Crypto Tax Records in Canada: What the CRA Requires

What crypto tax records the CRA requires

The CRA's page on crypto-asset books and records applies to individuals and businesses alike. It sets out the transaction data in this order:

• Number of units and type of crypto-asset.
• Date of the transaction.
• Value in Canadian dollars at that time.
• Description of the transaction and the other party.
• Addresses of every wallet used.
• Opening and closing balance of each asset for the year, with cost.

The other party is recorded even when it is known only by a crypto-asset address. The 2023 CRA tax tip on the same subject adds the transaction ID to the list. For activity on an exchange, the guidance asks for trade ledgers covering buys, sells and swaps, transfer ledgers covering crypto and fiat deposits and withdrawals, and records of any other activity on the platform. Receipts for accounting, legal and third-party software costs belong in the file too. Miners keep a separate set, starting with hardware receipts.

The annual opening and closing balance carries more weight than its place at the end of the list suggests. It turns a pile of transactions into something an auditor checks in one pass: what you held on 1 January, what came in and went out, what you held on 31 December. If the numbers do not reconcile, the gap is the first question.

How long to keep crypto tax records in Canada

The general rule is in the CRA's guidance on keeping records. You keep records for six years from the end of the last tax year they relate to. For an individual the tax year is the calendar year. A purchase record relates to every year in which the coin's cost affects your return, and that runs until you dispose of the coin. Two extensions apply on top of this. A return filed late moves the start of the six years to the date you file it. A CRA official also has the power to require you to keep records for longer, with notice given in person or by registered mail.

The format matters as much as the period. The CRA encourages electronic records for crypto, and its general rules require electronic records to be available in Canada in a format CRA software reads. A CSV file meets that test. A screenshot of a mobile app does not support a number, it only shows one. Information Circular IC05-1 sets out the standard in detail.

How to export crypto transaction history for taxes

The CRA tells users of exchanges and tax software to download their original data at regular intervals, and it notes that exchanges differ in what they store and for how long. Each Canadian platform exports data in its own way.

Kraken account history export

The Documents Center under the profile icon produces Trades, Ledgers and Balances exports in CSV or PDF. A request takes from a few minutes to a week, according to Kraken, and no email arrives when the file is ready. Order history has no direct export.

Shakepay transaction history and tax slips

The Wallets page on the website downloads the full history as two CSV files, one for crypto and one for CAD. Monthly statements and trade confirmations come as PDFs. The Reports section holds T5 and RL-3 slips, which cover interest income only.

Wealthsimple crypto activity export

Documents, then Request documents, produces an activities export in CSV for the Crypto account. A holdings report in CSV gives the balances for year-end.

Records for self-custody wallets

No company stores this history for you. The public addresses, or the extended public key, let a block explorer or tax software rebuild every inflow and outflow.

Platforms change. A CSV layout changes without notice, a company leaves Canada, an account closes and the login goes with it. A yearly export in January, saved outside the platform with the year in the file name, costs a few minutes. Rebuilding three years of trades from bank statements takes far longer.

A working file for one tax year holds five items:

1. Raw exports from every platform.
2. A list of wallet addresses.
3. A CAD ledger with a running ACB per asset.
4. Receipts for software, accounting and legal costs.
5. The return as filed, with Schedule 3.

The exports stay untouched, and the address list notes which platform or device each address belongs to.

How to calculate crypto ACB: a ledger example

Every row needs a CAD value at fair market value on the date of the transaction. The CRA's crypto guide does not name a single price source. It asks for a reasonable method used consistently, such as an exchange rate taken from the same source every time. A swap of ETH for SOL has two values on the same day, and both go into the ledger. A trade priced in USD or USDC also needs the USD to CAD rate for that date.

Canada uses the average cost method for identical property. Each purchase adds its cost and its fee to the pool. Each sale removes cost at the average. A simple ledger for one asset shows how the numbers move:

The average cost after the second purchase is $100,400 per BTC. The October sale removes $6,024.00 of cost from the pool. Proceeds net of the fee are $7,171.20, so the capital gain is $1,147.20, and $573.60 of it goes into taxable income at the 50% inclusion rate. The August transfer changes nothing in the pool. It still needs its own row, with both addresses and the transaction ID, because the exchange's export shows 0.15 BTC leaving the account and nothing else.

The surrounding rules, including the superficial loss rule and the split between capital gains and business income, are covered in our guide to crypto taxes in Canada. Bitcoin held through a spot ETF inside a TFSA sits outside this ledger, since gains in that account are not taxed, as our guide to holding a bitcoin ETF in a TFSA explains.

What crypto data the CRA gets from exchanges

The CRA does not wait for taxpayers to produce records. On 19 March 2021 the Federal Court authorized it to issue an unnamed persons requirement to Coinsquare. The order covered clients whose accounts held $20,000 or more at a year-end between 2014 and 2020, and its 16,500 largest accounts. Coinsquare had to hand over know-your-client reports, deposit addresses and detailed trading histories. Holders usually learn of such a production after it is complete, according to Barrett Tax Law. By then the data has moved.

The next layer is systematic. Canada is implementing the OECD Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) through a new Part XXI of the Income Tax Act. Budget 2025 deferred its start by one year. Under the bill tabled to implement that budget, reporting applies to the 2027 calendar year and later, and platforms file their first information returns before 2 May 2028. From that point the CRA receives annual figures per user and per asset from Canadian platforms. Your ledger and their report describe the same year. Any difference between the two invites a question.

Crypto record-keeping mistakes that lead to reassessments

The record-keeping errors that surface in reviews and audits repeat from file to file. They fall into three groups.

Missing exchange and wallet history

Exchanges set their own retention periods, and a closed account takes its data with it. PDFs and screenshots do not fill the gap. The CRA requires electronic records in a readable format, and a picture of a balance proves no cost. Old devices create the same problem for self-custody. Without the wallet address, a history that sits in plain view on the blockchain becomes hard to attribute to you.

Wallet transfers, swaps and US tax software settings

Transfers between your own wallets get recorded as sales, or left out, and either error breaks the balance reconciliation for the year. Crypto-to-crypto swaps get skipped because no dollars moved, although each swap is a disposition with a CAD value. Tax software set to US rules adds a third error. The US allows lot selection, Canada requires average cost, and a FIFO report produces a different ACB.

CRA audits without records: net worth assessments

With no records to audit, the CRA turns to indirect methods, including net worth assessments. A gross negligence penalty of 50% of the understated tax could follow. Records also work as a defense. The Tax Court has rejected the net worth method where the taxpayer's records were adequate for another audit method.

Proceeds that leave a platform for a bank account need the same trail on the way out, with the CAD withdrawal matched to the sale that produced it. Our guide on how to cash out crypto in Canada covers that side of the process.