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, salary paid in crypto, and some airdrops are also taxed.

• 10.5% on income up to 15,600 NZD

• 17.5% on 15,601–53,500 NZD

• 30% on 53,501–78,100 NZD

• 33% on 78,101–180,000 NZD

• 39% on 180,001 NZD and above

These rates apply for the 2025–26 and 2026–27 tax years.

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 and contracting fees paid in crypto are income at their full NZD value when received. Airdrops are income when received in some cases, such as when you receive them for providing a service (see the airdrops section).

New Zealand has no separate capital gains tax. But profits from selling property you acquired for the purpose of disposing of it are taxable income, and IRD says most people acquire crypto intending to sell it at some point. When you dispose of coins (for example, selling for NZD, swapping for another token, or spending them), the profit (sale price minus cost) is taxed as ordinary income at your marginal rate. How long you held the coins doesn't matter.

What counts is your purpose when you acquired the crypto. Holding it long term, or as a store of value, doesn't make gains non-taxable, because the only way to benefit from that value is to sell it eventually. Gains may be non-taxable only in narrow cases where you can show you never intended to dispose of the asset.

If a gain on the crypto would have been taxable, a loss on it is generally deductible. That loss isn't limited to crypto gains: it reduces your total taxable income for the year, including salary and other income. A net loss you can't use in the year can be carried forward to future years. Companies must meet a 49% shareholder continuity test to carry losses forward. Losses on crypto that wasn't acquired for the purpose of disposal are not deductible.

It depends on why you received the airdrop. An airdrop is taxable income when you receive it if you got it for providing services, if you run a crypto business, or if you receive airdrops regularly. Otherwise, receiving it isn't taxable.

Selling or swapping airdropped tokens is taxable in many cases, including when you claimed the airdrop to sell it. Airdrops that simply appear in your wallet may not have been acquired for the purpose of disposal, in which case a later sale isn't taxable.

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.

Most companies pay income tax at a flat rate of 28%. Crypto held for sale in a dealing business is trading stock. Cryptoassets are excepted financial arrangements, so closing trading stock must be valued at cost. Market selling value and replacement cost are not available, and unrealized market movements are not taxed until disposal.

Trading-stock losses are deductible in the same year, and any excess carries forward subject to the 49% shareholder-continuity requirement. Most supplies of cryptoassets are excluded from GST under the 2022 Act, with effect from 1 January 2009, but if the company sells other taxable goods or services it must still register for GST once turnover exceeds the 60,000 NZD threshold.

New Zealand has no crypto-specific licensing regime. It applies existing financial laws instead. Crypto exchanges, custodial wallet providers, and brokers must register on the Financial Service Providers Register and comply with anti-money laundering rules, including customer due diligence and suspicious transaction reporting. Since July 1, 2026, the Department of Internal Affairs has been the sole supervisor for those rules. The Financial Markets Authority's fair dealing rules also apply to crypto financial services.

Crypto as payment for goods and services

GST is charged on the good or service, not on the crypto itself (cryptoasset GST exclusion applies with effect from 1 January 2009).

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.

• Make cash donations to approved donee organizations. The donation tax credit is one third of the amount donated, but it applies to money, not crypto.

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 received for services or on a regular basis, 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. The OECD Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) took effect in New Zealand on April 1, 2026. New Zealand-based crypto service providers now collect user and transaction data, with the first reports, covering April 1, 2026 to March 31, 2027, due to IRD by June 30, 2027. IRD will also receive data from overseas tax authorities on New Zealand residents who use overseas platforms.

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

   • IRD accepts specific identification, first-in, first-out (FIFO), or weighted average cost.

   • Apply the same method consistently.

4. Calculate income and capital gains or losses

   • Income: value (in NZD) of coins received from crypto mining, staking, taxable 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

   • Deductible crypto losses reduce your total taxable income for the year, and net losses can be carried forward to future years.

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.