The ATO already knows more about your crypto than most people expect: its data-matching program has been collecting records from Australian exchanges for years. The Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) takes that to a global level, and Australia is on the path to adopting it. Here's what's coming and what to do about it now.

What is CARF?

CARF is an OECD-designed standard, agreed by dozens of jurisdictions, under which crypto exchanges and other service providers must collect and report their users' identities and transaction activity to tax authorities. Those authorities then exchange the data with each other automatically, the same way bank account information already moves under the Common Reporting Standard (CRS).

In practice: an Australian tax resident using an offshore exchange can expect that exchange's reports to make their way to the ATO.

Where Australia is up to

Treasury consulted on implementing CARF in late 2024, with reporting proposed to begin from 2027 and the first international data exchanges to follow in 2028. The final design and start date depend on legislation, so treat the timeline as expected rather than locked, but the direction is not in doubt: Australia has committed to the framework alongside the other major economies.

What changes for you

• Offshore visibility. The ATO's current data-matching reaches Australian designated service providers. CARF extends visibility to overseas exchanges and providers, closing the "they can't see my offshore account" gap.
• History travels. Reporting captures your activity from the start date onwards, but discrepancies it surfaces can prompt the ATO to look at earlier years too.
• Nothing changes about what you owe. CARF is a reporting framework, not a new tax. The rules for disposals and earned crypto are the same. What changes is how confidently the ATO can check your return against reality.

What to do before it arrives

1. Get this year's return right. The FY 2025-26 return you lodge by 31 October 2026 is the baseline the ATO will compare future data against. Full rules in our Australian crypto tax guide.
2. Consolidate your history now. Reconstructing years of activity across dead exchanges and old wallets only gets harder. If there are gaps in past returns, quantifying them now, while amendment is on your terms, beats explaining them after a data-matching letter.
3. Keep records like they'll be checked. Because increasingly, they will be. Dates, AUD values, wallet addresses, and the workings behind your figures.

How does Summ help with CARF?

Summ pulls your complete history across exchanges and wallets, including the offshore ones CARF will cover, values everything in AUD, and keeps an audit-ready record of how every figure in your return was calculated. When reporting starts flowing, your numbers and the ATO's data tell the same story.

FAQ

Does CARF mean I'll pay more tax?
No new tax is involved. If you've been reporting correctly, CARF changes nothing except how easily that can be verified. If you haven't, the window to fix it on your own initiative is now.

Which exchanges will report?
The framework covers exchanges, brokers and other crypto-asset service providers in participating jurisdictions, which include the major economies. Assume any sizeable platform you use will report.

What about self-custody wallets?
CARF reporting attaches to service providers, not your hardware wallet. But on-ramps and off-ramps are covered, so activity entering or leaving self-custody through an exchange is still visible.

Get your records CARF-ready before it matters. Generate your crypto tax report free →

This article is general information, not tax advice. CARF implementation details depend on final legislation. For your specific situation, speak to a registered tax agent.