Cómo declarar criptomonedas en Canadá
In Canada, only 50% of capital gains are taxable, which significantly reduces the tax bill. The key is determining if your activity is an investment or a business, because in the latter case, 100% of the profit is taxed.
Quick Tax Summary
- Tax type
- Capital gain (50% taxable) or business income
- Tipo aplicable
- Marginal rate applied to 50% of the gain
- Tax-exempt minimum
- No specific tax-free minimum
- Crypto-to-crypto
- Yes
- Staking y recompensas
- Typically income at the time of receipt
- Losses
- Offset against capital gains, carried back 3 years and forward indefinitely
- Filing deadline
- April 30 of the following year
- Formularios
- T1 with Schedule 3, and T1135 if foreign assets exceed 100,000 CAD
- Sanciones
- Penalties for unfiled T1135 of 25 CAD/day up to 2,500 CAD
- Autoridad fiscal
- Canada Revenue Agency (CRA)
Capital gain or business income
The CRA analyzes transaction frequency, market knowledge, time spent, funding used, and stated intent. A long-term investor earns capital gains; a day trader earns business income, fully taxable.
The cost is calculated using the average adjusted cost base of all units of the same crypto-asset, and each transaction must be valued in Canadian dollars.
Form T1135
If the total cost of your specified foreign property, including crypto-assets held outside Canada, exceeds CAD 100,000 at any point during the year, you must file a T1135.
Coins stored in a self-custody wallet may fall under the definition depending on where the asset is deemed to be located; it's advisable to review the specific case with an advisor.
Before filing: have your history in order
The first step to a proper tax declaration is to download the complete transaction history from each platform you use. MiCA-licensed exchanges often provide ready-to-use annual reports, which significantly simplifies the filing process.
See exchanges with MiCA licenseFrequently Asked Questions
Other countries in the same region · North America
This guide provides general information and does not constitute tax advice. Rules change frequently: always confirm details with your country's tax authority or a tax advisor.