Overview
- FOI data seen by accounting firm UHY Hacker Young show HMRC sent about 81,000 warning letters, texts or emails to crypto holders in the 2025/26 year, a roughly 25% rise from the prior year and bringing the campaign total since 2020 above 101,000.
- The letters are ‘nudge’ warnings that ask recipients to review and self‑declare unpaid Capital Gains Tax rather than immediately imposing penalties, though formal enquiries later can lead to interest and penalties up to 100% of tax due.
- Under the Cryptoasset Reporting Framework, UK platforms began collecting customer IDs and transaction records on Jan. 1, 2026 and must file reports for 2026 activity by May 31, 2027, with automatic exchange of data from dozens of jurisdictions to follow.
- HMRC says many undeclared liabilities appear to stem from gains in the late‑2022 to 2025 bull run and highlights common blind spots such as token‑for‑token swaps, spending crypto, lending or staking income as taxable events.
- Investors who receive a nudge can use HMRC’s Cryptoasset Disclosure Service to correct past returns, but the incoming exchange data is likely to trigger more targeted enquiries and could raise an estimated up to £315 million by April 2030.