UK Releases First Official Taxable Crypto Gains Statistics

The UK government has published its first official statistics on taxable crypto asset gains, showing that 240 people each reported more than 1 million pounds in capital gains for the 2024-25 tax year. According to Odaily, 17,600 people reported 13.8 billion pounds in taxable crypto gains, while 240 filers accounted for 717 million pounds of that total. HM Revenue and Customs said 17,600 people reported 13.8 billion pounds in crypto asset disposal gains and 1.38 billion pounds in taxable gains, or about 78,000 pounds per person. About 87% of filers were men and 13% were women. HMRC said selling, exchanging, spending tokens, or giving assets to others may trigger tax obligations. HMRC sent 81,000 crypto tax letters in the past 12 months, up from about 65,000, and close to the 27,714 letters sent in the 2023-24 tax year. James Murray, the UK Treasury's financial secretary and paymaster general, said crypto gains must be taxed like other gains. The UK plans to change the tax treatment of some DeFi transactions from April 6, 2027, with borrowing and liquidity pool transactions generally deferring capital gains tax until an economic disposal occurs. HMRC estimated its crypto tax compliance and education efforts generated an additional 168 million pounds in capital gains tax in 2024-25.