According to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) individuals reported A$40.6 billion in net capital gains for 2023-24. Behind that total sit thousands of individual gains and losses, and the ATO wants to see some of them in detail. That is what a capital gains tax (CGT) schedule does. It sets out every gain or loss behind your return’s final figure, rather than leaving the ATO to take your total on trust.
You must lodge a CGT schedule if your total capital gains or losses exceed A$10,000 for the income year. This guide explains how the threshold applies to individual crypto investors, crypto businesses and self-managed super funds (SMSFs). It also covers when crypto activities trigger the reporting requirement and what you need to do next, based on official ATO guidance for 2025-26.
Key Takeaways
- A CGT schedule is only required once total gains or total losses exceed A$10,000 in a year.
- Individuals who lodge a paper return never need to attach a schedule, whatever the amount.
- Gains and losses are each tested separately, so netting them first can hide a real trigger.
- Crypto disposals fall under a general category on the schedule, not a crypto-specific one.
What Is The CGT Schedule?
A CGT schedule provides the ATO with information about your capital gains and losses for the financial year. It reports amounts across different asset categories and helps reconcile them with the capital gains information in your tax return.
Why Does The A$10,000 Threshold Matter?
The A$10,000 figure decides how much detail your return must show. Below it, you only report your net capital gain or loss as one number. Above it, you must show every gain and loss separately, sorted by asset type and by the method used to calculate it.
That extra detail exists so the ATO can check your total, not just accept it. A large net figure built from many small crypto trades looks very different from the same figure built from one large sale. The schedule lets the ATO see which situation applies to you.
Do You Need To Lodge A CGT Schedule As An Individual Crypto Investor?
Yes, but only in certain situations, and only if you lodge online. Whether the schedule applies depends on the size of your gains or losses, and on whether you use myTax or a paper return. The two subheadings below cover each situation in turn.
When myTax Requires The Schedule?
The myTax online return requires a schedule when any one of three situations applies to your return. Each trigger stands on its own, so meeting just one is enough to require the schedule. The three situations are:
- Your total gains or losses for the year exceed A$10,000, counting crypto alongside every other asset you disposed of
- A trust distribution you received included a net capital gain over A$10,000, even without any crypto activity of your own
- You select the affordable housing discount code, whatever the size of the gain involved
Meeting any one of these triggers means the schedule is required, regardless of the other two.
Why Paper Lodgers Are Never Required To Lodge One?
Individuals and partners who lodge a paper tax return are never required to complete a schedule, regardless of how large their gain or loss is. This exception applies only to paper lodgments, so switching to myTax the following year removes it immediately.
However, not lodging a schedule does not remove the need to keep the figures behind your total. You should keep these calculations safely with your tax records because the ATO can still ask to see them later. Keeping them well organised from the start avoids a scramble if that request ever arrives.
Do You Need To Lodge A CGT Schedule As A Crypto Business?
Yes, and the rule reaches further than just companies and trusts. Several entity structures a crypto business might use are each named separately in ATO guidance, and one trigger applies regardless of your total gain or loss. The two subheadings below cover both.
The A$10,000 Test For Entities
A range of entity types must lodge a CGT schedule once their total capital gains or losses exceed A$10,000 for the year. There is no paper-lodgment exception for any of them. The schedule must be attached to the return, whichever way it is lodged. The entities this covers include:
- Companies and trusts, the two most common structures for a crypto business
- An attribution managed investment trust (AMIT), which lodges a separate schedule for each class if it has chosen multi-class treatment
- An attribution corporate collective investment vehicle (CCIV) sub-fund trust, tested on a sub-fund basis rather than at the whole vehicle level
- A consolidated group, whether acting as the head company or as a subsidiary member during a period outside that group
The CGT Discount Differs By Entity Type
The CGT discount reduces a capital gain before it is taxed. The rate depends on who holds the asset. Individuals and trusts can generally apply a 50% discount. The crypto must have been held for at least 12 months.
Companies cannot apply the discount at all. A crypto business run through a company pays tax on the full gain. Moreover, complying superannuation entities, including SMSFs, apply a lower 33⅓% discount instead. This difference can make the same crypto gain worth very different amounts after tax, based on structure.
Small Business CGT Concessions May Apply To An Active Crypto Asset
A crypto asset used in a business, rather than held as an investment, may qualify as active. Where that applies, small business CGT concessions can reduce the gain further, beyond any discount applied. Four concessions exist:
- A 15-year exemption
- A 50% active asset reduction
- A retirement exemption
- A roll-over
Each concession has its own conditions, and claiming one affects how the gain is reported on the schedule. This is a specialist area. A crypto business considering it should confirm eligibility with a registered tax agent first.
A Separate Trigger That Applies To Businesses With Earnout Arrangement
The A$10,000 test above is not the only way a schedule becomes compulsory. A second, unrelated trigger exists for a business sold under an Earnout arrangement, such as a crypto exchange or mining operation. This applies to the sale of a business, not to an individual investor’s own crypto holdings.
What Is An Earnout Arrangement?
An earnout arrangement lets a buyer pay a seller an upfront amount, plus further payments tied to the business’s future performance. In a standard arrangement, the buyer owes more if performance targets are met. In a reverse arrangement, the seller repays the buyer if targets are missed. Some deals combine both features.
When Does Look-Through Treatment Apply?
Look-through treatment applies to rights created on or after 24 April 2015. Several conditions must all be met together. The conditions are:
- The future benefit is not reasonably ascertainable when the right is created
- The underlying asset was an active asset of the seller’s business
- All benefits fall due within 5 years of the sale
- The amounts reasonably reflect the business’s actual performance
- The buyer and seller deal with each other at arm’s length
Under this treatment, the earn-out right itself is not valued or taxed separately. Instead, each later payment adjusts the original capital gain or loss from the sale, in the year that payment is received or made.
How Does It Trigger The CGT Schedule?
A later payment under the arrangement can change a capital gain already reported in an earlier year. Seeking that amendment is done through the CGT schedule itself, using labels 7F and 7G, rather than by a separate amendment request. This requires the schedule even where that year’s original total sat well under A$10,000. The trigger is the earnout payment itself, not the size of the original gain.
How Does The CGT Schedule Apply To A Self-Managed Super Fund?
A self-managed super fund (SMSF) is treated as a super fund for this purpose, not an individual. The same A$10,000 test applies to its total gains or losses for the year. Where an SMSF holds crypto, that test can be reached quickly during a strong market.
An SMSF reports capital gains at item 11 of the SMSF annual return. Losses carried forward go at item 14. Once the threshold is passed, the fund attaches a CGT schedule the same way a company does. It applies the 33 1⁄3 % super fund discount described above, not the individual rate.
What Happens If You Are Over The Threshold?
Passing the threshold brings three practical consequences, for individuals, businesses and SMSFs alike. Each one changes how carefully your crypto figures must be prepared. None of them change the tax you actually owe.
You Must Attach The Schedule To Your Return
The completed schedule must be attached to your tax return when lodged, not filed separately. Only one schedule should accompany each return. It covers every capital gain and loss for that year. Your underlying worksheets stay with your own records.
You Must Report Each Disposal By Category
The schedule sorts every gain and loss into a fixed set of categories. This lets the ATO see what asset produced each one. The categories include:
- Shares in companies listed on an Australian securities exchange, and other shares
- Units in unit trusts listed on an Australian securities exchange, and other units
- Real estate situated in Australia, and other real estate
- A capital gain received as a distribution from a trust, including a managed fund
- Collectables, such as art or jewellery
Crypto has no category of its own. It falls under the final, catch-all category on the schedule. That category is “other CGT assets and any other CGT events.” Every crypto disposal belongs there. So does anything else the list above misses.
An Error On The Schedule Can Trigger An ATO Review
Exchanges and other financial institutions report crypto account and transaction data to the ATO. The ATO compares that data against the figures on your schedule. A mismatch, such as a disposal missing from your schedule, can flag your return for closer checking.
That check can lead to a request for more information, or in some cases an amended assessment. Accurate, disposal-by-disposal figures on the schedule reduce that risk. They also give you a clear record to point to if the ATO does ask a question.
Which Crypto Reporting Mistakes Commonly Affect The CGT Schedule Test?
This section reflects our own practical observations, not official ATO guidance. Crypto investors testing their total against A$10,000 often make mistakes that change the outcome entirely. The four subheadings below cover each pattern in turn.
Treating A Swap As A Transfer, Not A Disposal
A crypto-to-crypto swap is a disposal of the coin given up, not a simple transfer between wallets. Investors sometimes skip counting these entirely, assuming no disposal happened because no cash changed hands. Each missed swap understates the true total, which can hide a genuine trigger.
Netting Gains And Losses Before Testing
The A$10,000 test looks at gross gains and gross losses, not the net figure left after combining them. An investor with A$15,000 in gains and A$8,000 in losses might assume a modest net position means no schedule is needed. The gross gains alone already exceed the threshold.
Leaving Out Small Gains From Staking Rewards
A small gain from later selling staking rewards can feel too minor to bother recording. Left out often enough, several of these small gains can combine to push a total past A$10,000. Every disposal counts toward the test, regardless of its individual size.
Missing Disposals On Rarely Used Exchanges
An account opened for one trade, then forgotten, is an easy gap in anyone’s records. A disposal on a smaller or less familiar exchange still counts toward the total, exactly the same as one on a main platform. Each missed exchange is a missed disposal.
Note: Each error can change whether a schedule is actually required. A missed disposal might mean lodging one unnecessarily, or skipping one that was genuinely due. Careful, complete records prevent both outcomes.
How Can KoinX Help You Track The A$10,000 Threshold?
Knowing whether you have crossed A$10,000 means totalling every disposal across every platform you used. Scattered records make that total unreliable. An unreliable total leads to the wrong lodgment decision. KoinX consolidates your crypto activity so the figure stays current and correct.
Transaction History Report
The Transaction History Report works as a full ledger of trades, transfers, rewards and fees. It captures every disposal before any totalling happens. Nothing gets left out because it happened on a smaller or less familiar exchange.
ATO Complete Tax Report
The Complete ATO Tax Report applies ATO rules to your crypto data. It produces your net capital gain or loss. It also shows the gross gains and losses behind that figure, exactly what the A$10,000 test checks.
Quick Edit
Quick Edit lets you promptly fix flagged transaction errors, or seek help resolving them. Fixing a miscategorised swap before totalling avoids the wrong answer on whether a schedule applies.
Do not wait until lodgment day to find out where your total stands. Add your transactions to KoinX now, and check your gross gains and losses well ahead of time. Knowing your position early leaves room to prepare, rather than react.
The A$10,000 test looks at gross gains and losses, not the net figure most investors check first. A portfolio with a modest overall profit can still cross that line through gains alone. So, check both totals separately before completing your return this year.
Working out those gross figures by hand across several exchanges can lead to mistakes. KoinX separates your gains and losses automatically, giving you both totals before you lodge. Set it up early, and you can confirm whether the schedule applies well before the deadline.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does The A$10,000 Threshold Apply To Gains, Losses, Or Both?
Both, but they are tested separately rather than combined. If your total gains exceed A$10,000 for the year, a schedule is required. That holds even if losses bring your net position down. The same applies in reverse for a year with large total losses.
Do I Add Crypto Gains And Share Gains Together For The A$10,000 Test?
Yes. The test looks at total gains and losses across every asset type, not crypto alone. A crypto gain of A$6,000 combined with a share gain of A$5,000 exceeds the threshold together.
What Happens If I Forget To Lodge The Schedule When Required?
The ATO can request the missing schedule after your return is processed. You may need to lodge it separately once contacted. A genuine oversight rarely attracts a penalty on its own. Persistent or repeated omissions are treated more seriously.
Does The Threshold Reset Each Financial Year?
Yes. The A$10,000 test applies to each income year on its own, based on that year’s disposals only. A large gain reported last year does not affect whether this year’s activity crosses the threshold.
Does The CGT Discount Apply Before Or After The A$10,000 Test?
The A$10,000 test looks at your total gains and losses before any discount is applied. Once the schedule confirms you are over the threshold, your entity’s discount is applied next. That gives your final net gain.
