The 12-Month CGT Discount on Crypto, Explained
One of the most valuable rules in Australian crypto tax is the 50% capital gains tax (CGT) discount. If you’re an individual investor and you hold a crypto asset for more than 12 months before selling, swapping or spending it, you’re generally taxed on only half of the gain. Understanding this rule can meaningfully change what you owe.
How it works
When you dispose of crypto held as an investment, you make a capital gain (or loss). If you held that specific parcel of crypto for more than 12 months, an individual can apply the CGT discount, which reduces the taxable portion of the gain by 50%. You still declare the full gain, but only half is added to your assessable income and taxed at your marginal rate.
The 12 months is measured from the day after you acquired the crypto to the day you dispose of it. Holding for exactly 12 months isn’t enough — you need to cross past it.
A worked example
Suppose you bought crypto for $10,000 and later sold it for $30,000 — a $20,000 gain.
- Held 11 months: no discount. The full $20,000 is added to your taxable income.
- Held 13 months: the 50% discount applies. Only $10,000 is added to your taxable income.
At a 30% marginal rate, that’s roughly $6,000 of tax versus $3,000 — the same gain, taxed very differently, purely because of the holding period. You can estimate your own figure with our crypto tax calculator.
Who qualifies
The discount is available to individuals (and generally trusts), and to complying self-managed super funds at a reduced one-third rate — see crypto and your SMSF. It is not available to companies, and it does not apply if you’re classified as a trader carrying on a business, because a trader’s profits are ordinary income rather than capital gains.
Traps that reset the clock
The catch many people miss: every disposal is a CGT event, including crypto-to-crypto swaps. Trading Bitcoin for Ethereum disposes of the Bitcoin and starts a fresh 12-month clock on the new Ethereum — see do you pay tax on crypto-to-crypto trades. Moving crypto between your own wallets is not a disposal and doesn’t reset anything. And each parcel is tracked separately, so coins bought at different times have different holding periods.
The takeaway
For long-term holders, the 12-month line is worth being aware of before you sell — waiting a little longer can halve the tax on a gain, though tax should never be the only reason to hold or sell. Keep dated records of every purchase so you can prove the holding period, and lean on crypto tax software to track it automatically. For the full picture, see our crypto tax guide.
This is general information only, not financial or tax advice. Tax depends on your circumstances — confirm with a registered tax professional.
General information only — not financial or tax advice. Verified 2026-08-13; details can change.