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Recap HomeCrypto Tax Guide (Lite)HMRC Cryptoassets Manual
  • A Technical Guide to Cryptocurrency Tax for UK Individuals
    • What are Cryptoassets?
    • Who are Recap?
  • CRYPTOCURRENCY TAX
    • Do I Need to Pay Tax on my Cryptoassets?
    • Which Taxes Apply?
      • Capital Gains Tax (CGT)
      • Income tax
      • VAT
      • Inheritance tax
      • Stamp Duty
    • How Much Tax Will I Pay?
    • New HMRC DeFi Guidance
      • Overview of HMRC guidance
      • 1️⃣Is the Reward Income or Capital?
      • 2️⃣Is Beneficial Ownership (BO) transferred?
      • 3️⃣Consider the Tax Treatment
        • Staker/Lender/Collateral Provider
          • Income Rewards
            • BO transferred
              • ➡️At Point of Entry
              • ⬅️At Point of Exit
              • 💧On Liquidation
              • 💎On Receipt of Income Reward
              • Example 1A
              • Example 2A
            • BO not transferred
              • ➡️At Point of Entry
              • ⬅️At Point of Exit
              • 💧On Liquidation
              • 💎On Receipt of Income Reward
              • Example 1B
              • Example 2B
          • Capital Rewards
            • BO transferred
              • ➡️At Point of Entry
              • ⬅️At Point of Exit
              • 💧On Liquidation
              • 💎On Receipt of Capital Reward
              • Example 1C
              • Example 2C
            • BO not transferred
              • ➡️At Point of Entry
              • ⬅️At Point of Exit
              • 💧On Liquidation
              • 💎On Receipt of Capital Reward
              • Example 1D
              • Example 2D
        • Borrower
    • Investor or Trader?
      • Badges of Trade Limitations
      • HMRC Approach
      • Court Cases involving Financial Traders
    • Capital Gains Tax
      • Calculating the Capital Gains Position
      • Disposal proceeds
      • Disposals to Connected Parties
      • Allowable costs for CGT
        • Exchange fees
        • Forks - affect on allowable costs
      • Capital Loss Claims
    • Income Tax
      • Financial trading income
      • Miscellaneous Income
      • Employment income
    • Fair Market Valuation
  • TRANSACTION TYPES
    • 💷Selling Crypto for Fiat
    • 🔄Trading Crypto to Crypto
    • 🛍️Purchases using Crypto
    • 🎁Gifts
    • 💍Spouse Transfers
    • 🎗️Gifts to Charity, CASCs & Bodies for a National Purpose
    • 🎈Airdrops
    • 🤝Staking
    • 💸Transfers
    • 🍴Forks
    • ⛏️Mining
    • 👛Employment income
      • UK Employer
      • Overseas employer
      • National Minimum Wage (NMW)
    • 🚨Lost & Stolen Crypto
    • 🎲Gambling
    • 💧Liquidity Pools
      • Example - Liquidity pool
    • ⬆️Token Upgrades/Swaps
    • 🔮Cryptoasset derivatives (CFDs, Futures and Margin Trading)
    • 💼Crypto Loans
    • 🔄REPOS
    • 🪞Reflections Rewards
    • 👥Referral Income
    • 💳Cashback
    • 🎨NFTs (Non Fungible Tokens)
    • 🎮NFTs earned playing games
  • Record Keeping
  • Filing Your Self-Assessment
    • How to Register for Self-Assessment
    • How to Fill In the Tax Return
    • Submitting the Tax Return and Paying the Tax
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On this page
  • What is cashback?
  • Tax treatment of cashback
  • Income Tax
  • Capital Gains Tax

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  1. TRANSACTION TYPES

Cashback

PreviousReferral IncomeNextNFTs (Non Fungible Tokens)

Last updated 3 years ago

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What is cashback?

Some large providers (such as ) offer users a cashback card, which is like a debit card, and can be used to make purchases of goods and services in fiat from most retailers (ie for your groceries, buying a car or a TV).

Cashback rewards are received in cryptoassets (ie in CRO/MCO on crypto.com) for using the cashback card, based on the amount of purchases made with the card.

The user needs to add funds to the cashback card before it can be used to make purchases. Some users top up the card with fiat sterling from this bank account. However some users top up their cashback card with cryptoassets and in this situation they are making a disposal of their cryptoassets for tax purposes when they top up the card.

Tax treatment of cashback

Income Tax

If the taxpayer is a ‘’ in cryptoassets or the cashback is received in the course of another trade, these cashback rewards will be treated as taxable trading income per their guidance at .

There is no HMRC guidance on the tax treatment of cashback rewards received in cryptoassets, however there is guidance at and on the receipt of cashback in general and this is likely to apply.

HMRC state at point 20 of "A sum, however described, which is received by an ordinary retail customer as consideration for the purchase by the customer of goods or services should not be regarded as a taxable receipt in computing profits under Case VI. This is the case whether the payer is the provider of the goods or services or another party with an economic interest in ensuring the transaction takes place."

If this HMRC guidance is also applied to cryptoasset cashback rewards, it means that cashback rewards are not taxable income, where they are not received in the course of a trade.

Capital Gains Tax

Acquisition cost

There is no HMRC guidance on the acquisition cost of non-taxable airdrops, therefore this remains an area of uncertainty.

It could be argued the acquisition cost is Nil, or the acquisition cost could be the market value of the tokens at the date of receipt, depending on the circumstances - see below.

If the smart contract is executed and the airdropped tokens are issued into one public address and then later they are transferred to the recipient it may be possible to argue that the acquisition cost of the airdropped tokens is the sterling market value at the date of receipt, but only if it can be argued that a ‘bargain made otherwise than at arm's length’. There is uncertainty as to whether or not a ‘bargain is made otherwise than at arm's length’ or not, when it is available to everyone. If it is not a bargain otherwise than at arm’s length, the CGT acquisition cost of the airdropped tokens would be Nil.

If when the smart contract is executed, the airdropped tokens are issued directly to the recipient, it will be Nil acquisition cost. As there is no corresponding disposal, the market value rule at Section 17 TCGA 1992 is disapplied and the actual amount paid for the airdrop (ie Nil) is the CGT acquisition cost where it is lower than the market value at the date of receipt).

This acquisition cost is to be deducted from the disposal proceeds of a later disposal of those tokens received as a cashback reward (which is subject to capital gains tax).

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BIM100210
BIM100210
Statement of Practice 4/97
Statement of Practice 4/97