HMRC's first cryptoasset gains figures

Exchange data from 2027

From January 2026 the UK began implementing the Cryptoasset Reporting Framework, an international standard developed by the OECD. Under it, cryptoasset service providers are required to report customer information to tax authorities. HMRC states it will receive data from 2027, and describes the purpose as helping to identify cryptoasset gains and income that have not been declared. Providers that fail to comply may face penalties of up to £300 per user.

Accountancy Age, publishing figures from the accountancy group UHY Hacker Young on 27 August 2026, adds detail on the timetable and on the compliance activity already under way. It reports that HMRC issued 81,000 nudge letters to crypto holders over the past twelve months, a 25% increase on the year before, against 65,000 in 2024/25 and 27,714 in 2023/24. On the reporting framework, it dates the first automatic data feeds to 31 May 2027, covering 52 jurisdictions including Jersey, Guernsey, the Cayman Islands, Liechtenstein and Ireland, with a further 15 jurisdictions including Switzerland, Singapore and Gibraltar joining in 2028.

81,000

nudge letters to crypto holders over the past twelve months

52

jurisdictions in the first automatic data feeds, from 31 May 2027

£300

per user, the penalties providers that fail to comply may face

UHY Hacker Young, via Accountancy Age, 27 August 2026; HMRC, 27 August 2026.

HMRC, 27 August 2026: it will receive data from cryptoasset service providers from 2027 to help identify cryptoasset gains and income that have not been declared.

Until the data arrives, HMRC depends on what the client declares and on targeted requests. After it arrives, HMRC can compare the return against a record from the exchange. HMRC operates a Crypto Disclosure Service on GOV.UK for people with undeclared cryptoasset income or gains, and it reports that its education and compliance activity since late 2023 generated an estimated additional £168 million of Capital Gains Tax in 2024 to 2025.

What a cryptoasset disposal on a return tells you

A cryptoasset disposal on a return tells an accountant several things. The client held a position in a single, volatile asset. A sum has been realised and has landed somewhere, in many cases a current account. Where the gain is large, the shape of the client’s balance sheet has changed in a single tax year.

Those are the conditions a financial planner examines: concentration, a lump sum with no decision attached to it, and a change in circumstances that nothing else in the client’s arrangements has caught up with. The FCA’s Financial Lives 2024 survey found that 8.6% of UK adults had taken regulated financial advice in the previous twelve months, and 13% of the self-employed. The accountant preparing the return sees the gain, and a financial planner sees it only if the client already has one.

An accountant preparing a return at a laptop

A worked example

This example uses made-up figures. It is built on HMRC’s published average gain, and on the rates published on GOV.UK for gains made from 6 April 2026 (checked 28 August 2026).

A client disposes of cryptoassets in the 2026 to 2027 tax year and realises a gain of £78,000. Their taxable income is £45,000, so the whole gain falls above the basic rate band.

A £78,000 gain in the 2026 to 2027 tax year

Made-up figures

Gain. £78,000, less the annual exempt amount of £3,000 for 2026 to 2027, leaves £75,000 chargeable.£75,000

Rate. 24% for a higher rate taxpayer on gains made from 6 April 2026. Basic rate taxpayers pay 18% on so much of the gain as falls within the basic rate band and 24% above it (GOV.UK, Capital Gains Tax rates).24%

Tax. £18,000, payable by 31 January 2028.£18,000

Left over. £60,000 after tax, plus the original cost, in a bank account for about sixteen months before the tax is due.£60,000

The computation is the compliance work, and the £60,000 is a planning question. The client also needs to hold back the £18,000 until January 2028. The timing of when a gain reaches an accountant is set out in when a capital gain reaches the accountant.

Two checks to run this week

Search for the cryptoasset box. Identify which returns filed for 2024 to 2025 and 2025 to 2026 included cryptoasset disposals. The result tells the firm whether it has three such clients or thirty, and names the clients for whom exchange data arriving in 2027 is a live matter. Anyone with cryptoasset gains above the annual exempt amount for 2025 to 2026 needs them on a Self Assessment return by 31 January 2027.
Ask about swaps, staking and mining before the next return. HMRC’s 27 August 2026 release states that disposals include exchanging cryptoassets for a different type of cryptoasset, so a swap from one token to another is a disposal with a sterling gain or loss attached, whether or not any money reached a bank account. HMRC also says Income Tax and National Insurance may apply to cryptoassets received through employment, self-employment, mining, staking or lending.

Where the planning conversation sits

The accountant

The accountant’s questions look backwards: what was acquired, when, at what cost, what was disposed of, what the gain is, what is owed and by when.

The financial planner

The financial planner’s questions look forwards: what the proceeds are for, what the disposal does to the client’s overall assets, whether the remaining holding is the right size against everything else they own, and whether the estate position has changed.

The accountant describes what is in the file and asks whether the client would like a conversation with the Equity & General financial planner. The accountant does not give a view on cryptoassets, on what the client should hold, or on what to do with the money. The steps of an introduction are set out in the anatomy of an introduction. The wider figures on who takes advice are on the advice gap.

What is not yet settled

The start date for exchange reporting. HMRC’s release says it will receive data from 2027 without naming a day. The 31 May 2027 date comes from UHY Hacker Young via Accountancy Age on 27 August 2026. Treat the year as firm and the day as reported.

The scope. The 52 jurisdictions listed for 2027 and the 15 for 2028 come from the same secondary source. A client holding assets on an exchange outside both groups is in a different position from one holding on a Jersey or Irish platform, and the firm needs to ask which applies.

The rates. The Capital Gains Tax rates above are those published on GOV.UK for gains made from 6 April 2026. Any Budget can change them, so the arithmetic needs re-running against the rates in force when a disposal is made.

HMRC has built a box on the return, published the first statistics from it, sent 81,000 letters in a year and signed the UK up to an international data-sharing framework. Where a large holding in one asset sits in a client’s wider position is covered in a large holding in one asset.

Common questions

Does a crypto disposal go on the tax return if the client never converted to pounds?

Yes. HMRC states in its 27 August 2026 release that Capital Gains Tax may apply when an individual disposes of cryptoassets, and that disposals include selling them or exchanging them for a different type of cryptoasset. Swapping one token for another is a disposal with a sterling gain or loss attached to it, whether or not any money reached a bank account. HMRC also says Income Tax and National Insurance may apply to cryptoassets received through employment, self-employment, mining, staking or lending.

What changes in 2027 when HMRC starts receiving data from crypto exchanges?

HMRC will hold a second record of the client’s activity. From January 2026 the UK began implementing the OECD Cryptoasset Reporting Framework, and HMRC states it will start receiving data from cryptoasset service providers in 2027, with providers who fail to comply facing penalties of up to £300 per user. Accountancy Age, reporting figures from UHY Hacker Young on 27 August 2026, puts the first automatic feeds at 31 May 2027 covering 52 jurisdictions, with a further 15 following in 2028. Until then HMRC relies on the client’s own declaration and on targeted requests.

What should a practice do about crypto gains that were never declared in earlier years?

Raise it before the exchange data arrives. HMRC operates a Crypto Disclosure Service on GOV.UK for people with undeclared cryptoasset income or gains. HMRC also says it has been running education and compliance activity on this since late 2023, which it estimates produced an additional £168 million of Capital Gains Tax in 2024 to 2025. A practice cannot make the disclosure decision for a client, but it can make sure the client understands that HMRC will hold exchange data from 2027.

Why does a crypto gain lead to a financial planning conversation as well as a tax computation?

The gain shows something about the client’s position. A realised gain averaging £78,000 across 17,600 people, and exceeding £1 million for 240 of them, describes a large holding in a single volatile asset and a lump sum that has now landed in cash. Those are the conditions a financial planner looks at: concentration, a sum with no decision attached to it, and a change in circumstances that a will or a protection arrangement may not reflect. The accountant preparing the return sees the number, and a financial planner sees it only if the client already has one.

Can an accountant raise planning off the back of a crypto disposal?

Yes. Describing what is in the file and asking whether the client would like a conversation with a financial planner is an introduction. It is not a recommendation of any product or investment. The regulated advice, its suitability and the responsibility for it sit with Equity & General as the authorised firm. The accountant records what the client agreed could be passed on and gives no view on what the client should hold or buy.

HMRC’s first cryptoasset gains figures

Why the figures exist now