Crypto transactions are now fully on HMRC's radar. Reporting crypto on the new Self-Assessment Tax Return is now mandatory. Whether you’re trading, mining, staking, or selling NFTs, you must report crypto activity clearly—or risk serious penalties. This article breaks down exactly what’s changed and how to stay compliant with HMRC.
What’s Changed?
The 2024/25 UK Self Assessment Tax Return now includes a dedicated section for crypto. You must therefore declare crypto separately from other capital gains. That means listing trades, swaps, disposals, gifts, income, and NFTs in the correct sections. As a result there is no more disclosing in the 'other capital gains' section and greater visibility for HMRC. This change is consistent with HMRC's new rules for reporting crypto transactions.
Why it's important
Because HMRC now receives data directly from exchanges and wallets thye have much better visibility of your transactions. As a result, they can run a comparison with your 2024/25 UK Self Assessment Tax Return.
If your figures don’t match, you’ll likely face an HMRC enquiry .What's more you could face possible backdated interest and penalties. These rules aren’t soft guidelines. They’re enforcement tools. Crypto is now under tight HMRC scrutiny.
How to prepare for filing your tax return
Gather records from all your wallets and exchanges. Include every swap, trade, and income event. Furthermore you should use crypto tax software that connects directly to wallets and platforms. Manual tracking won’t cut it anymore.
Additionally, you should ensure your tools support UK-specific formatting for the 2024/25 UK Self Assessment Tax Return. Equally importantly, you should back up everything—CSV files, screenshots, summaries. HMRC can ask for records up to six years later.
Our previous article details some of the problem areas and pitfalls to avoid when disclosing crypto transactions on your Self-Assessment tax return.
Full disclosure
Every crypto disposal counts. That includes selling, swapping, gifting, or converting tokens—even between your own wallets. If you earn crypto through staking, mining, or as payment for services —it’s taxed as income. Therefore you'll need to report it separately from capital gains
Where you have NFT sales you must declare the sale price in GBP, the date, and your acquisition cost. Additionally, NFT creators must report minting income. Conversely NFT buyers must report capital gains when selling.
Each of these transactions has different tax implications. Label them correctly and store proof of value on each transaction date.
In summary
It's vital to use crypto tax software built for UK rules. At the same time, it should support GBP conversions, HMRC formats, and Self Assessment reports. The best tools automatically generate figures for your 2024/25 UK Self Assessment Tax Return.
When choosing a software, look for integrations with major platforms: Binance, Coinbase, MetaMask, Ledger, and OpenSea.
The 2024/25 UK Self Assessment Tax Return marks a turning point for crypto tax reporting. HMRC expects full compliance. As a result, you should start preparing now, use smart tools and get expert help. Don’t leave filing your crypto tax return to the last minute!
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