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Canada has no separate crypto tax rate. When you sell or trade crypto as an investor, half of the gain is added to your income and taxed at your normal rates. In our 2026 examples a $10,000 gain costs about $1,100 to $2,000. Business income is taxed on the full profit.
How much tax do you pay on crypto in Canada?
There is no crypto tax rate in the Income Tax Act. The CRA says that when you sell or trade crypto as an investment, you include half of your capital gain in your income for the year, and that half is taxed at the same rates as your pay or business income. The amount you owe therefore depends on how big the gain is, how much other income you have and which province you live in.
A rough rule follows from that. Your tax on a gain is about half of your combined federal and provincial marginal rate, multiplied by the gain. At a combined marginal rate of 30 percent, a $10,000 gain costs roughly $1,500. In the examples below, the same $10,000 gain costs between $1,077.38 and $2,035, depending on income and province.
The other route is business income. If the CRA sees your trading as a business, the whole profit is taxable, not half. Both routes are explained below, and our page on whether crypto is taxable covers the starting question.
Is there a flat crypto tax rate?
No. The CRA lists crypto-assets as property that you can sell, trade, spend or give away, and each of those events is a disposition. A disposition can produce a gain or a loss. Neither is taxed at a fixed percentage. The gain is added to the rest of your taxable income, so it lands in whichever federal and provincial brackets your total income reaches.
That is why online claims such as "crypto is taxed at 15 percent" or "crypto is taxed at 50 percent" are both wrong as a general statement. The 50 percent figure is the share of the gain that is taxable, and the percentage of the gain you pay is lower. The percent of the gain you actually pay is the figure the next sections work out.
The CRA also says each type of crypto-asset is valued as its own asset, and the values are stated in Canadian dollars. A gain on one coin and a loss on another can be netted in the same year, which our crypto capital loss page explains.
How does the 50% inclusion rate work?
The CRA page on income from crypto-asset transactions says you must include half of your capital gains, known as taxable capital gains, in your income. The CRA gives its own example: crypto bought for $3,500 and sold for $4,000 is a $500 gain, and the taxable capital gain is $250. In another CRA example, one coin is traded for another worth $20,600 and the cost base was $15,000, which gives a $5,600 gain and a $2,800 taxable capital gain.
Here are the steps with a made up gain of $10,000.
| Step | Amount |
|---|---|
| Proceeds minus adjusted cost base and selling costs | $10,000 |
| Taxable capital gain (half) | $5,000 |
| Added to your other taxable income | $5,000 |
| Tax on that addition | At your marginal rate |
The step from the gain to the tax is what the next section works out. Only the taxable half enters your income. A capital loss works the same way in reverse: half is allowable, and it can only be used against taxable capital gains, as the CRA states.
What is the effective rate at different incomes?
The table adds a $10,000 capital gain, so $5,000 is taxable, on top of three levels of other taxable income. It uses the 2026 federal brackets (14 percent up to $58,523, 20.5 percent to $117,045, 26 percent to $181,440) and the 2026 Alberta and British Columbia brackets, all from the CRA rates page. The result is the extra tax caused by the gain, before credits.
| Other taxable income | Federal tax | Alberta tax | Total with Alberta | Share of gain | BC tax | Total with BC | Share of gain |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $700 | $400 | $1,100 | 11.0% | $377.38 | $1,077.38 | 10.8% |
| $90,000 | $1,025 | $500 | $1,525 | 15.2% | $385 | $1,410 | 14.1% |
| $150,000 | $1,300 | $514.82 | $1,814.82 | 18.1% | $735 | $2,035 | 20.3% |
Take the middle row. At $90,000 of other income, the federal tax on the $5,000 is $1,025 and the provincial tax is $500 in Alberta or $385 in British Columbia. That makes the bill $1,525 or $1,410, which is 15.2% or 14.1% of the gain. These figures were computed with a script and rounded to the dollar. They are examples, not a forecast for your return.
The table leaves out credits, the Canada employment amount, benefit clawbacks and any province surtax. Ontario, for example, adds a surtax and a health premium on top of its brackets, which our income tax rates by province page covers. To test your own numbers, the capital gains tax calculator and the marginal tax rate calculator are on this site.
Does the province change the rate?
Yes, because your province taxes the same taxable gain on its own brackets. For 2026 the CRA lists Ontario at 5.05 percent up to $53,891, 9.15 percent to $107,785, 11.16 percent to $150,000, 12.16 percent to $220,000 and 13.16 percent above that. Alberta starts at 8 percent and has six brackets, and British Columbia starts at 5.6 percent and has seven. Quebec is different: it has its own return and the CRA page does not list its brackets.
The gap between provinces is smaller than people expect when only half of the gain is taxed. In the table above, at $150,000 of other income, the total is $1,814.82 with Alberta rates and $2,035 with BC rates on the same gain. Your federal bracket often matters more than your province.
The Ontario brackets above do not include the surtax or the health premium, so an Ontario resident should not copy the Alberta or BC figures. Use the marginal tax rates page for a province by province comparison.
When is crypto taxed as business income instead?
The CRA says crypto activity can be business income when it looks like carrying on a business. It lists the frequency of trades, short holding periods and advertising among the factors, and says an isolated transaction can still be business income if it is an adventure or concern in the nature of trade. If a transaction is not business income, it is capital in nature.
The difference in tax is large because business income has no 50 percent inclusion. The CRA's own example has sales of $240,000, cost of goods sold of $198,000 and expenses of $2,000, and the full $40,000 is net business income. Here is the same $10,000 profit as business income, with the same bases as before.
| Other taxable income | Total with Alberta | Share of profit | Total with BC | Share of profit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $2,296.01 | 23.0% | $2,258.38 | 22.6% |
| $90,000 | $3,050 | 30.5% | $2,820 | 28.2% |
| $150,000 | $3,714.82 | 37.1% | $4,070 | 40.7% |
At $90,000 of other income, the tax on a $10,000 profit is $3,050 with Alberta rates, against $1,525 if the same amount were a capital gain. A business can also deduct its expenses, and self-employed people owe CPP contributions on net business income, which the capital route does not involve. Read day trading taxes for the tests, and the self employed tax return for the filing side.
What about 2027?
Two years matter here. Gains from sales in 2026 go on the return you file in 2027, and they use the 2026 brackets in the tables above. Gains from sales in 2027 go on the return you file in 2028.
As of November 12, 2026, the CRA rates page we read covers the 2026 tax year only, and we did not find a published federal bracket table for 2027. The federal brackets are normally indexed each year, so the dollar thresholds will probably move. The half inclusion for capital gains is still the figure on the CRA crypto pages. The parts of the Budget 2026 tax annex we read propose no change to the general inclusion rate, but the annex is long and we did not read all of it, so check it before relying on that.
The Budget 2026 annex does propose moving the personal filing and balance due date to May 15 from the 2027 tax year. That is a proposal until it is law, and it does not change the return you file in 2027. Our 2026 vs 2027 tax numbers page lists what is confirmed for 2027 and what is not.
What else changes what you really pay?
The table shows the tax on the gain alone. A bigger net income can also reduce income-tested benefits and credits. The size of those effects depends on your family, your benefits and the year, and we cannot state them from the CRA crypto pages.
Three practical points help in any case. First, count the sale fee and the buying fee, because they change the gain. Second, net your losses on other coins in the same year, because a loss can offset a gain. Third, put the real adjusted cost base into the calculation, since a wrong cost base moves the gain dollar for dollar. Our adjusted cost base example shows how that number is built.
This page is information only. We do not prepare returns, we do not represent the CRA or any other organization, and we do not guarantee that the figures fit your case. The examples use made up gains.
Frequently asked questions
How much tax do you pay on crypto in Canada?
It depends on your income and province. For a capital gain, half of it is added to your income and taxed at your marginal rate. In the examples on this page, a $10,000 gain costs between roughly $1,100 and $2,000. If the CRA treats the activity as a business, the full profit is taxable.
Is the crypto tax rate 50 percent in Canada?
No. Fifty percent is the share of a capital gain that is included in your income. The tax you pay is that half multiplied by your combined federal and provincial marginal rate. At a combined 30 percent marginal rate, the tax is about 15 percent of the gain.
Do I pay tax if I only buy and hold crypto?
The CRA pages describe taxable events as dispositions such as selling, trading, spending or gifting crypto. Buying and holding is not listed as a disposition, so a price rise on coins you still hold is not taxed in that year. Keep your purchase records, because you need the cost later.
Does the province change the crypto tax rate?
Yes, because each province taxes the same taxable gain on its own brackets, and Quebec files a separate provincial return. The difference is modest when only half the gain is taxable, and your federal bracket often matters more. Ontario also adds a surtax and a health premium that the brackets do not show.
What crypto tax rate applies to a day trader?
If the CRA considers your trading a business, you report the full profit as business income at your marginal rate, and you can deduct your expenses. There is no half inclusion in that case. The CRA looks at frequency, holding periods, knowledge and advertising, among other factors, so the label is decided by the facts.
Will the crypto tax rate change in 2027?
As of November 12, 2026, we found no published federal bracket table for 2027, so the thresholds may shift with indexation. The CRA crypto pages still say half of a gain is included, and the part of the Budget 2026 annex we read shows no change to that. Treat any 2027 figure you see as unconfirmed.