The Australian Taxation Office has ramped up its focus on crypto investors. With around 1.2 million Australian crypto taxpayers now in their data-matching program, the days of flying under the radar are gone. The blockchain is a public record, which means the ATO can see your transactions even if you think they're private.

And it's not just about simple buy-and-sell trades. If you're staking crypto, lending it out, swapping tokens, paying for goods with Bitcoin, or jumping into DeFi, the ATO treats each of these activities differently for tax purposes. Get it wrong, and you could face penalties or unwanted audits.

With the EOFY deadline less than two weeks away, here are four things you should do now to get your crypto taxes in order.

The four steps to take now

1. Make sure all your wallets and accounts are synced

The biggest mistake crypto investors make is forgetting about old wallets or exchange accounts. You might have bought Bitcoin years ago on an exchange you no longer use, or you've got Ethereum sitting in a hardware wallet you barely remember. All of it needs to be accounted for when you file.

Start by listing every wallet address and exchange account you've ever used. Then import them into a crypto tax software tool. Make sure the sync is up to date and covers your entire transaction history. If you've got transactions spread across different exchanges or wallets, missing even one can throw off your entire tax position. Our EOFY prep guide walks through exactly how to export your data from every major Australian exchange.

This is tedious, but it's the foundation for everything else.

2. Review all your transactions for accuracy

Once your data is synced, it's time to go through it carefully. Crypto tax rules are specific. A disposal event happens when you sell crypto, swap one token for another, use crypto to pay for something, or even deposit it into a smart contract. Each one triggers a capital gains tax calculation based on the cost base of that particular crypto.

Income-like events are different. If you earned crypto through staking rewards, mining, or receiving interest on a lending platform, that's income tax at your marginal rate. If you received an airdrop, the ATO expects you to declare it at its market value on the day you received it.

Check for missing wallets. Verify that cost bases are correct, especially if you've bought the same asset multiple times. One transaction out of place can cascade through your entire calculation. This is where a good review process saves you later.

3. Look for assets at a loss and consider tax-loss harvesting

Before you make your final tax decision, scan through your positions to find any where the current value is below what you paid for it. If you sell these at a loss, you can use those losses to offset any capital gains you've made elsewhere. If you've had a good year and made profits in some coins while others have tanked, strategic selling of the losers can significantly reduce your tax bill.

The catch is timing. If you're selling to lock in a loss, you need to do it before 30 June. And here's where the ATO gets strict: don't reacquire the same asset shortly after selling it at a loss. The ATO does not specify a fixed number of days - unlike the US 30-day wash sale rule, Australia's position is based on dominant purpose and general anti-avoidance provisions. If the ATO determines the sole or dominant purpose of the sale was to generate a tax benefit, they can cancel those losses and apply penalties. The closer the repurchase is to the sale, and the more identical the asset, the harder it is to argue otherwise. They're actively targeting this behaviour now, and the penalties are severe.

Before you sell anything, talk to your accountant about whether it makes sense for your situation. Our EOFY 2026 checklist covers the tax-loss harvesting steps in full, including how to identify losing positions in Summ. Once you've confirmed the strategy, move quickly to settle the sale before year-end.

4. Check if any of your holdings qualify for the capital gains discount

Here's an often-overlooked opportunity. If you've held a piece of crypto for more than 12 months before you sell it, you get a 50% capital gains discount. That means you only pay tax on half the gain. For investors with significant holdings, this can save tens of thousands of dollars.

Pull up your transaction history and find which assets you've owned for 11 months or more. If you're sitting just shy of 12 months on a good profit, waiting a few more weeks until you cross the threshold might be worth considering. But if the price is falling and you think it will drop further, locking in the gain without the discount might be the smarter move. For a detailed explanation of how the 50% CGT discount works — including how crypto-to-crypto swaps interact with the 12-month clock — see our dedicated guide.

The maths here depends on your individual situation, so work through the numbers with your accountant before you decide.

New reality for 2026: CARF and increased data collection

From January 2027, Australia is implementing CARF - the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework. This means Australian exchanges and custodians are already collecting detailed information about you: your identity, transaction history, wallet addresses, amounts, and dates. They will be required to share this data directly with the ATO from 2027, alongside updated CRS 2.0 reporting that extends similar requirements to overseas accounts.

If you've been casual about record-keeping, assuming the ATO wouldn't find out, now's the time to get serious. The ATO will have direct data feeds from exchanges. Discrepancies between what you report and what they see will be obvious. Our record-keeping guide covers exactly what the ATO requires and what changes when CARF kicks in from 2027.

This is actually a good thing if you've been honest. It means you're on level ground with everyone else. But it's a wake-up call if you haven't been keeping proper records.

Get this done before 30 June

Individual tax lodgments are due by 31 October 2026, but don't wait until September to start. The closer you get to the deadline, the harder it is to find a tax accountant with capacity. And if you find something wrong with your numbers in August, you'll be stressed.

You have until 30 June to do tax-loss harvesting, to reach that 12-month holding threshold for the CGT discount, and to make any other year-end tax moves.

Grab a spreadsheet or use crypto tax software to get your data organised over the next few days. Review your transactions. Talk to your accountant if you're not sure about something. It takes time, but it beats dealing with an ATO audit later. If you want a step-by-step checklist for the last stretch, our tax season preparation guide covers the full process from export to lodgment.

Ready to sort your crypto taxes?

If you're managing crypto across multiple wallets and accounts, getting everything in order for the ATO is a real job. Summ handles all of it for you: staking rewards, DeFi transactions, NFTs, and everything in between. Import your data, generate reports tailored for Australian tax rules, and hand everything to your accountant with confidence.

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