Crypto Income in the UK: Staking, Airdrops and Mining

Updated 17 October 2026

General information only, not tax advice. We are not HMRC and are not affiliated with it. Check GOV.UK and your platform. Last checked against GOV.UK: 17 October 2026. Anything marked expected should be re-checked. Examples use made-up figures. Do not enter personal identifiers (National Insurance number, UTR, name, date of birth) on this site. This page contains no affiliate links.

Short answer: HMRC's guidance says exchange tokens you receive from employment or from activities such as mining, staking or lending count as income, including income from decentralised finance (DeFi). If you're not carrying on a trade, HMRC treats tokens from mining, staking or lending as other taxable income (for staking, "miscellaneous income" at the sterling value at the time of receipt). If you later dispose of those tokens, you calculate CGT on any increase in value since you received them.

Staking (CRYPTO21200)

Whether staking is a trade depends on factors such as degree of activity, organisation, risk and commerciality. If it isn't, the sterling value at receipt of tokens awarded is taxable as miscellaneous income, less appropriate expenses. Keeping the tokens may mean CGT when you later dispose of them.

Airdrops (CRYPTO21250)

Income Tax will not always apply to airdropped tokens received personally: it may not if you received them without doing anything in return (not related to a service or conditions) and not as part of a trade or mining business. Airdrops given in return for, or in expectation of, a service are subject to Income Tax (miscellaneous income or trade receipts). A later disposal may be chargeable to CGT even if no Income Tax was due on receipt.

Allowance and registering

GOV.UK says the income counts towards the £1,000 trading and miscellaneous income allowance. If total miscellaneous income from all sources is £1,000-£2,500, contact HMRC; over £2,500, register for Self Assessment. (See also £1,000 allowance explained.)

Paid in tokens by an employer

Tokens count as money's worth; exchange tokens like bitcoin are readily convertible assets, so the employer should operate PAYE; you still check the right tax is paid (GOV.UK).

What you cannot deduct for CGT

GOV.UK says the costs of mining (equipment, electricity) cannot be deducted in your CGT calculation, and you can't deduct costs already deducted for Income Tax.

Records

Type of token, date received, number received, number held in total, sterling value, bank statements, and disposal details.

FAQ

Is a swap of staked tokens a disposal? Not covered by the pages read.

Does CARF cover this? The CARF pages concern platform reporting (what HMRC will receive); we haven't verified which reward types platforms report.

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.

  • Detailed DeFi cases (lending pools, liquidity provision, wrapped tokens): CRYPTO61000 onwards not read; the receive page only states the general rule.
  • NIC treatment of self-employed income (not read).
  • Valuation of tokens at receipt when no sterling price exists.
  • Whether platforms will report staking rewards under CARF (not stated).
  • Whether a given activity is a trade (fact-dependent).

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.