Bitbuy taxes come down to the same CRA rules as any crypto account: each sale, swap or purchase made with crypto is a disposition, half of a capital gain is taxable, and you must keep records that let someone else rebuild your numbers. Bitbuy is a Canadian platform, but that doesn’t remove the need to keep your own history.
This guide covers the general steps for exporting Bitbuy history and calculating gains. Exchange screens change, so check the Bitbuy help pages for the current export options and menu names. The tax rules come from CRA pages listed at the end.
What the CRA expects from you
The CRA’s guidance says crypto-assets are treated as a commodity for tax purposes. When you sell one for dollars, swap it for another coin or buy goods with it, that is a disposition. For most investors the result is a capital gain or loss, with a 50% inclusion rate.
Frequent, organized trading can look like a business, in which case the whole profit counts as income. The CRA weighs the facts of your activity, and there is no fixed cut-off. If you trade daily with borrowed money, get advice before you file.
A slip from the exchange, if you get one, is a helpful summary but not a substitute. You are the one responsible for the return, and the CRA can ask you to show the records behind every figure.
Records to gather first
Collect the date, the type of transaction, the amount of crypto, its value in Canadian dollars and the fee for each entry. Add wallet addresses for any transfers. Keep everything for six years after the end of the relevant tax year.
Bank statements are worth adding. They prove the dollars you sent to the exchange and the dollars you took out, which is the best check on your cost figures. Mismatches between the exchange history and the bank are often the first sign that a file is incomplete.
Exporting from Bitbuy
Exchanges usually offer downloadable transaction history, commonly in CSV format, from an account or history area. Some also let you create an API key so a tax tool can read the data. Look at the Bitbuy help pages for where these options sit today.
If you download files, expect separate ones for trades, deposits and withdrawals. Save the originals in a folder by tax year and don’t edit them. Work on copies. The unedited file is the evidence.
If you use an API key, make it read-only. A key that can trade or withdraw is a risk with no benefit for tax work. Remove the key when the import is done, and check the imported totals against the raw files.
Fixing import errors
The most common error is a sale with no matching purchase. It means the tool doesn’t know the cost of the coins. Usually the coins arrived by transfer from a wallet or another exchange, and that earlier history hasn’t been loaded.
The fix is to bring in the earlier history. Export from the other platform, or find the original purchase in bank records, and add it. Don’t leave the cost at zero, because that treats the entire sale as profit and you’d pay tax on money that was your own.
Other errors come from date formats, time zones and duplicate rows when the same transfer appears on both sides. Sort by date and coin, then scan for pairs that cancel out. A transfer between two of your own accounts is not a sale, so it shouldn’t produce a gain.
Working out adjusted cost base
For identical crypto-assets the CRA uses the average cost method. Each time you buy more of a coin, the average cost per unit is recalculated across the whole pool.
Say you buy 0.10 BTC for $6,500 and later 0.10 BTC for $8,500. The pool holds 0.20 BTC at $15,000, so the average is $75,000 per BTC. You sell 0.05 BTC for $4,500. The cost is 0.05 times $75,000, which is $3,750. That leaves a gain of $750, with $375 taxable. The remaining 0.15 BTC has a cost of $11,250.
Fees matter. A fee on a purchase adds to cost. A fee on a sale reduces proceeds. Either way the fee changes the gain, so record it on every row. The capital gains tax calculator helps you check a total once it’s calculated.
Swaps, staking and other events
Swapping one coin for another is a sale of the first at its value that day and a purchase of the second at the same value. Both legs need a Canadian dollar value, so use one documented price source for every row.
Staking and reward income is treated differently from a sale. The CRA has a page on mining and staking that explains when rewards count as income, and the value on the day you receive them becomes your cost. If Bitbuy offers any such product, look for it in a separate report.
A small year in numbers
Here is how the pieces fit together. In February you deposit $5,000 and buy 2 ETH, with $25 in fees, for a cost of $5,025. In June you buy 1 ETH for $2,700 and a $14 fee. The pool holds 3 ETH at $7,739, or $2,579.67 each.
In October you swap 1 ETH for a different coin valued at $3,100 that day, with a $10 fee taken from the proceeds. Proceeds are $3,090. Cost is $2,579.67. The gain is $510.33, and half, about $255.17, is taxable. The new coin starts with a cost of $3,090 and a pool of its own.
Nothing else happened, so the return needs one line on Schedule 3, backed by the sheet. The work sits in the records, not in the form.
Keeping the sheet honest
Add a running balance of units for each coin. It should never go below zero, and at year end it should match the balance shown on the exchange. A negative balance means a purchase is missing somewhere, and a balance that is too high often means a sale was left out.
Store one note file with the decisions you made, such as the price source, the rate used for conversion and any estimates. When the CRA asks a question two years later, that note saves a lot of guessing. Label estimates clearly.
Try not to rely on memory. Recording the reason for each unusual row while the details are fresh takes seconds, and rebuilding it later can take hours.
Before you file, read the sheet from top to bottom once. Errors that hide in a formula are often obvious to the eye, like a date in the wrong year or a fee entered as a gain.
Losses and the 30-day rule
A loss on a sale is denied if you buy the same coin within 30 days before or after and still hold it. The denied amount is added to the cost of the replacement coins. Otherwise capital losses offset capital gains, and any excess can be carried back three years or forward with no limit.
So a plan to sell a losing coin and rebuy it on the same day doesn’t create a usable loss. Wait out the window or move to a different asset, and keep a note of the dates. The income tax calculator shows how the taxable half of a net gain adds to the rest of your income.
Foreign property over $100,000
Coins that stay on a Canadian platform are one thing, but if you also hold crypto with a foreign exchange, the cost of specified foreign property can pass $100,000 CAD. Then Form T1135 may be required. It uses cost, not value. Read the CRA form guide if your total is near the line. Related tools: the Marginal Tax Rate & Tax Brackets calculator, plus all our tax calculators.
Sources
- CRA guide for cryptocurrency users and tax professionals
- CRA guide T4037, Capital gains
- CRA Form T1135
Common questions
Do I owe tax if I only buy and hold on Bitbuy?
What does a missing purchase error mean?
Which cost method applies?
Last reviewed: . Figures come from the official sources listed above. How we check the numbers and our editorial policy.