Ken Moody dives into recent HMRC guidance on the tax treatment of cryptoassets.
However they arise, any profits, gains or receipts related to cryptoassets are taxable, with very limited exceptions.
The tax implications of dealings in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies and cryptoassets are, in principle, no different from dealings in any assets. Broadly, the tax treatment hinges upon whether any profits or losses are of a capital or income nature.
HMRC guidance
On 31 March 2021, HMRC published the Cryptoassets manual, which was updated to 22 February 2022. The guidance briefly describes cryptoassets as ‘cryptographically secured representations of value or contractual rights which can be transferred, stored and traded electronically’. The main types of cryptoassets are listed as exchange tokens (of which Bitcoin is an example), utility
