Paying a Crypto Fee in Tokens: A Separate UK Disposal

Updated 17 October 2026

General information, not tax advice. We are not HMRC and are not affiliated with it. Check GOV.UK. Last checked against GOV.UK: 17 October 2026. Anything marked expected should be re-checked. Examples use made-up figures. This page contains no affiliate links. Never enter your UTR, National Insurance number or other identifiers on this site.

Short answer: HMRC's manual says that when a transaction fee is paid in tokens, you must treat the fee as a cost of the main disposal and as a disposal in its own right. The fee tokens are treated as disposed of at their market value (section 17(1)(b) TCGA 1992, consideration for a service), and their allowable cost comes from the normal rules: same-day, 30-day, then the section 104 pool.

HMRC's example (figures from the manual)

Terri holds 10,000 tokens bought for £20,000 and sells 1,000 for £5,000, paying a fee of 1 token (market value £5).

  • Strictly, two computations: the sale (£5,000 - £2,000 pooled cost - £5 fee = £2,995) and the fee token (consideration £5 - cost £2 = £3).
  • But both disposals happen on the same day with the same token type, so the same-day rule treats them as one disposal: consideration £5,005; cost £2,002 (1,001/10,000 x £20,000) plus £5 fee; gain £2,998.

When you need two computations

If the fee is paid in a different token from the one sold (for example an exchange's own token), you do two separate computations.

Shortcut HMRC will accept

If someone leaves out the fee's market value from both consideration and costs, HMRC says that is strictly wrong, but accepts it as long as the gain or loss comes out correct.

Related

Allowable costs · Same-day and 30-day rules

FAQ

Does a gas fee count? The manual speaks of fees "often satisfied in tokens", including ledger-inclusion fees.

Do I need exact market values? Yes; see valuation in pounds.

What we could not verify

Uncertain. These points were not confirmed on the pages read. A re-check of the GOV.UK CARF pages is planned for 1 December 2026.

  • How HMRC treats very small fee disposals in practice (no de minimis stated).
  • The treatment where the fee token is itself in a different pool with different timing.
  • Fees on DeFi or staking operations (not covered).
  • The page review date (not shown).

Sources (official)

The CARF Readiness Checker runs in your browser. It does not store what you enter and it does not ask for personal identifiers.