If you earn crypto from staking and you want to protect them you want one thing above all: clarity on how it’s taxed. Is it income? Is it capital gains? How do you show it in your Self Assessment?

For many UK investors, staking has become a steady way to collect extra tokens, but every one of those rewards carries a tax consequence that is easy to overlook. HMRC treats the pound value of each reward as income at the moment you receive it. If you later sell or exchange those tokens, you may also face Capital Gains Tax on any change in value since receipt.

In practice this creates a two-step system: income tax first, capital gains tax later. On paper it sounds simple, but it quickly becomes complex once you have dozens or even hundreds of small transactions spread across the year.

This guide sets out how those rules apply for the 2024/25 tax year, which allowances can reduce your bill, and why the October 2024 change in CGT rates adds an extra calculation to this year’s return, due online by 31 January 2026.

CryptoBooks was built to manage that complexity. It fixes the correct pound value for every reward at the time of receipt, applies the UK matching rules to disposals, and produces the figures you need for Self Assessment, without leaving you to chase exchange rates or build error-prone spreadsheets by hand.

How crypto staking is taxed in the UK

For tax purposes, staking is not treated as passive interest or placed in a special category. HMRC treats every staking reward as new income: the moment a token is credited to you, it becomes taxable.

After that, any disposal of those tokens - whether you sell them for pounds, swap them for another asset, or spend them - falls under the capital gains rules. The pound value already taxed as income becomes your cost basis, and any change in price from that point is a gain or a loss.

This creates two layers of tax. First, income tax when the reward is received. Second, Capital Gains Tax when the token is disposed of. In practice this means heavy record-keeping, especially when rewards are small and frequent.

Income tax on staking rewards

Every staking setup pays out differently, but under UK rules the moment you can control the tokens, HMRC treats that as income. On a centralised exchange this is usually when your balance updates with a batch of rewards. Onchain it can be when a protocol sends fractions of a token to your wallet or when it credits your position with an accruing balance. In every case you must convert the reward into pounds at the time of receipt and include it in your annual income.

For 2024/25 the personal allowance is £12,570. Beyond that, income is taxed:

• basic rate: 20% on £12,571 to £50,270;

• higher rate: 40% on £50,271 to £125,140;

• additional rate: 45% above £125,140.

The hard part is to do a proper valuation. Rewards may be distributed daily or even hourly, and token prices shift constantly, so you need the pound value at receipt for each credit. A limited relief exists: the £1,000 trading and miscellaneous income allowance can cover small amounts in a year, but you cannot use it and deduct expenses at the same time. Once rewards exceed that level, accurate record-keeping is unavoidable.

CryptoBooks takes care of this by importing your wallet and exchange history, fixing the GBP value of each reward at receipt and preparing the figures needed for the income section of your Self Assessment.

Capital Gains Tax on staking disposals

Then, the second layer. When you later sell, swap, or spend tokens you earned, the capital gains rules apply. Your base cost is the pound value already taxed as income when the reward was received, and any difference between that and the disposal proceeds is a gain or a loss.

For 2024/25 the key points are:

• annual exempt amount: £3,000;

• gains above the exemption: 10% or 20% depending on your income band.

Also, remember: from 30 October 2024 the CGT rates changed to 18% and 24% for most assets, so if you disposed of tokens both before and after that date you must complete the CGT adjustment on SA108 using HMRC’s calculator.

The UK’s matching rules also apply. Disposals are matched first with acquisitions on the same day, then with those in the next 30 days and finally with the pooled average cost of the remaining holdings under Section 104. These rules remove the option to pick and choose which tokens were sold and make manual spreadsheets unreliable once rewards are frequent.

CryptoBooks applies these matching rules automatically, fixes the correct base cost for each disposal, and generates the capital gains figures required on the SA108.

Reporting staking rewards in Self Assessment

Staking income is reported in the “Other taxable income” section of the SA100 form. Capital gains from selling or swapping those rewards go on the SA108 form alongside your other disposals. If you made disposals both before and after the 30 October 2024 rate change you must also include a CGT adjustment, as stated before, because HMRC’s online system does not apply it automatically.

Accurate reporting and avoiding data inconsistencies depends on having complete records: the GBP value of every reward at the time of receipt and the calculation of gains when those tokens are disposed of. Without this, your return risks being inconsistent with HMRC’s expectations.

Allowances and reliefs

For a final recap, two allowances can reduce the impact of staking taxes in 2024/25:

Trading and miscellaneous income allowance (£1,000)

Covers small amounts of miscellaneous income in a year, which includes staking. It is a single allowance shared across all such income streams, and you must choose between using the allowance or deducting expenses.

Capital Gains Tax annual exemption (£3,000)

Offsets the first £3,000 of net gains each year. If you make losses on staking disposals, you can set them against other gains or carry them forward, provided you register them with HMRC within four years.

Track and report staking with CryptoBooks

UK staking tax comes with layers of rules and moving parts: income at receipt, capital gains on disposal, the £1,000 and £3,000 allowances and the October 2024 CGT change. The real challenge is not knowing the rules but keeping them applied correctly across hundreds of small transactions.

CryptoBooks removes that burden. The free plan lets you track your full portfolio in pounds and keep every reward recorded. When it is time to complete your Self Assessment, the paid plan creates the income and capital gains figures - including the CGT adjustment - so your 2024/25 return is ready to file online by 31 January 2026.