How to Report Crypto on Your 2026 T1 Return: Line-by-Line
TL;DR
Capital-gains investor: Schedule 3 → Line 12700. Trader/miner: T2125 → Line 13500. Foreign holdings > $100K CAD: Form T1135. Apply 50% inclusion under $250K of total annual capital gains, 66.67% above. Use our calculator first to know what you owe.
Step 1 — Determine your treatment
Most personal investors get capital gains treatment (50% / 66.67% inclusion). You're more likely a business (100% inclusion) if you trade actively (100+ trades/year), hold positions briefly (avg < 30 days), borrow to trade, mine professionally, or run an arbitrage operation. Read our complete crypto tax guide for the full test.
Step 2 — Build your transaction ledger
Aggregate every disposition across every exchange and wallet for the year:
- Date of disposition
- Crypto disposed of and amount
- Proceeds in CAD (FMV on the disposition date)
- Adjusted Cost Base (ACB) in CAD per unit, weighted across all your purchases
- Capital gain or loss = proceeds − ACB
Crypto-to-crypto trades count as dispositions. Spending crypto on goods or services counts. Receiving mining/staking rewards counts as ordinary income at FMV when received (separate from capital gains).
Step 3 — Capital-gains path: fill out Schedule 3
On Schedule 3, use Section 5 — "Publicly traded shares, mutual fund units, deferral of eligible small business corporation shares, and other shares". Group by identical properties:
- Description: "Cryptocurrency — Bitcoin (BTC)" (one row per coin)
- Proceeds of disposition: total CAD from all BTC sales/trades that year
- Adjusted cost base: total CAD ACB of units disposed
- Outlays and expenses: exchange fees on the disposition side
- Gain or loss: proceeds − ACB − outlays
Total all rows. The total gain/loss flows to Schedule 3 line 19900 (Total taxable capital gains). The taxable portion (after applying 50% / 66.67% inclusion) flows to T1 Line 12700.
Step 4 — Apply the 2026 inclusion rate
For 2026: 50% inclusion on the first $250,000 of total annual capital gains (including non-crypto gains), 66.67% above. The threshold is per-individual, per-year. Estimate your taxable amount with our crypto tax calculator.
Step 5 — Business-treatment path: T2125
If you're a trader or miner taxed as business income:
- Report gross revenue (CAD value of all dispositions and rewards) on T2125 Part 3A
- Deduct allowable expenses (exchange fees, mining electricity, equipment depreciation via CCA)
- Net business income flows to T1 Line 13500 — fully taxable at marginal rates
- If self-employed mining/trading is your main income, you also owe both halves of CPP — see our self-employed CPP calculator.
Step 6 — Mining/staking income
Hobby miners and casual stakers report rewards as other income on Line 13000 at FMV when received. Your ACB for those coins starts at the value when received — any later appreciation is a capital gain on Schedule 3 when sold. Business miners include everything on T2125 instead.
Step 7 — Form T1135 if foreign holdings > $100K CAD
Crypto held on foreign exchanges or in self-custody wallets located outside Canada counts as "specified foreign property". If the total cost ever exceeds $100,000 CAD at any point in the year, you must file Form T1135. Two reporting methods:
- Simplified (cost < $250K all year): aggregate categories
- Detailed (cost > $250K at any point): per-property reporting
Penalty for failure to file: $25/day, up to $2,500. Repeated failures and gross negligence push penalties higher.
Step 8 — Keep your records for 6 years
CRA requires 6 years of supporting records post-filing. Save:
- Exchange CSV exports for every year
- Wallet transaction histories for self-custody
- FMV references at the time of each transaction (CoinGecko / CoinMarketCap snapshots)
- ACB tracking spreadsheet
- Receipts for mining electricity, equipment, software
Step 9 — Software shortcuts
Wealthsimple Tax, TurboTax, and Koinly all import exchange CSVs and auto-build Schedule 3. Even if you use one, sanity-check the totals against your own ledger — none of them get edge cases (DeFi, NFTs, hard forks) right out of the box. See our Wealthsimple Tax review.
Common mistakes
- Forgetting crypto-to-crypto trades
- Using USD instead of CAD for proceeds/ACB
- Missing the superficial-loss rule on re-buys within 30 days
- Not filing T1135 when foreign holdings cross $100K mid-year
- Reporting staking rewards only when sold (must be reported when received)
Related guides
- CRA Crypto Audit Guide 2026
- Bitbuy & Shakepay Tax Reporting 2026
- Crypto Staking & Mining Tax 2026
- Crypto Tax Canada Hub
Sources: CRA Cryptocurrency guide, CRA T4012 T1 General guide 2026, Schedule 3 instructions, Form T1135 instructions. Not tax advice. For non-trivial situations consult a CPA. Last reviewed: April 22, 2026.
Editorial disclaimer
This article is published by LoonieLabs for general information only. It is not financial, tax, legal, accounting, or immigration advice and must not be relied on as such. Rules, dollar figures, interest rates, and program eligibility change — always verify with the Canada Revenue Agency, IRCC, or a qualified professional before acting. Spotted an error? See our corrections policy. Last reviewed: April 22, 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
Written and reviewed by Shrey Patel — Founder & Editor-in-Chief
Winnipeg, MB · Fact-checked by our Tax & Benefits reviewer · Last reviewed April 22, 2026 · LinkedIn
Founder of LoonieLabs · based in Winnipeg, MB · writes and reviews every page on the site I oversee every figure on this page personally — verified against primary sources (CRA, IRCC, Statistics Canada, the Bank of Canada, or the originating provincial ministry). LoonieLabs has no affiliate relationships with any bank, credit card, or immigration consultant featured on this site. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
Published by the LoonieLabs Editorial Team.