Guide to Crypto Taxes in New Zealand 2026

Yes. The Inland Revenue Department (IRD) treats crypto as property, so profits and most rewards are taxable income.

Yes. Any sale, swap, or use of crypto with a profit is income. Crypto mining, staking, airdrops, and salary paid in crypto are also taxed.

• 10.5% on income up to 14,000 NZD

• 17.5% on 14,001–48,000 NZD

• 30% on 48,001–70,000 NZD

• 33% on 70,001–180,000 NZD

• 39% on 180,001 NZD and above

Add all crypto gains and rewards to your other income, then apply the band that fits your total earnings.

Yes. The IRD can request KYC and trade data from exchanges and uses blockchain analytics to link wallets to taxpayers.

Buying and holding cryptocurrency

No tax when you buy with fiat or move coins between your own wallets.

Selling cryptocurrency

Yes. Profit equals sale price minus purchase cost. Report it as income.

Mining and staking cryptocurrency

Yes. Token value in NZD on the day earned is income. Later disposal has its own gain or loss.

Crypto‑to‑crypto trades taxed

Yes. Swapping one coin for another is a disposal of the coin you give up, taxed on its NZD value at that moment.

Receiving cryptocurrency as payment

Yes. Salary, contracting fees, or promotional airdrops are income at full NZD value on receipt.

New Zealand has no separate capital-gains tax, but the IRD usually treats crypto as trading stock acquired with the intention to sell. When you dispose of coins (for example, selling for NZD, swapping for another token, or spending them), the profit (sale price minus cost) is ordinary income taxed at the marginal bands of 10.5%, 17.5%, 30%, 33%, or 39%.

If you can clearly show a long-term, non-sale purpose (such as holding tokens purely as a store of value), the gain may be non-taxable, but the IRD sets a high bar for that argument, so most investors should assume disposals are taxable income.

Losses on disposals can offset crypto gains in the same income year when the assets were bought on revenue account. Any net loss you cannot use immediately may be carried forward to reduce future crypto profits, or, if you run a trading or mining business, potentially offset other business income, subject to shareholder-continuity rules. Losses on assets the IRD accepts as capital account holdings are generally not deductible.

Airdrops intended for sale are taxable income at their NZD market value when received. That NZD figure becomes the cost basis for any later sale or swap, so you calculate a separate gain or loss when you eventually dispose of the tokens.

Rewards from lending, liquidity pools, liquid staking, or other DeFi activities are ordinary income when credited to your wallet. Transaction fees paid to earn that income are deductible expenses. When you later sell or swap those reward tokens, any price change since the income date is a separate profit or loss taxed at your marginal rate. Token-for-token swaps within DeFi protocols also count as disposals of the outgoing asset at its NZD value on the swap date.

Companies pay income tax at the flat corporate rate of 28%. Crypto held for sale is trading stock and must be valued consistently (cost, FIFO cost, market selling value, or replacement cost) at balance date. All profits, including unrealized gains if you use market valuation, feed into taxable income.

Trading-stock losses are deductible in the same year, and any excess carries forward subject to the 49% shareholder-continuity requirement. Since January 2023 most supplies of crypto are exempt from GST, but if the company sells other taxable goods or services it must still register for GST once turnover exceeds the 60,000 NZD threshold.

Crypto as payment for goods and services

GST is charged on the good or service, not on the crypto itself (GST relief took effect in January 2023).

Deducting crypto losses in New Zealand

Trading businesses can deduct losses; investors may deduct if they acquired crypto to sell for profit.

1. Export all exchange and crypto wallet data.

2. Convert every transaction to NZD on the trade date.

3. Subtract cost from proceeds to find gains or losses.

4. Add any mining, staking, or airdrop income in NZD.

• Delay disposals until a lower‑income year.

• Harvest crypto losses before year‑end.

• Donate appreciated coins to registered charities for a rebate.

All crypto you earn is taxable the moment it hits your wallet. This includes block rewards from mining, validator payouts from staking, DeFi yield, airdrops intended for sale, and salary or contract payments settled in tokens. Convert each receipt to New Zealand dollars using the spot rate on the day you receive it; that NZD figure is what you report in the “Other income” field of your IR3. If you operate a crypto-related business, enter the income in the trading-income lines of your financial statements instead.

You may deduct directly related costs (for example, electricity for mining rigs, validator hosting fees, or on-chain gas used to generate staking yield) provided you keep invoices and blockchain evidence. All crypto income is added to your other taxable earnings and taxed at the same marginal bands from 10.5% up to 39%.

The Inland Revenue Department (IRD) already receives KYC and transaction files from domestic exchanges under section 17 powers, and it can compel foreign exchanges that have New Zealand customers to supply the same data. Chain-analysis tools let investigators link on-chain wallets to those customer lists, so “off-exchange” does not mean invisible. Beginning in 2027, the OECD Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) will require overseas platforms in participating jurisdictions to send annual reports of New Zealand-resident holdings and transfers back to the IRD, similar to how bank-interest data is shared today.

Failing to declare crypto income can trigger shortfall penalties ranging from 20% for lack of reasonable care to 150% for evasion, plus use-of-money interest, so thorough record-keeping and accurate reporting are essential.

• Buying crypto with NZD

• Wallet transfers within your own control

• Receiving small fork tokens with no market value until disposal

Keep for at least seven years: date, amount, NZD value, wallet address, and any fees for every transaction.

• Standard individual deadline – July 7th after the end of the tax year (the tax year runs April 1st – March 31st).

• With a registered tax agent – March 31st of the next calendar year, provided your agent has an extension‑of‑time arrangement with the IRD.

• Provisional taxpayers – when residual income tax exceeds 5,000 NZD, provisional tax is generally paid in three instalments: August 28th, January 15th, and May 7th of the following tax year (two instalments if you use the GST ratio or AIM methods).

Exchange CSVs, wallet statements, explorer links, and NZD conversion evidence.

1. Log in to myIR.

2. Open the IR3 return.

3. Enter total crypto income under “Other income”.

4. Attach your gain, loss, and reward spreadsheet.

5. Submit and pay by the due date.

1. Compile your full transaction history

   • Export CSVs or use API connections from every exchange, wallet, and DeFi protocol you use.

   • Record dates, asset quantities, NZD values at the time of each transaction, and any fees paid.

2. Convert every transaction to New Zealand dollars

   • Use reliable exchange‑rate data for the exact date and time of each trade.

   • Keep a record of the source you used for currency conversion in case the IRD requests evidence.

3. Choose an acceptable cost‑basis method

   • The IRD allows first‑in‑first‑out (FIFO) by default; specific‑identification can be used if you have clear wallet evidence.

   • Apply the same method consistently across the entire tax year.

4. Calculate income and capital gains or losses

   • Income: value (in NZD) of coins received from crypto mining, staking, airdrops, salaries, or business activities on the date you received them.

   • Capital gain or loss: proceeds – cost basis for each disposal (selling, swapping, or spending crypto).

5. Offset gains with permitted losses

   • Net capital losses from crypto can be used to reduce taxable crypto gains in the same year and may be carried forward to future years, subject to IRD rules.

6. Add transaction fees to your cost basis

   • Gas and exchange fees directly related to the acquisition or disposal of crypto increase your cost and lower taxable gains.

7. Summarise your totals for the year

   • Total taxable income from crypto.

   • Net capital gains or losses.

   • Any deductible expenses (for example, mining electricity costs if you operate as a business).

8. Transfer the figures to your return

   • Individuals file in the “Other income” section of the IR3 or through myIR online services.

   • Businesses include crypto figures in their financial statements and income returns.

9. Retain records for at least seven years

   • Keep exchange statements, blockchain explorers’ links, invoices, and any calculations in case of an IRD review.