TaxCalc Blog

Crypto tax: nine key questions answered by the experts

With crypto ownership becoming more and more common and HMRC issuing thousands of nudge letters it’s clear that the digital asset space in the UK is evolving fast.

And with the Recent Crypto Asset Reporting Framework requiring platforms such as Coinbase and Kraken to keep HMRC informed of investor activity the pressure is only going to increase.

We recently held a webinar with experts in crypto regulation.

-    CEO of Recap, Dan Howitt.
-    Crypto tax specialist at Knightbridge Tax, Laura knight 
-    Crypto Tax Expert & Tax Director at Wright Vigar, Louise Lane 

Watch the replay on-demand here.

And, below, our three experts delve into even greater detail by answering nine key questions from our webinar attendees.

Q1. How are cryptoassets taxed in the UK?

There's no special "crypto tax" in the UK. HMRC treats crypto as property, so the same rules that apply to other assets apply here too. For crypto investors, it comes down to two taxes: Capital Gains Tax (CGT) and Income Tax. Only in exceptional circumstances would HMRC regard the buying and selling of crypto to be a trading activity and we expand on this more in Q7.

CGT kicks in when you sell, swap, spend or gift your crypto (anything HMRC calls a "disposal"). Beware that DeFi-type activity, where you lock up your tokens, can also be a CGT disposal, depending on the circumstances. You'll pay tax on the gain, which is the difference between the matched acquisition cost (under S104 pooling and matching) and what it was worth at the time of the disposal. Our guide to how crypto trading is taxed walks through this in detail.

Example: James sells Bitcoin

James buys 0.1 BTC for £4,000. A year later, he sells all 0.1 BTC for £6,500. His gain is £2,500 (£6,500 proceeds minus £4,000 cost basis). That's below the £3,000 annual exempt amount, so no CGT is due. If the gain had been £4,000, he'd pay CGT on £1,000 (the amount above the £3,000 allowance) at either 18% or 24%, depending on his income tax band.

Income Tax applies when you receive crypto as a reward or payment. Think mining rewards, staking rewards, airdrops you earned by doing something, or getting paid in crypto by an employer or client. The GBP value at the time the tokens are receivable is what counts as income.
And yes, the same crypto can be hit by both taxes, but at different stages. Say you mine some Bitcoin. You'll pay Income Tax on its value when you receive it. If you later sell that Bitcoin for more than it was worth when you mined it, you'll pay CGT on the increase. You're not being taxed twice on the same amount. Income Tax covers what you received; CGT covers the change in value afterwards.
An example of how this may work is shown below:

Example: Sophie stakes Ethereum

Sophie earns 0.5 ETH in staking rewards. At the time, ETH is worth £2,000, so she has £1,000 of taxable income.

Six months later, she sells the 0.5 ETH when it's worth £2,800. Proceeds: £1,400. Cost basis (the value when she received it): £1,000.

Capital gain: £400.

Income Tax covered the initial receipt. CGT only covers the £400 increase afterwards. No overlap.

Q2. What can actually trigger a tax charge for CGT purposes for cryptoassets?

Going back to the main basis for charging CGT, cryptoassets are by their nature intangible assets and s.21 TCGA 1992 also provides a wide ranging definition of an asset. The definition is not limited and includes all forms of property. On the basis that the cryptoassets are capable of being owned and have a value that can be realised then they are assets subject to CGT.  

A disposal or part disposal will occur under the usual CGT rules in any event where "beneficial ownership" changes hands. For example transfers of ownership between wallets where you remain the beneficial owner of the underlying assets will not create a disposal event. We have included below a list of some of the main types of disposal events:

Selling crypto for GBP.

The obvious one. Your gain or loss is the difference between what you paid (your cost basis using s.104 pooling and the bed and breakfasting matching rules) and what you sold it for.

Swapping one crypto for another.

HMRC treats this as selling the first asset at its market value and buying the second. Even swapping between stablecoins can create a small gain or loss. This is because they are usually backed or pegged to the USD value which gives rise to a foreign exchange difference as the calculations have to use GBP value at acquisition and disposal. Even if you are using the stablecoins like money such as linked to a debit card for day to day spending, as cryptoassets are not money you cannot use the foreign currency exemption.

Spending crypto.

Using crypto to buy goods or services is a disposal at the market value on that day. This is increasing in use with platforms offering debit cards linked to cryptoassets.

Gifting crypto.

Giving crypto to anyone other than your spouse or civil partner counts as a disposal at market value, even though you received nothing back. Gifts to your spouse/civil partner I or qualifying charities pass across on a "no gain, no loss" basis. 

Network fees.

Every gas fee you pay in crypto is a mini disposal. These are small individually, but they add up across hundreds of transactions.

Some DeFi activity.

Entering or exiting liquidity pools, lending protocols or staking contracts can be disposals where beneficial ownership changes. It depends on the specific protocol's terms and mechanics. Our DeFi tax guide goes into this in more detail.

Bankruptcy distributions. If you've received crypto back from an exchange that went bust (like FTX or Celsius), the tax treatment depends on the facts and circumstances. If you got back less than you originally deposited, you may be able to claim a capital loss. If the value of what you received has changed, CGT could apply on the difference. This is a complex area, so it may be worth seeking specialist tax advice if you have cases like this. 

What's NOT a disposal:

buying crypto with GBP, holding crypto, transferring between your own wallets (though the network fee itself is a small disposal).

Note gifts to your spouse or civil partner are a deemed disposal but because of the no gain/no loss rule there is no actual CGT charge on the transfer. In these cases it is also really important to document the transfers and intentions to be able to support that a disposal to spouse/civil partner took place.

For Income Tax, it's receiving crypto as a reward or payment.

Q3. What taxable events are triggered for income tax purposes? 

For Income Tax, the taxable points will generally be when you are receiving cryptoassets as a reward, earnings or payment for service.

Determining the date of receipt can sometimes be challenging. For example in the case of employment if someone has received cryptoassets as employment income by reason of their employment, as per HMRC guidance at CRYPTO21100 then they count as money’s worth and are subject to income tax. National Insurance also needs to be considered. So if you are paid in USDC, you would convert to GBP and have PAYE and NI deducted on that value. 
However, some cases are not as straightforward and you may need to consider when are they treated as ‘received’ under existing tax law and guidance as this will affect the date of valuation and when they need to be reported.

The same issue can arise when receiving reward income as it is not necessarily the claim date that the income is treated as received but when the reward becomes available to be claimed. 
If you have complicated cases with contractors or employees then it may be worth seeking specialist advice.

Below is a list of the general types you may come across:

Mining.

Crypto you earn from mining is taxable income. For most people, it's taxed as "miscellaneous income" based on its GBP value when you receive it. If your total miscellaneous and trading income is under £1,000, the trading allowance means there's nothing to pay. Above that, you can either deduct £1,000 automatically or claim your actual expenses (like electricity) if they're higher. One thing to note: HMRC says mining costs can only be deducted against Income Tax, not CGT.

When you later sell, swap or spend mined crypto, CGT applies on any change in value since you received it. Your cost basis for CGT is the value you were already taxed on for income, so there's no double-counting. There's more on this in our crypto mining tax guide.

Staking.

Staking rewards usually follow the same logic. They're taxed as miscellaneous income based on their GBP value when they become "receivable" (not necessarily when you withdraw them). The £1,000 trading allowance applies in the same way.

For some DeFi staking arrangements, you also need to think about whether beneficial ownership of your staked tokens has changed. If it has, CGT could apply at the point of staking. This gets complex quickly, and our DeFi tax guide covers it in more detail.

Cashback.

Crypto cashback from spending (like rewards from a Crypto.com or Coinbase card) generally isn't taxable when you receive it. HMRC sees it more like a discount than income. But when you later sell, swap or spend those reward tokens, that's a CGT disposal. The cost basis is most likely nil, so the full disposal value is your gain. We've written a separate crypto cashback tax guide that goes into the detail.

Airdrops.

Airdrops you received in return for doing something (promoting a project, providing coding work) are taxable income. Random airdrops that appear in your wallet with no strings attached? Not income at receipt. Either way, later disposals are subject to CGT. Our airdrops tax guide explains the difference.

Q4. Are unrealised gains on crypto taxable, or is tax only due when a disposal takes place?

Tax is only due when you actually dispose of your crypto. Just holding it, even if it's gone up massively, isn't taxable. HMRC is clear on this: buying and holding crypto doesn't create a tax bill. 
If you bought Bitcoin at £10,000 and it's now sitting at £80,000, then you don't owe a penny until you sell, swap, spend or gift any of it. The same goes for losses. You can't claim a loss on something you still hold because the value has significantly decreased.

This is an important point for advisers and accountants where there is opportunity to support clients with tax planning. Whilst there are the bed and breakfasting rules to follow, by having up to date accounting for the cryptoassets using crypto tax software, taxpayers can see the asset’s current market value and if they are sitting at a loss they can decide if they want to realise those losses for example before the tax year end. This is particularly valuable with volatile priced assets like crypto where they may have other gains in the tax year.The

only other way to claim a capital loss without selling the asset is through a negligible value claim, which is only available where the cryptoassets have become genuinely worthless. Note that as cryptocurrency is generally subject to s104 pooling with the entire pool treated as single asset value; it is the total pool value that counts when looking at whether the asset has become worthless and not the per token amount. Note NFTs are usually not fungible and with some of the values they were purchased at in earlier years there could be an opportunity for a negligible value claim and capital loss. 

Practical points to consider

It is worth highlighting that cryptocurrencies will be fungible like shares as they can be traded or swapped without identifying a specific unit or item. For example, If you hold Bitcoin across multiple wallets and exchanges it is still treated as a single asset so if you sell Bitcoin out of one of those wallets you have to consider the cost basis of all Bitcoin purchased using s.104 pooling like you would with a share portfolio. So, for example you can’t own Bitcoin through an exchange and only account for a sale and cost basis from that exchange and rely on reports from exchanges without looking at all the wallets where assets are held through. 
Watch out for disposals you might not realise are happening. Swapping one crypto for another? That's a disposal. Paying for something with Bitcoin? Disposal. Entering certain DeFi liquidity pools, using the crypto as collateral for a loan? Potentially a disposal too, if beneficial ownership changes. 

Offshore matters affecting UK residents?

Section 275 and 275A TCGA 1992 provides rules on where the location of an asset is for CGT purposes. HMRC guidance at CRYPTO22600 provides HMRC’s view that where the cryptoasset is distinct from any underlying asset then the statutory rules for location of assets in the legislation do not apply and that the ‘location of the cryptoasset will be determined by the residence of the beneficial owner’. 

If the cryptoasset is a digital representation of an underlying asset, the location of the underlying asset will determine the location of the cryptoasset.

For Inheritance tax there are no statutory rules for location and instead a common law approach is needed subject to any double taxation agreements.

HMRC have not provided any guidance or views on the source of income where it arises from cryptoassets, so if you have a client who is looking to claim Foreign Income and Gains relief (FIG) from 6 April 2025 then you will need to review the facts and circumstances.

There are alternative suggestions that have been put forward to the situs point such as STEP’s alternative view where the situs should be considered to be where the participant is most closely connected which is in point typically where the cryptoassets are held through exchanges/platforms. There is a current law commission consultation on situs in respect of private client international law matters and whilst this is not in respect of tax, the outcomes when the first situs tax cases get to the courts could look to decide a different answer to HMRC’s initial current guidance.

Other considerations may also be in point around whether the taxpayer even owns the cryptoassets or whether they own rights against the exchange depending on the exchanges terms and conditions. 
If you have a client who has come to the UK and has been subject to exit taxes or taxes on unrealised gains on their assets outside of the UK then you will need to consider the UK tax treatment and any relevant double tax treaties. 

If you have US clients, who will be filing in both the UK and US you may also want to be having the conversation with clients about current year gains and income to consider timing to prepay tax before 31 December for US/UK tax credit purposes. 

Another more common issue for those clients who are working in the crypto industry and are subject to restricted vesting of cryptoasset tokens and considering the tax treatment in both jurisdictions if UK/US or if they have been granted tokens in one jurisdiction and then moved whilst they are vesting or before realised.

This is a complex area but has become more common as an incentive in recent years. If you have clients with these types of issues then you may want to seek specialist advice.

Q5. How do you determine the correct market value of cryptoassets for tax reporting when prices fluctuate or access is limited?

Every disposal and every income event needs a GBP value at the point of the transaction. That sounds straightforward, but crypto markets run 24/7, prices vary between exchanges, and many tokens don't have a direct sterling pair at all.

HMRC's valuation guidance in CRYPTO23000 (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/cryptoassets-manual/crypto23000) is deliberately principles-based rather than prescriptive. No mandated pricing source, no required method, no specified aggregator. The entire framework rests on three things: take reasonable care to arrive at an appropriate valuation, apply a consistent methodology, and keep records of how you did it. The legal backstop is TCGA 1992 s.272 (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1992/12/section/272), which defines market value as the price assets might reasonably fetch on a sale in the open market.

In practice, the most defensible approach is the spot price from the exchange where the transaction took place. That's the closest match to the s.272 "open market" test because it reflects what the asset was actually trading at when the disposal happened. A daily average or daily closing price is also perfectly reasonable, particularly where exact timestamps are unreliable or unavailable, and it smooths out intraday volatility. VWAP (volume-weighted average price) is another robust option, widely used in institutional contexts because it accounts for trading volume and reduces the impact of outlier prices.

Where you'd start raising eyebrows is consistently picking the daily low as disposal proceeds or the daily high as acquisition cost. It's not explicitly prohibited, but if the chosen method systematically produces the most favourable tax outcome, that's hard to justify as "reasonable care" and exactly the kind of pattern that invites an enquiry. In practice you would also tick the box on the CG pages for valuation or estimate used and should provide a white space note to show the methodology and/or valuation sources used.  

Where a direct GBP price isn't available (DeFi transactions, DEX trades, or tokens that only pair against ETH or USDT) you'll need to establish value through an intermediate pair and convert to GBP at the prevailing rate. Remember that crypto-to-crypto swaps are disposals (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/cryptoassets-manual/crypto22100), so each one creates its own valuation event. Reputable aggregators like CoinGecko or CoinMarketCap work well as fallback sources. What matters most isn't which source you pick; it's that you use it consistently.

Example: Sarah swaps ETH for a niche DeFi token

Sarah uses Uniswap to swap 0.5 ETH for 10,000 XYZ tokens. XYZ only trades against ETH, with no direct GBP pair available.

At the time of the swap, ETH is priced at £2,400 on CoinGecko. The 0.5 ETH she spent is therefore worth £1,200, giving each XYZ token an acquisition cost of £0.12.

Her audit log records: the pricing source (CoinGecko), the ETH/GBP rate and timestamp, the conversion path (XYZ → ETH → GBP), and the fact that no direct GBP or USD price was available for XYZ.

Six months later, XYZ is listed on a centralised exchange with a GBP pair. She sells 5,000 XYZ at £0.30 each. Proceeds: £1,500. Cost basis: 5,000 × £0.12 = £600. Capital gain: £900.

Because she documented her methodology at the point of acquisition, she has a defensible valuation if HMRC queries the cost base.

Illiquid or newly launched tokens are where it gets harder. HMRC offers no specific guidance here, so you're working with the best available evidence: the price from the liquidity pool, the value of the counterparty asset, or a reasonable estimate. If a token genuinely has no market value, its value at receipt can be nil. For tokens that become worthless, a negligible value claim (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/cryptoassets-manual/crypto22500) crystallises the loss.

These edge cases are exactly where documentation matters most. Record why the standard approach didn't apply and how you arrived at the figure.

The compliance stakes are rising.

The Reporting Cryptoasset Service Providers Regulations 2025 (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2025/744/contents/made) require UK exchanges to report transaction-level data to HMRC from January 2026, with the first reports due by May 2027.

From that point, HMRC will have exchange data to benchmark against Self-Assessment returns. If your client's valuations don't hold up against what the exchanges reported, expect questions.

Think of what you need as an audit log for every valuation decision: the pricing source, the timestamp, the conversion path, and the rationale for any departures from the standard method. That log turns "I used a consistent methodology" from an assertion into evidence.

Crypto tax calculators like Recap (https://recap.io) handle this automatically, providing consistent GBP valuations across thousands of transactions with a full audit trail showing how each one was priced and why. When HMRC comes calling with CARF data in hand, that's the documentation that makes the difference.

Q6. How is crypto treated for inheritance tax, and what practical issues arise when valuing or accessing holdings on death?

HMRC has recently launched a campaign encouraging cryptoassets to be reported on IHT filings (and even an amnesty for correcting prior returns without penalty in response to this campaign).

Crypto is treated as property for inheritance tax (IHT), just like shares, a house or any other asset. It forms part of the estate and is subject to IHT at 40% on amounts above the nil-rate band (currently £325,000, or up to £500,000 with the residence nil-rate band).

The valuation should reflect the market value at the date of death. For well-known coins like Bitcoin or Ethereum, that's fairly straightforward. For less liquid tokens, DeFi positions or staked assets, it gets more complex and may need specialist input. There is currently no IHT relief where the crypto drops in value after the date of death (unlike shares/land).

If it transpires that the crypto is irrecoverable, consideration needs to be given as to whether there is any relief from IHT or if there is a capital loss available. If it can be argued that the crypto is permanently irrecoverable, it may be possible to claim a capital loss, but this is more likely to fall in the period of administration post date of death and therefore may be of little use.

A capital loss realised up to the date of death (in the tax year of death) can be carried back 3 years, but it is unlikely the crypto was irrecoverable until after the date of death.

The real headache is usually practical, not legal. If the person held crypto in a self-custody wallet (a hardware wallet like Ledger, or a software wallet like MetaMask), the executors need the private keys or seed phrase to access the funds. Without these, the crypto could be permanently inaccessible. There's no "forgot password" reset button on the blockchain.

For crypto held on an exchange, executors can usually contact the platform with a death certificate or grant of probate to request access. Each exchange has its own process, which can take time and it is recommended that the bank account which funded the exchange remains open in case the exchange will only pay client funds into that account.

There's a useful CGT point here too. When crypto passes to beneficiaries on death, they acquire it at the market value on the date of death. This effectively wipes out any gains that built up during the deceased's lifetime. The beneficiary's cost basis is the probate value, not what was originally paid for the crypto.

For accountants advising executors, the starting point is working out what's held, where it's held, and whether access is possible. Having a complete transaction history from a tool like Recap can help, provided the exchange accounts are accessible.

Q7. When does crypto activity move from investment into trading, and why does that distinction matter?

Most people who buy and sell crypto are treated as investors by HMRC. That means profits or gains fall under Capital Gains Tax where disposals are made. But in what HMRC calls "exceptional circumstances," someone's activity could be classified as financial trading. If that happens, profits from disposals become self-employed business profits, subject to Income Tax and National Insurance instead of CGT.

Why does it matter? Because the numbers are quite different. CGT for 2025/26 is 18% or 24%, with a £3,000 tax-free allowance. Income Tax is based on the level of income with tax rates of 20%, 40% and 45%, but also an effective 60% tax rate on the slice where the personal allowance is lost. There is also National Insurance on top. For large profits, the difference in what you owe can be significant.

HMRC doesn't give a hard-and-fast rule for when investing tips into trading. They may look at things like how often you trade, how organised and sophisticated your activity is, how long you hold assets, and whether it looks more like a business than a hobby. However, it is not as simple as working through the "badges of trade" as they have limitations where there is financial trading. 

In practice, HMRC has confirmed that the vast majority of crypto users are investors, not traders. The fact that people in the crypto world commonly say "trading" doesn't change HMRC's view. They look at what you're actually doing, not the words you use. Our crypto trading tax guide covers this distinction between investing and trading in more detail, looking at the HMRC approach and court cases involving share day traders.

If you're unsure which category you fall into, it's worth speaking to a crypto expert tax professional. Getting it wrong can work against you in either direction.

Q8. How should accountants approach clients with large volumes of crypto transactions, and what questions should they ask first?

The first step is simply to ask. If you're not already having conversations with clients about cryptoassets, now is the time. HMRC has introduced a dedicated cryptoassets section on the SA108 from 2024/25

(https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67e160d5d8e313b503358cc8/sa108-2025.pdf), and the CARF regulations (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2025/744/contents/made) require UK exchanges to report transaction-level data directly to HMRC from January 2026, with the first reports due by May 2027. The question is no longer whether HMRC will find out about a client's crypto activity. It's when.

Once a client discloses crypto activity, the workflow breaks into three stages:

1. Connect.

Bring together every source of transaction data: exchanges, wallets, DeFi protocols. Ask the right questions upfront. How many platforms has the client used? Do any have restricted access or limited data exports? Have they been involved in DeFi, airdrops, forks, or mining? Have they gifted or transferred crypto to anyone? Getting a full picture at the outset avoids costly rework when a missing wallet throws the numbers out.

2. Crunch.

Apply HMRC's section 104 pooling and matching rules (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/cryptoassets-manual/crypto22200), establish GBP valuations for every transaction, and separate income events from disposals.

3. Report.

Produce the figures for the SA108 cryptoassets section (boxes 13.1 to 13.8) and any income on the SA100.

For most clients, crypto tax software handles this well. Platforms like Recap (https://recap.io) support up to 500,000 transactions, applying pooling and matching rules and generating HMRC-compliant reports with a full audit trail. Where it gets challenging is at the extremes: volumes above 500,000, complex multi-chain DeFi activity, historical data gaps, or activity spanning many years.

Specialist firms like Wright Vigar (https://www.wrightvigar.co.uk/services/crypto) and Knightbridge Tax (https://knightbridgetax.com) can help roll up high-volume data into sensible aggregation periods, reconstruct missing records, and distil the noise into a robust tax position. Recap can also provide direct support for complex cases.

Be honest with clients about the economics. High-volume crypto work can consume a disproportionate amount of adviser time, and that time is hard to recover if the client's actual gains are modest relative to the transaction volume. Ask about their overall gain/loss position upfront so you can assess proportionality and agree scope before you start burning hours on data reconciliation.

Q9. How are cryptoassets taxed in the UK?

Exchange-provided tax summaries vary a lot. Some give you a reasonable overview of buy and sell activity, but most have significant gaps.

The biggest issue is that most exchanges don't apply UK share pooling rules. They'll often use FIFO (first in, first out) or another method that isn't HMRC-compliant. They also can't see the full picture if your client used multiple platforms. If someone bought on Coinbase and sold on Kraken, neither exchange knows the real cost basis. And DeFi activity, self-custody wallets and cross-chain transactions usually aren't covered at all.

That's why a dedicated UK crypto tax calculator makes such a difference. It pulls data from all exchanges and wallets, applies the correct pooling rules, matches transfers, and generates a report designed for UK self-assessment filing. Our guide to crypto tax in the UK explains the share pooling rules in full.

Any crypto tax calculator is only as good as the info fed into it and it is strongly recommended that clients (or their tax advisors) thoroughly review the tax classifications applied by the software, to ensure it is correct and complete. It is easy to miss a whole exchange with thousands of trades, if for example, it is no longer used. Also commonly a client will only import the transactions carried out on one of the blockchains used by a wallet, yet there may be transactions on many other blockchains via the same wallet and each needs to be imported separately.

Louise Lane (Head of Crypto & Tax Director) at Wright Vigar Chartered Accountants says: “Recap is the only crypto tax calculator I recommend to my clients. It is the only UK-focused platform and unlike competitors, they work incredibly hard to ensure the nuanced UK tax rules are taken into account. Their privacy-focussed end-to-end encryption of client data is a unique offering and essential to protect the client’s highly sensitive data. Their wallet screening service takes seconds and has cut down our time spent on client take-on dramatically.”

What records does HMRC expect?

In order to work out the current capital gains or losses for crypto held as an investment, it is essential to have a record of every prior acquisition and disposal of that same token type. HMRC expect records to be kept and for all the transactions to be used in the calculations. They will accept no shortcuts or workarounds. For every crypto transaction, you should keep a record of: the type of crypto, the date, whether it was a disposal or acquisition, the number of tokens, the GBP value at the time, the running pool cost for each asset, any fees, and the wallet or exchange involved. HMRC's Cryptoassets Manual sets out these requirements.

From the 2024/25 tax year, HMRC's self-assessment includes a dedicated cryptoasset section on the SA108. And with CARF data flowing from 2026, HMRC can cross-check what's declared against what exchanges report. Keeping thorough records has never been more important. 
If you are not already specifically asked clients through checklists or information requests when preparing returns if they have crypto income or have purchased, traded or swapped crypto or carried out any transactions with cryptoassets then this would be recommended to make sure that clients are aware that they may have a liability to consider, particularly the with CGT annual exemption only being £3,000 now.

This will help with opportunities for work streams including capital loss claims that may need to be made within the 4 year window and to capture this information before potential nudge letters arrive from HMRC. 

More information about the writers

Laura knight, Crypto tax specialist at Knightbridge Tax

Knightbridge Tax brings together deep private client expertise on cross border issues, specialist knowledge of blockchain data and crypto taxation, and practical experience navigating HMRC engagement.

With more than 20 years’ experience in UK private client taxation, Laura is a Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA) and STEP Trust and Estate Practitioner (TEP) specialising in complex cross‑border matters for individuals, families, and trustees. Her      career began in accounting before moving into senior tax roles within top‑tier professional services firms, advising on UK tax issues with a strong international dimension, including extensive work with US clients living in the UK.

Since 2021, Laura has developed deep sector knowledge on the taxation of cryptoassets. Laura has significant experience managing HMRC disclosures and investigations, having led an offshore disclosure response programme and advised on cases involving substantial cryptoasset holdings.

Alongside client advisory work, Laura is an active angel investor across the digital asset and fintech sectors and contributes regularly to industry thought leadership. She has authored published articles, delivered expert sessions at tax conferences, and are recognised in the 100WFinTech directory. Laura is a Citywealth Powerwomen Award winner in both 2023 and 2024 and served as a judge for the international submissions for 2025.

Laura is co‑chair of the CryptoUK Tax Working Group, a member of the CIOT Digital Assets working group and regularly attends HMRC cryptoasset policy roundtable events.

Louise Lane, Tax Director and Head of Crypto, Wright Vigar Chartered Accountants     

Louise Lane is a Tax Director heading up the Crypto Team at Wright Vigar Chartered Accountants and is one of the UK’s most recognised experts in the taxation and accounting of cryptoassets. For over 7 years she has supported individuals, investors, founders, Web3 businesses and professional firms in navigating the fast‑moving world of crypto tax with clarity and confidence.      She is a Chartered Tax Advisor and Fellow Chartered Accountant, who joined Wright Vigar in 2004 after training with Grant Thornton. 

Since 2018, Louise has worked closely with Recap.io to assist them develop their crypto tax software and writing/reviewing their comprehensive suite of UK Crypto Tax Guides.Louise is a core contributor to the CryptoUK Tax Working Group, collaborating with industry leaders and engaging with HMRC and HM Treasury to help shape fair and practical UK crypto‑tax policy. She also serves on the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) and the Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICAEW) Cryptoassets Committees, where she contributes her expertise to national technical discussions and best‑practice guidance.
     
Her leadership in the sector has been formally recognised: Louise won Gold at the Citywealth Powerwomen Awards 2025 – International. Louise is a regular speaker at major industry events, including Zebu Live and ICAEW Crypto & Digital Asset Conference. She also delivers training sessions for accountants, solicitors and other professional audiences.

Well‑known for translating highly technical tax rules into clear, practical guidance, Louise helps clients understand the tax implications of all aspects of crypto activity, managing tax and accounting compliance for clients alongside advisory services and tax optimisation strategies. With over 25 years’ experience in HMRC investigations, she ensures clients have a robust and defensible position aligned with current HMRC expectations.
      

Dan Howitt, CEO and co-founder of Recap

Recap is the UK focused crypto tax calculation platform. With over 10 years of experience in software development and involvement in crypto since 2013, Dan has witnessed multiple market cycles. In 2017, frustrated by the lack of tools to manage his own crypto tax obligations, he founded Recap to help investors easily discover their tax position, where Recap provides real-time tracking across all exchanges and wallets. Dan also member of HMRC’s Cryptoasset roundtable working group and serves as a policy advisor to Bitcoin Policy UK.