What are the tax implications of buying and selling Bitcoin?

Buy / Sell / Trade
#1

I’ve had a few questions regarding the tax implications of buying and selling Bitcoin, so I thought I’d lay out my (very basic understanding) and open the floor to other contributions or questions.

NOTE I am definitely not a tax or financial advisor, and as such this is not advice, merely my opinion.

My understanding is that any time you switch from BTC to GBP or other altcoins etc you’ll trigger a taxable event in the form of Capital Gains Tax. Therefore, consider this before casually swapping back and forward between coins etc.

For example: The market makes you nervous, so you sell at a gain and wait on the sidelines, and then buy back in a few days later at the same price. Although you’ve sold and rebought the same amount of bitcoin and you’ve no extra GBP left in your account you’re still liable for the 20% Capital Gains incurred on that initial sale. Painful.

There are some good web software options for helping you calculate liabilities etc.

Topics for meetups?
#2

The take away i have here is this. Bitcoin is the hardest monetary asset known to man, it has absolute scarcity, its unconfiscatable, its censorship-resistant and controlled by nobody, why on earth would anyone be swapping that for a few bits of printed paper with the Queens head on it. :wink:

#3

This is a hot topic at present, attracting various tax considerations. We attach our useful flyer so please contact us should you wish discuss further.

Cryptoasset Taxation Flyer 2021.pdf (1.6 MB)