechanisms — validator nodes, proxy staking, vote staking — follow the same other-income treatment.

If your crypto activity amounts to carrying on a business, profits are assessable as business income rather than capital gains — a materially different return. That boundary is fact-specific and worth confirming with a crypto-literate tax accountant.

Using a crypto tax software report

Most people with more than a handful of trades use software to produce the myTax totals. Koinly, Summ (the Australian platform formerly named Crypto Tax Calculator, rebranded in October 2025) and Syla each generate an ATO myTax report whose figures map directly to the fields above. We compare features and pricing in our crypto tax software comparison; we may earn a commission if you sign up through links on this site.

myTax field	Figure from your software’s ATO report
Total current year capital gains	Total capital gains before losses and discount
Net capital gain	Net gain after losses and CGT discount
Net capital loss carried forward	Unapplied net capital loss
Other income (Any other income)	Total income from staking, airdrops and similar rewards

The caveat: software output is only as accurate as the data fed into it. Missing wallets, unlabelled transfers between your own accounts, or unsupported chains produce wrong totals, and you — not the software vendor — are responsible for the figures lodged. All three platforms charge for tax reports at most usage tiers. Reviewing the transaction list before lodging, or having a registered tax agent review it, is part of the job.

ATO data-matching and the pre-fill warning

The ATO’s crypto assets data-matching program collects account identification and transaction data from designated service providers — including the major Australian exchanges, which must also be registered with AUSTRAC — covering the 2014-15 through 2025-26 financial years.

In practice this means myTax often already knows. The 2026 instructions confirm that pre-fill can include an “indicator that you may have a CGT event for a crypto asset”, and that pre-filled crypto disposal indicators cannot be deleted from the return. Lodging without addressing the section invites an ATO review, and understating gains can attract penalties and interest charges on top of the tax itself.

The flip side: data-matching covers disposals, not your cost base. The ATO knows you sold; your records prove what you paid, which is what keeps your assessable gain accurate rather than inflated.

Amending a past return that missed crypto

Discovering an old wallet after lodging is common. The mechanics:

1. Individuals generally have 2 years to request an amendment, starting the day after your notice of assessment is sent.
2. The fastest route is an online amendment through ATO online services (sign in via myGov, select the relevant year, and amend the capital gains or other income sections). The ATO processes online amendments in around 20 days.
3. Amendments can also be lodged through a registered tax agent or in writing, though written requests take up to 50 business days.
4. Outside the two-year window, an amendment is no longer available — a formal objection is the remaining route, and extensions of time can be requested in some circumstances.

Coming forward voluntarily is treated more favourably than waiting for a data-matching letter, and there is no limit on the number of amendment requests within the review period. For multi-year corrections, larger sums, or anything involving business income classification, a registered tax agent (verify registration at tpb.gov.au) is the appropriate channel — they can also advise on the legitimate ways to manage crypto tax in future years.

Lodging on paper or through a tax agent

The myTax labels map directly onto the other lodgment channels. On the paper Tax return for individuals (supplementary section), capital gains are declared at question 18 (“Capital gains”) and crypto income at question 24 (“Other income”). The same total, net gain and carried-forward loss figures apply.

If a registered tax agent lodges for you, you supply the same records or software report and the agent completes the equivalent labels in their lodgment software. Agent lodgment usually also extends your deadline beyond 31 October, provided you are on the agent’s client list before that date. Agent fees for crypto returns vary with transaction complexity — our guide to crypto tax accountants covers typical cost ranges — and the fee is generally deductible in the following year’s return as a cost of managing tax affairs.

Key dates for FY2025-26

Date	What happens
30 June 2026	FY2025-26 ends — disposals up to this date belong in this return
1 July 2026	myTax 2026 opens for lodgment
Late July 2026	Most ATO pre-fill data, including employer and bank data, is loaded
31 October 2026	Standard deadline for self-lodgers (where a due date falls on a weekend, the ATO accepts lodgment the next business day)
After 31 October 2026	Extended deadlines may apply if you engaged a registered tax agent before 31 October

Lodging early in July means lodging before pre-fill is complete — the ATO flags that returns lodged before pre-fill loads are more likely to need amendment later.

Everything above is general information about lodgment mechanics, current as at June 2026. It does not account for your circumstances, and only a registered tax agent can confirm how the rules apply to your situation or compute your liability.

Common questions

Frequently asked questions

Where do I declare crypto on my tax return in Australia? +

Capital gains and losses from selling, swapping or spending crypto go in the 'Capital gains or losses' section of myTax, which corresponds to item 18 on the paper supplementary tax return. Income such as staking rewards and airdrops goes in the 'Other income' section, item 24 on the paper form. All amounts must be reported in Australian dollars.

Do I need to report crypto if I only made a loss? +

Yes. The ATO requires capital losses to be reported in the year the disposal happens. A net capital loss cannot be deducted from salary or other income, but it can offset capital gains in the same year or be carried forward indefinitely to offset future gains. In myTax it is entered at 'Net capital loss carried forward to later income years'.

Where do staking rewards go in myTax? +

The ATO treats staking rewards and most airdrops as ordinary income, declared at their Australian dollar market value when received. The myTax 2026 instructions explicitly list 'crypto staking rewards and airdrops' under the Other income section. You reach it by ticking 'You had other income not listed above' at Personalise return, then adding the amount at the Any other income banner.

Does the ATO know I own crypto? +

In most cases, yes. The ATO's crypto assets data-matching program collects account and transaction data from designated service providers, covering the 2014-15 to 2025-26 financial years. If the ATO holds data on you, myTax displays an indicator that you may have a CGT event for a crypto asset, and that pre-filled indicator cannot be deleted from your return.

What if I forgot to declare crypto in a previous year? +

Individuals generally have two years from the day after their notice of assessment to request an amendment. The fastest route is an online amendment through ATO online services, which typically processes in around 20 days. Outside the two-year window, a formal objection may be needed. A registered tax agent can manage disclosures covering multiple years.

Do I need to complete a capital gains tax schedule? +

myTax requires a capital gains tax schedule where your current-year capital gain or capital loss is more than $10,000. The schedule is completed within the myTax flow itself, using the same figures from your records or crypto tax software report, so no separate paper form is needed when lodging online.

Sources & further reading

• ATO — myTax 2026 Capital gains or losses instructions
• ATO — myTax 2026 Other income instructions
• ATO — How to work out and report CGT on crypto
• ATO — Staking rewards and airdrops
• ATO — Crypto assets data-matching program protocol to 2025–26
• ATO — Time limits on tax return amendments