Creating start of tax residency adjustments is an advanced topic. You may need to talk to a tax adviser to ensure the final tax outcomes are suitable for your situation.
Step 1 - Determine the start of tax residency date
Determine the exact date and time for when you become a tax resident of Australia, this is your start of tax residency date.
Note: You may need to talk to your tax adviser to determine your start of tax residency date, as it's not always the same date as when you enter Australia.
Step 2 - Balance your portfolio to the current date
Before any adjustments are entered, you'll first need to determine your holdings of each asset on your start of tax residency date.
Often, the simplest way to do this is to import all transactions up to present, and then use the Balances page in Syla to back-calculate the holding balances on the start of tax residency date.
Importing each of your Data Sources, including the entire history of transactions (even those before your start of tax residency) up to the present date.
Use Balances page in Syla to confirm the calculated balances match what you actually have on each exchange and wallet.
Tip: If your exchange platform or wallet allows viewing your balances on a specific date, you can use this feature instead to obtain your balances on your start of tax residency date.
Step 3 - Ensure each Data Source has a unique name
Go to the Data Sources page in Syla.
Check if any Data Sources have the exact same name, if they do, edit one of them to give it a unique name.
Doing this will ensure each Data Source can be uniquely identified when you import the Opening Balances later on.
For example, if you have two Bitcoin Wallets in Syla, edit the name to ensure each is unique, e.g. Bitcoin Cold Wallet and Bitcoin Storage.
Step 4 - Download holding statement for start of tax residency date
Record your balances on the start of tax residency date:
Go to the Balances page in Syla.
Set the date to your start of tax residency date.
Click Download Holding Statements.
Step 5 - Convert the holding statement into the Opening Balances import
To import the Opening Balances you'll be using the Opening Balances import,
To use this, you'll need to convert the Holding Statement you just downloaded into the Opening Balances import template.
Download a copy of the Opening Balances Template here: Syla Opening Balances Import.csv
Use a spreadsheet editor such as Microsoft Excel of Google Sheets to copy and paste values from the Holding Statement into the Opening Balances template.
When finished, choose Save As, and select CSV.
When completing the Opening Balances CSV Template:
The Acquisition Date is your start of tax residency date and time.
The Cost Base column can be left empty and Syla will automatically set the cost base equal to the market value on the Acquisition Date (your start of tax residency date).
The Data Source Name should be used when you have multiple of the same Data Source in Syla. This will ensure the opening balance adjustments are imported to the correct data source.
Step 6 - Delete all transactions prior to the start of tax residency date
The next step is to delete all transactions that are prior to the start of tax residency date, as you'll be replacing them with adjustments using the Opening Balances Import.
Go to the Transactions Page in Syla.
In the filter options, click Date, select an early Start date such as 1 Jan 2000 to guarantee all early transactions are included, then for the End date enter your start of tax residency date. You should now have all transactions prior to the start of tax residency shown.
(optional) If you'd like to only enter adjustments for one data source at a time, in the filter options, click Data Source, and select the Data Source you will be doing.
Click the checkbox in the top left corner of the table, this will select all transactions in the current filters.
Click Delete.
Important: Deleting transactions is permanent, and cannot be undone. Make sure you're happy with everything before deleting any transactions.
If you're not sure, you can delete transactions for one data source at a time, then import the Opening Adjustments for that data source, and confirm the process is working correctly before doing others.
Step 7 - Import Opening Balances
Go to the Data Sources page in Syla and click Add Data Source.
Search for and select Opening Balances.
Upload the Opening Balances CSV you prepared earlier.
Click import.
After importing, check that your final balances on each data source are back to where they were before deleting and inserting adjustments. The calculated balances in Syla should match what you have on each exchange and wallet.