How crypto tax works in Canada
The CRA treats crypto dispositions as business income where activity resembles trading — frequency, short holds, and dealer-like conduct — and as capital elsewhere, with only half of capital gains entering income.
Disposals include selling for fiat, swapping tokens, paying for goods in coins, and gifting, with wallet-to-wallet moves between your own wallets generally not a disposition.
Paying vendors in crypto is a barter transaction measured at fair market value, mining and staking rewards follow business or property-source analysis, and GST or HST can overlay business supplies.
Tax rates at a glance
- Investor gains
- 50% inclusion
- Capital inclusion rate
- 50%
- Allowable loss rate
- 50%
- Business income
- 100%
- Marginal personal rates
- Up to ~54%
- Mining rewards
- Business or income
- Personal-use coins
- Limited relief
Who benefits most
These profiles tend to benefit most when the rules match their real residence, payroll and business setup.
Long-term holdersMinersActive tradersFreelancers paid in cryptoExpats
Watch out for
- The 2024 proposal to lift the inclusion rate above CAD 250,000 was not enacted, so 50% remains the law, but large exits should still track the file in case it returns.
- Day-trading patterns, short holds, and margin use push files toward full-tax business income, doubling the taxable slice versus capital treatment.
- Adjusted-cost-base tracking across wallets and exchanges decides the gain before any rate applies, and superficial-loss rules can deny harvest sales.
- Emigration triggers departure tax on unrealised crypto gains, which makes exit-year timing as important as the trading strategy itself.
Frequently asked questions
How is crypto taxed in Canada?
As business income at 100% where trading indicia apply, or as capital gains with a 50% inclusion rate for investors. Spending coins is a barter disposition at fair market value.
What is the capital-gains inclusion rate for crypto?
50% in 2026: half of an investor's crypto gain enters income and half of a capital loss is allowable. The higher-rate proposal for large gains was not enacted.
Is moving crypto between my wallets taxable?
Generally no. Transfers between wallets you own are not dispositions, but selling, swapping, spending, or gifting generally are.