Do I have to pay tax on crypto?

Almost certainly something, somewhere. What triggers it differs by country, and this site is not a tax adviser.

In most countries a taxable event happens when you dispose of crypto — selling for currency, and frequently swapping one asset for another. Simply holding is generally not a taxable event.

The differences are large and they matter. Some countries tax crypto-to-crypto swaps, others do not. Some apply a flat rate, others treat it as capital gains or as income depending on how you obtained it. Rewards from staking and mining are often taxed on receipt, at their value that day, which surprises people who never sold anything.

Two practical things regardless of country: keep records as you go, because reconstructing a year of transactions later is genuinely painful, and check the rate that applied at the time rather than today.

What is recorded for each country, with the tax authority's own document as the source, is on the country pages. For your own situation, a professional who knows it is worth more than any page on this site.

Last checked 19 Oct 2026.