Follow this guide if you are planning on self-lodging your tax return using the ATO's myGov / myTax system.
Important: This guide is for individual taxpayers who hold cryptocurrency for investment. You'll also need to be careful applying this guide when you have other sources of capital gains/ losses in the current financial year, or carried forward losses from a prior year. When in doubt, consult with a registered tax agent. Complete instructions on how to do your tax return are available from the ATO.
Before you get started
Make sure you've downloaded your Crypto Tax Report from the Tax Reports page in Syla. You'll use the values from your Crypto Tax Report when completing your tax return through myTax.
Step 1 and 2 - ATO's myTax
As an Australian taxpayer, you can self-lodge your tax return using myTax.
Start your tax return, and complete the first two sections called Contact details and Financial institution details.
Note: We'll only be considering your crypto activity. For all other aspects of your tax return, you can read the ATO instructions.
Step 3 - Personalise return
The next step is to personalise your tax return by answering a few questions about your activity.
You'll need to tick all the options that apply to you. For your crypto investments, you should consider the following.
Capital gains or losses
Tick Capital gains or losses that are not from a managed fund distribution if you have any Capital gains or losses in your Crypto Tax Report.
This is where you will declare your capital gains and losses from disposals of crypto assets.
Other income
Tick You had other income not listed above if you have any Other income in your Crypto Tax Report.
This is where you will declare ordinary income from sources such as staking, interest and profits from derivatives trading.
Deductions
Tick Other deductions if you have any Other expenses or losses in your Crypto Tax Report.
This is where you can claim items such as withdrawal fees and losses from derivatives trading.
Step 4 - Prepare return
Based on your personalisation settings you ticked, you'll then be shown a screen with all the components of your tax return that you'll need to complete.
There will be quite a few sections here. The ones we've highlighted below, are the ones that are related to your crypto investments and we'll show you how to do them.
Note: You'll still need to complete all the other sections of your tax return as well. We're just showing you how to handle the crypto specific parts in this guide.
Step 5 - Capital gains or losses
In this section you'll enter all your capital gains and losses from your Crypto Tax Report.
The ATO will tell you when they already know you have some crypto investments. This is what it looks like.
Entering your capital gains and losses
Here's what is looks like in myTax.
You'll find the values on the Tax Summary page of the Crypto Tax Report you downloaded from Syla.
myTax: Total current year capital gains
Add the Gross Short Term Capital Gain + Gross Long Term Capital Gain from your Syla Crypto Tax Report and enter in the Total current year capital gains on myTax.
Important: You'll also need to take into account any capital gains from other sources such as shares and real estate.
myTax: Net capital gain
Check the Net Capital Gain or Loss number from your Syla Crypto Tax Report.
If your Net Capital Gain or Loss is a positive number, then enter it into the Net capital gain field on myTax.
If your Net Capital Gain or Loss is a negative number, then enter 0 into the Net capital gain field on myTax.
Note: You also need to account for any capital gains/ losses from other sources such as shares and real estate.
myTax: Net capital loss carried forward to later income years
If your Net Capital Gain or Loss is a positive number, then enter 0 into the Net capital loss carried forward to later income years field on myTax.
If your Net Capital Gain or Loss was a negative number, then enter it as a positive number, into the Net capital loss carried forward to later income years field on myTax.
Step 5B - CGT Schedule
You'll only see this section if your Net capital gain or loss was greater than $10,000.
The CGT schedule is a very long document, so we've cut it down to the required sections for your crypto investments.
Net capital gain
You'll find the values on the Tax Summary page of the Crypto Tax Report you downloaded from Syla.
myTax | Syla Crypto Tax Report |
Capital gain | Gross Short Term Capital Gain +
You'll also need to take into account any capital gains from other sources such as shares and real estate. |
Capital loss | Gross Capital Loss
You'll also need to take into account any capital losses from other sources such as shares and real estate. |
Capital losses applied
This is where you show how many capital losses you've applied.
You'll find the value in the Calculations section on the Tax Summary page of your Crypto Tax Report.
myTax | Syla Crypto Tax Report |
Total current year capital losses applied | less available capital losses.
You'll also need to take into account any capital losses from other sources such as shares and real estate. |
Total prior year net capital losses applied | You'll need to take into account any carried forward losses from prior years. |
Total capital losses transferred in applied | This one isn't affected by your Crypto Tax Report. |
Unapplied net capital losses carried forward
If you have a net capital loss, then you'll need to enter it here.
myTax | Syla Crypto Tax Report |
Net capital losses from collectables carried forward to later income years | This one isn't affected by your Crypto Tax Report. |
Other net capital losses carried forward to later income years | If you have a net capital loss, then you'll enter the net capital loss here.
You'll also need to take into account any capital losses from other sources such as shares and real estate, as well as carried forward losses from prior years. |
CGT discount
If any of your remaining capital gains are eligible for the CGT discount, then you can apply this here.
You'll find the value in the Calculations section on the Tax Summary page of your Crypto Tax Report.
myTax | Syla Crypto Tax Report |
Total CGT discount applied | less CGT discount @50% |
Step 6 - Other income
In this section you'll add in any additional income sources from your crypto activity.
Any other income
You can keep this section really simple, and just add in all your other income as a single number.
You'll find this number in the Other Income and Expenses section of your Crypto Tax Report.
Step 7 - Deductions
This is where you'll claim any other deductions that you may be eligible for.
Cost of managing tax affairs
Any expenses incurred in managing your tax affairs is generally a tax-deductible expense. That includes your subscription to Syla.
Here's an example of how you would enter it.
Note: Expenses can only be claimed in the financial year that they were incurred. If you purchase your subscription after 30 June, you'll need to wait until the next year to claim the expense.
Other deductions
Enter any Other Expenses and Other Losses from the Tax Summary page of your Crypto Tax Report.
What to do if you get stuck
If you have other sources of capital gains, income, carried forward losses, etc., then your tax return can still become rather complex. If you're in that situation, then it's always recommended to reach out to your tax adviser so they can give you a hand. All you'll need to do in that case, is give them your Crypto Tax Report, and they'll be able to do the rest :)