Capital gains tax on crypto.
Estimated tax on the gain
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Taxable (included) gain
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Net gain kept
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Your breakdown
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When the CRA decides you owe on crypto
In Canada cryptocurrency is property, not currency, so a tax event happens the moment you dispose of it. Selling for dollars is obvious, but trading one coin for another, spending crypto to buy goods, and gifting it all count as dispositions too. For an investor each disposition produces a capital gain or loss, and only half of the gain is taxable. That 50 percent inclusion rate is the figure this calculator uses. You may have read that the rate was heading to two thirds on annual gains above $250,000, but the federal government cancelled that proposal in March 2025, so the flat 50 percent stands for everyone.
A $40,000 gain at a 43.41 percent rate
Suppose you realized $40,000 of net crypto gains over the year and your marginal tax rate is 43.41 percent, roughly a mid-six-figure earner in Ontario. The tool includes half the gain, so $20,000 lands on your return as taxable income. Applying your marginal rate to that taxable slice gives the tax owing, and the rest is yours to keep.
The split below shows the whole $40,000 gain divided into the half that is sheltered, the tax actually paid on the included half, and what remains in your pocket.
Investor or trader, and why it changes everything
The 50 percent inclusion only applies if the CRA sees you as an investor. If you trade with high frequency, use sophisticated strategies, or run what looks like a business, the CRA can treat your crypto profits as business income, which is fully taxable, every dollar included rather than half. There is no bright line, but factors like the frequency of transactions, how long you hold, your knowledge of the market, and whether trading is your livelihood all weigh in. Mining and staking rewards add another layer, often taxed as income at the time received. If your activity sits anywhere near the trader end, get a professional read before you file.
Who this is for and the record-keeping trap
This calculator suits Canadian investors who buy and hold, occasionally rebalance, and want a quick estimate of the tax on a year’s realized gains. The single biggest mistake is poor record keeping. The CRA expects you to track the adjusted cost base of every coin, and Canada uses the average cost method across identical units, not first-in-first-out. Every trade between coins is a disposition that must be valued in Canadian dollars on the day it happened. Exchanges rarely give you a clean adjusted cost base, so use dedicated crypto tax software or a careful spreadsheet from the start. A useful tip: if you are sitting on losing positions, selling them in the same year as a large gain lets the capital loss offset the gain dollar for dollar.
One trap that catches Canadians who try to harvest those losses is the superficial loss rule. If you sell a coin at a loss and you or an affiliated person buys the same coin back within 30 days before or after the sale, the CRA denies the loss for that year and instead adds it to the cost base of the repurchased coins. So you cannot sell Bitcoin on Friday to crystallize a loss and rebuy it Monday to keep your position. You either accept a real gap in holding or recognize the loss will be deferred, not claimed now.
It is also worth remembering that the CRA actively pursues crypto. It has obtained records from Canadian exchanges and treats unreported crypto gains as a compliance priority, so the days of assuming transactions are invisible are over. Reporting accurately, even on losses, is far cheaper than a reassessment with interest and penalties layered on later.
Do I owe tax if I only moved crypto between my own wallets?
No. Transferring coins between wallets you control is not a disposition, so there is no gain to report. Just keep records proving both wallets are yours, because the on-chain movement can look like a sale to an automated matching system if you cannot show otherwise.
What if I lost money on crypto this year?
A capital loss on crypto can offset capital gains from any source, including stocks and property, in the same year. Unused losses carry back three years or forward indefinitely. The exception is if the CRA treats you as a trader, in which case losses are business losses with different and generally more flexible rules.