Australia
Australian Taxation Office (ATO)
Rules Implemented
50% CGT Discount (>12 Calendar Months)
Individual taxpayers who hold a CGT asset for more than 12 calendar months before disposal receive a 50% discount on the capital gain. The discount is applied after netting capital losses against gains. Exactly 12 months is not eligible — you must exceed 12 months. (ITAA 1997, Division 115, Section 115-25)
No Mechanical Loss Denial Rule
Unlike Canada's superficial loss rule or the US wash sale rule, Australia has no automatic loss denial for repurchases near a sale. Part IVA of the ITAA 1936 provides general anti-avoidance provisions, but these are intent-based — the ATO must demonstrate a dominant purpose of gaining a tax benefit.
Fiscal Year: July 1 – June 30
Australian tax years run from July 1 to June 30. The 2024-25 financial year covers July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025. PrivateACB displays this as '2024-25' and handles all date boundary assignments correctly.
Reports Generated
- CGT Summary (ATO Individual Tax Return, Question 18)
- CGT Worksheet (per-disposal detail with discount eligibility)
- Tax Lot Inventory (FIFO/LIFO/HIFO tracking)
- Income Report (staking, mining, airdrops)
- Tax Audit Report (full provenance trail)
How CGT Works in Australia
The ATO treats cryptocurrency as a CGT asset, not as currency. Every disposal — selling for AUD, trading for another crypto, or using crypto to pay for goods and services — triggers a CGT event (typically CGT event A1 under Section 104-10 of the ITAA 1997).
Your capital gain or loss is calculated per individual parcel (lot). Each acquisition creates a separate parcel with its own cost base and acquisition date. When you dispose of crypto, PrivateACB matches it against your parcels using your chosen method (FIFO, LIFO, or HIFO).
Example (FIFO):
| Date | Action | Quantity | Price (A$) | Parcel |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Jul 2023 | Buy 1.0 BTC | 1.0 | A$50,000 | Parcel 1 |
| 1 Oct 2024 | Buy 0.5 BTC | 0.5 | A$60,000 | Parcel 2 |
| 15 Jan 2025 | Sell 0.8 BTC | -0.8 | A$65,000 | Parcel 1 (FIFO) |
Capital gain: (0.8 x A$65,000) - (0.8 x A$50,000) = A$12,000 CGT discount: Parcel 1 held >12 months (Jul 2023 to Jan 2025) — 50% discount applies Net capital gain: A$12,000 x 50% = A$6,000
The 50% CGT Discount
If you are an Australian individual and hold a CGT asset for more than 12 calendar months before disposing of it, you are entitled to a 50% discount on the capital gain. This is not a separate tax rate — the discount reduces the amount included in your assessable income.
Important: The 12-month check uses calendar months, not a fixed number of days. An asset acquired on 15 January 2024 is not discount-eligible until 16 January 2025 — exactly 12 months is not enough.
The discount is applied after netting capital losses against capital gains using the ATO’s Q18 method:
- Capital losses are first applied against non-discount gains
- Any remaining losses are then applied against discount-eligible gains
- The 50% discount is applied only to remaining discount-eligible gains
PrivateACB calculates all of this automatically. The CGT Summary report shows the full Q18 netting worksheet.
What Australia Doesn’t Have
Australia’s crypto tax rules are simpler than Canada and the US in several ways:
- No wash sale rule — You can sell at a loss and immediately rebuy without any automatic loss denial
- No superficial loss rule — There is no 30-day window restriction on repurchases
- No per-account tracking requirement — Unlike the US (T.D. 10000), Australia does not require cost basis tracked per wallet or exchange
- No separate long-term tax rate — The CGT discount reduces the gain, but all gains are taxed at your marginal income tax rate
The only anti-avoidance provision is Part IVA of the ITAA 1936, which requires the ATO to demonstrate intent — it is not a mechanical rule that PrivateACB needs to enforce.
AUD Currency and Market Data
Crypto prices in AUD are sourced from CoinGecko, which natively supports AUD pricing (vs_currency=aud). No foreign exchange conversion is needed for AUD-priced assets. For transactions on exchanges that report prices in USD, PrivateACB handles the USD/AUD conversion automatically.
Regulatory References
- ITAA 1997, Section 104-10 — CGT event A1 (disposal of a CGT asset)
- ITAA 1997, Division 115 — CGT discount provisions
- ITAA 1997, Section 115-25 — 12-month minimum ownership period for CGT discount
- ITAA 1997, Section 118-10 — Personal use asset exemption (cost base < $10,000)
- ATO Tax Determination TD 2014/26 — Bitcoin is a CGT asset, not foreign currency
- ATO Crypto Asset Guidance — Comprehensive guidance on CGT treatment of cryptocurrency
- ITAA 1936, Part IVA — General anti-avoidance provisions