What this is — said plainly
- It estimates whether one disposal gained or lost, and by how much: gain = proceeds − cost − fees.
- It does not compute tax owed — no rates, no allowances, no pooling, no FIFO across lots.
- The point is a first sense of the number, which you then take to your country’s page and official rules.
- Everything runs in your browser — nothing is uploaded or stored.
The estimator
Three numbers, all in fiat (in the currency you pick) — no token prices or quantities needed. The result updates as you type.
What you received in fiat — or, for a crypto-to-crypto swap or a purchase, the fiat market value at that moment.
What you paid. For tokens you received free (airdrop, staking, mining), use the market value already counted as income when you got them.
Deductible buy and sell fees. What counts as deductible varies by country — leave blank if unsure.
Only drives the holding-period note below — it never changes the amount.
This is single-disposal arithmetic only: it applies no tax rates, no allowances, no UK Section 104 pooling and no FIFO matching across lots. It estimates the size of a gain or loss — not the tax you owe — and is not tax advice or a basis for filing.
Filling in the three numbers
- 1. Proceeds / market value at disposal: the fiat you received for the sale. If you did not sell for fiat — you swapped into another token (stablecoins included) or spent the crypto — use the fiat market value at that moment, because tax law treats that moment as the disposal. The logic is unpacked in Are stablecoins taxable?.
- 2. Acquisition cost: what the coins cost you. Bought them? The purchase price. Received them free — airdrop, staking, mining, interest? Use the market value that already counted as income at receipt, so the same value is not taxed twice.
- 3. Related fees: deductible buy and sell fees. What counts, and how much, varies by country — leave it blank when unsure.
Cost basis decides everything
The subtraction is trivial; the number you feed into “acquisition cost” is not. It depends on two things: whether your original records survive, and which method your country uses to attach past purchases to a present sale.
One purchase, one sale — the estimate is essentially your real result. Repeated purchases of the same coin change that: whether the coins you just sold carry the cost of your first buy, your last, or a pooled average is exactly where the UK’s Section 104 pooling and the US’s FIFO / specific identification diverge. For the full picture, read the cost-basis section of the complete guide and Keeping transaction records.
What it refuses to do
The boundaries are deliberate — each omitted feature is one that varies by country or needs your complete history:
| Not done here | Why / where instead |
|---|---|
| Compute tax owed | Rates differ by country and year — see the country pages and official sources. |
| Apply allowances or thresholds | The UK annual exempt amount, Germany’s Freigrenze — they change; hard-coding them misleads. |
| Pool or FIFO-match across lots | Needs your full purchase history — tax software territory. |
| Classify long vs short term | The holding-period field only triggers a note, never a calculation. |
| Handle theft or collapse losses | Non-disposal losses follow different rules — see the losses guide. |
Where the rates live
With the amount in hand, the next step is your country’s framework — rates, allowances, holding-period rules and the actual forms:
- United Kingdom: CGT, the annual exempt amount, Section 104 pooling.
- Australia: CGT events and the 12-month discount.
- United States: short vs long term, loss offset rules.
- Germany: private sales, the one-year exemption, the €1,000 limit.
To walk the whole method first, start from the complete crypto tax guide.
FAQ
Will this tell me how much tax I owe?
I bought the same coin several times. Why might the result be off?
The result is negative. Can I deduct that loss?
Official sources
- UK: HMRC, Cryptoassets Manual (incl. Section 104 pooling) — gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/cryptoassets-manual
- Australia: ATO, Crypto asset investments — ato.gov.au/…/crypto-asset-investments
- US: IRS, Digital assets — irs.gov/filing/digital-assets
- Germany: BMF letter on cryptoassets (updated 2025) — bundesfinanzministerium.de
Checked against the official pages on 1 September 2026. The estimator is arithmetic only; every country’s rates and rules come from its authority.
Do not file from this number
The estimator answers “how big was this gain or loss” — not “how much tax do I owe” — and it does no lot matching, so multi-purchase histories will drift. It is general information for educational use, not tax, legal or investment advice, and not a filing basis. Take the amount to your country’s rules; take size and complexity to a licensed professional.