Australia

Individual parcels by FIFO, LIFO or HIFO on the July-to-June year, the 50% discount checked in calendar months, and losses set against the gains that don't qualify first.

Tax authority: Australian Taxation Office (ATO)
Method: Parcel tracking (FIFO, LIFO or HIFO)
Currency: AUD
Tax year: 1 July – 30 June
Holding period: The 50% discount for a parcel held more than 12 calendar months. It reduces the gain; there is no separate rate.

The rules the program applies

50% CGT discount, held more than 12 months: An individual who holds a parcel for more than 12 months before disposing of it gets a 50% discount on that gain. The program counts calendar months, not days: a parcel bought on 15 January 2024 qualifies from 16 January 2025, and exactly 12 months is not enough. (ITAA 1997, Division 115, s. 115-25.)
Losses set against the non-discount gains first: Capital losses are applied before the discount, and to gains that don't qualify for it first, then to gains that do; the discount then halves what remains. That is the order the ATO's method statement allows and the one that gives you the smaller net gain. The CGT Summary shows each step.
No mechanical loss-denial rule: Australia has no automatic denial of a loss when you buy back near a sale, unlike Canada's superficial-loss rule or the US wash-sale rule. Part IVA of the ITAA 1936 is the general anti-avoidance provision, and it turns on purpose, which the ATO has to show — not on a window the program could apply.

The reports

The names are the program's own, as they appear on its Reports page. Each is a PDF, and the tables are also CSV.

CGT Summary
CGT Worksheet
Lot Tracking
Income Report
Audit Provenance

See every one on the Australia example set →

How CGT works in Australia#

The ATO treats cryptocurrency as a CGT asset, not as currency. Every disposal — selling for dollars, swapping for another coin, or paying for something — is a CGT event (usually event A1, ITAA 1997 s. 104-10).

Your gain or loss is worked out per parcel. Each acquisition is a parcel with its own cost base and date. When you dispose of crypto, the program matches the disposal to your parcels by the method you chose: FIFO, LIFO or HIFO.

Example (FIFO):

Date	Action	Quantity	Price (A$)	Parcel
1 Jul 2023	Buy 1.0 BTC	1.0	A$50,000	Parcel 1
1 Oct 2024	Buy 0.5 BTC	0.5	A$60,000	Parcel 2
15 Jan 2025	Sell 0.8 BTC	-0.8	A$65,000	Parcel 1 (FIFO)

Capital gain: (0.8 × A$65,000) − (0.8 × A$50,000) = A$12,000 Discount: Parcel 1 was held from July 2023 to January 2025, more than 12 months — the 50% discount applies Net capital gain: A$12,000 × 50% = A$6,000

The 50% CGT discount#

If you are an Australian individual and hold a CGT asset for more than 12 months before disposing of it, you get a 50% discount on the gain. It is not a separate rate: the discount reduces the amount that goes into your assessable income.

The count is in calendar months, not days. A parcel acquired on 15 January 2024 does not qualify until 16 January 2025; exactly 12 months is not enough. The program counts the same way.

Losses come off before the discount, in the order the ATO’s method statement allows and that favours you:

Capital losses are set against gains that don’t qualify for the discount
Any losses left are set against gains that do
The 50% discount is applied to what remains of the qualifying gains

The program does this for you. The CGT Summary shows the whole worksheet for item 18 of the individual return.

What Australia doesn’t have#

Australia’s rules are simpler than Canada’s and the United States’ in several ways:

No wash-sale rule — you can sell at a loss and buy back at once without any automatic denial
No superficial-loss rule — there is no 30-day window
No per-account tracking — unlike the US (T.D. 10000), Australia does not require cost to be kept per wallet or exchange
No separate long-term rate — the discount reduces the gain, and all gains are taxed at your marginal rate

The anti-avoidance provision is Part IVA of the ITAA 1936. It turns on purpose, which the ATO has to show; it is not a mechanical rule the program could apply.

Prices and exchange rates#

Crypto prices come from CoinGecko in Australian dollars for the past year. For older dates the program uses DefiLlama and Binance, which quote in US dollars, and converts at that day’s exchange rate. You can also import a price file or type a price yourself; the Australian example set uses price files so that its figures reproduce to the cent.

References#

ITAA 1997, s. 104-10 — CGT event A1, disposal of a CGT asset
ITAA 1997, Division 115 — the CGT discount
ITAA 1997, s. 115-25 — the 12-month ownership condition
ITAA 1997, s. 118-10 — the personal-use asset exemption (cost base under A$10,000)
ATO Tax Determination TD 2014/26 — bitcoin is a CGT asset, not foreign currency
ATO guidance, Crypto assets — the ATO’s guidance on the CGT treatment of crypto
ITAA 1936, Part IVA — the general anti-avoidance provisions

Australian CGT Formulas — Technical reference for Australian capital gains tax formulas used by PrivateACB, including lot-based cost base, disposal calculations, CGT discount eligibility, and the Q18 netting algorithm.
Australian CGT Calculation — How PrivateACB calculates capital gains tax for Australian cryptocurrency investors using FIFO, LIFO, and HIFO lot tracking methods.
CGT Discount Rules — Complete guide to the Australian 50% CGT discount for cryptocurrency — eligibility rules, the 12 calendar month check, Q18 netting, and how PrivateACB applies it automatically.

Download the free trial

Or read what it costs.