No items found.
2023-03-31

How Investing vs Trading impacts tax

In most cases of buying and selling cryptocurrency as a retail investor, you are participating in investing rather than trading. The two are treated differently for tax purposes.

  • Investing is subject to capital gains tax or income tax, depending on the nature of the transaction.
  • Trading in this case refers to self-employment which is subject to income tax and National Insurance Contributions.

The key difference between investing and trading – along with the different tax treatments, is how losses generated in the crypto-activity can be used.

In their guidance, HMRC have explicitly stated that they would expect it to be exceedingly rare that any crypto-activity constituting buying & selling crypto would be classified as “trading”.

If you are uncertain, speak to a tax advisor as there are always exceptions, including but not limited to, developing tokens and large scale mining.

How is crypto tax calculated in the United States?

You can be liable for both capital gains and income tax depending on the type of cryptocurrency transaction, and your individual circumstances. For example, you might need to pay capital gains on profits from buying and selling cryptocurrency, or pay income tax on interest earned when holding crypto.

All Countries

Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
USA flag
Australia
blog
31
 
Mar
 
2023
 - 
10
min read

Summ announces funding round

Summ (formerly Crypto Tax Calculator) is proud to announce their seed funding round, led by AirTree Ventures

Key takeaways
This tax guide is regularly updated: Last Update  
CryptoTax Calculator thumbnail
Embedded Image

Back in 2018, the CEO of Summ (formerly Crypto Tax Calculator) Shane Brunette was struggling with his own crypto tax nightmare after building his own DEX relay. Endless amounts of manual calculations, more spreadsheets than he’d like to admit, and a general sense of frustration and anxiety, led him to realise a gap in the burgeoning (and otherwise technologically progressive) cryptocurrency industry. Shane reached out to his brother Tim Brunette for help, and Summ was born.

Summ’s mission is simple: to make understanding your crypto tax obligations easy and straightforward. We knew that our software would have to match the sheer vastness of the cryptocurrency universe; tracking and organizing all of a user’s crypto activity across hundreds of exchanges, blockchains and wallets so that people can actually relax come tax time. We wanted to create software that would give people the hours of their lives back that they’d otherwise have to spend muddling through their crypto transactions. The dream was a glorious utopia; where all you would have to do to organize your crypto taxes would be to click a button, import a wallet address, and leave the hard stuff to readily accessible software. As crypto is being embraced by the mainstream, we believe that this level of accessibility is crucial. By helping users stay tax compliant, we believe that we’re furthering the legitimization efforts of the crypto industry as a whole.

Fast forward to March 2022, and today the Summ team is proud to announce our $4M seed funding round. AirTree Ventures, a venture capital fund focused on investing in the best Australian and New Zealand technology founders led the capital raise, which also attracted investment from Coinbase Ventures and 20VC. These investments emphasize the importance of accessible crypto tax compliance tools as we move into an era of mainstream crypto adoption. We are so grateful to have such supportive investors backing us, and are excited for what comes next.

So what comes next, you may be wondering? This funding will go towards bolstering the team, developing the scope of the product and more… Watch this space.

Thank you for coming on this journey with us,

The Summ Team

The information provided on this website is general in nature and is not tax, accounting or legal advice. It has been prepared without taking into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Before acting on this information, you should consider the appropriateness of the information having regard to your own objectives, financial situation and needs and seek professional advice. Summ (formerly Crypto Tax Calculator) disclaims all and any guarantees, undertakings and warranties, expressed or implied, and is not liable for any loss or damage whatsoever (including human or computer error, negligent or otherwise, or incidental or Consequential Loss or damage) arising out of, or in connection with, any use or reliance on the information or advice in this website. The user must accept sole responsibility associated with the use of the material on this site, irrespective of the purpose for which such use or results are applied. The information in this website is no substitute for specialist advice.

FAQ

No items found.
Table of contents
heading2
heading3

More resources

CryptoTax Calculator thumbnail
Blog
17
 
Oct
 
2025
Big News: Crypto Tax Calculator has rebranded to Summ
Read More
CryptoTax Calculator thumbnail
Blog
28
 
Aug
 
2025
Crypto and SMSFs in Australia: Tax benefits & more

Everything you need to know about how to hold crypto in a self-managed super fund (SMSF) in Australia, including tax benefits and more.

Read More
CryptoTax Calculator thumbnail
Blog
26
 
Aug
 
2025
Will Trump Remove Tax On Crypto?

Tax experts discuss whether Donald Trump is likely to issue an executive order to reduce or eliminate capital gains tax from cryptocurrency, and what other policies might benefit investors.

Read More

Try Summ today

Import your transactions and generate a free report preview.