The CRA expects Canadians with Crypto.com activity to work out each gain or loss in Canadian dollars and report it. That means gathering every transaction from the exchange and any app or card records, valuing each at the time it happened, and applying the adjusted cost base method. Screens and export tools change often, so check the current Crypto.com help pages for the exact route. Here is the general shape.
How the CRA sees this activity
Crypto-assets are property, not money. A sale, a swap, a conversion or a payment with crypto is a disposition. You subtract the adjusted cost base and related costs from the proceeds to get the gain or loss.
Buying with Canadian dollars doesn’t count. Holding doesn’t. Moving coins between wallets you control doesn’t. For an individual investor the result is a capital gain, with half taxable. If the activity resembles a business, the full profit is business income instead.
List every place your coins have lived
Before touching an export, write down the exchange, the mobile app if it keeps separate history, any card or earn products and every wallet you moved coins to. Every movement between them needs matching. If you skip a source, the software sees coins arriving from nowhere and guesses, and its guess usually creates a false gain.
The files worth requesting
Exchanges often divide history by product: trading, deposits and withdrawals, reward payouts and card activity. Ask for each type for each year, name the files clearly and never edit an original, since spreadsheets can change date formats and round small quantities. Record the download date, because platforms sometimes revise history.
The other route is a read-only API key entered into a tax tool. Never enable withdrawals, and revoke the key when the return is done. An API may miss older history or retired products, so compare it with your files coin by coin.
Common import problems
A negative balance means more went out than came in, so look for a missing deposit or reward. A sale with no cost usually points to a transfer from another platform you haven’t imported. Duplicate rows come from importing the same period by API and by file. Unfamiliar transaction labels need a manual decision, and you should write down your reasoning.
Rewards and card spending
Staking and similar earnings are generally income when received, at their Canadian dollar value, and that amount becomes the cost of those coins. The CRA’s mining and staking page sets out its position.
Cashback and referral credits are less clear. Depending on the facts they could be income or a reduction of what you paid, and the official guidance doesn’t address each program. Read the terms, ask a professional if unsure and treat similar payments the same way.
If a card converts coins to pay a bill, each conversion is a disposition. Spending $50 with a coin that cost $30 creates a $20 gain, half taxable.
Average cost, step by step
For identical coins the adjusted cost base is a running average. You buy 100 units for $500, 50 for $400 and 150 for $1,200. The pool holds 300 units costing $2,100, or $7 each.
You sell 120 units for $1,320 and pay a $20 fee. Those units carried $840. The gain is $1,320 minus $840 minus $20, or $460, and $230 is taxable. The pool keeps 180 units costing $1,260. Buy 60 more for $600 and the average becomes $7.75.
Software using first-in, first-out gives different answers, so check the setting before importing. Use the capital gains tax calculator to see the tax on a gain like this one.
Losses, foreign property and records
Half of a capital loss offsets gains. Under the superficial loss rule, a loss is denied if you or an affiliated person, such as a spouse, buys identical coins within 30 days before or after the sale and still holds them. You sell 2 coins at a $600 loss on May 5 and rebuy on May 28. The $600 isn’t deductible, and it adds to the cost of the new coins.
File Form T1135 if the total cost of specified foreign property was over $100,000 in Canadian dollars at any time in the year. Whether crypto on a given platform counts depends on the CRA’s current position, so read the form guide if you’re close.
Keep the type and number of units, date and time and Canadian dollar value of each transaction for at least six years after the end of the last tax year they relate to. Store two copies.
The deadline is April 30, or June 15 if self-employed, though balances are due April 30. Late filing with a balance costs 5% plus 1% per full month up to 12. See the late filing penalty guide, or the notices and unfiled returns guide if a letter arrives. Related tools: the Marginal Tax Rate & Tax Brackets calculator, plus all our tax calculators.
Sources
- CRA, Crypto-asset guide
- CRA, Income from crypto-asset transactions
- CRA, Crypto-asset books and records
- CRA, Mining and staking
- CRA, Form T1135
Common questions
Is spending crypto with a card taxable?
Are card cashback rewards income?
Can the CRA see crypto exchange activity?
How long must crypto records be kept?
Last reviewed: . Figures come from the official sources listed above. How we check the numbers and our editorial policy.