How Is Forex and Crypto Taxed in New Zealand in 2026?

New Zealand has no capital gains tax, but that doesn't make forex or crypto profits tax-free. For most traders, the gains count as income and are taxed at your normal marginal rate, from 10.5% up to 39%. IRD treats crypto as property, not currency, and taxes a gain when you dispose of it. Forex trades through a broker usually fall under the financial arrangements rules, so the gains are income whether or not you'd call yourself a business. How much you pay depends on your total income for the year, including salary.

Table of Contents

• Is crypto taxed in New Zealand if there's no capital gains tax?
• What counts as a taxable crypto disposal?
• How are staking rewards and crypto income taxed?
• How do you calculate your crypto tax cost base?
• How is forex trading taxed in New Zealand?
• What records do you need to keep for IRD?
• What happens if you make a loss?
• Can the transitional residency exemption apply to crypto gains?
• How can you estimate your forex and crypto tax in 2026?
• Key Takeaways
• References

Is crypto taxed in New Zealand if there's no capital gains tax?

Yes. Inland Revenue treats cryptoassets as a form of property for tax purposes, not as currency. There's no special crypto tax law here. IRD applies the ordinary income tax rules, and most people buy crypto intending to sell it at some point, which is exactly what makes the gain taxable.

Profit from selling, trading or swapping crypto is added to the rest of your income for the year and taxed in your normal bracket, as RNZ reported. The rates for 2025–26 and 2026–27 are the same: 10.5% up to $15,600, 17.5% to $53,500, 30% to $78,100, 33% to $180,000 and 39% above that (IRD tax rates). Our NZ crypto tax rate guide works through what that looks like on top of a salary.

IRD isn't guessing about who holds crypto, either. It told RNZ it had identified 355,000 crypto-asset users in New Zealand, with 57 million transactions worth a combined $36 billion. No capital gains tax is not the same as no tax. For the plain-English version, see do I pay income tax on crypto gains in NZ?

What counts as a taxable crypto disposal?

Selling crypto for NZD or any other fiat currency is a disposal. So is swapping one coin for another, which catches a lot of people out because no dollars ever hit their bank account. You don't need to cash out to NZD for tax to apply, as GRA points out.

Spending crypto on goods or services is a disposal too, and some lending and staking arrangements can be, because what matters is whether you've given up control of the asset. Deloitte partner Ian Fay told RNZ that swapping Bitcoin for another crypto investment is taxable, with tax on the gain if Bitcoin had risen in value. Swaps, stablecoins included, are covered in detail in crypto-to-crypto tax in NZ.

How are staking rewards and crypto income taxed?

Staking rewards are income when you receive them, valued in NZD on the day, according to GRA. That value then becomes your cost for those tokens. When you later sell, you're taxed only on the movement from that starting value, so the same dollar isn't taxed twice. Mining rewards and some airdrops can be income on receipt as well. DeFi and staking tax in NZ walks through the timing.

Buying and selling crypto isn't subject to GST. If a GST-registered business accepts crypto as payment, GST still applies to whatever that business sold (Inland Revenue).

How do you calculate your crypto tax cost base?

You can use one of three cost methods: separate identification, first-in-first-out (FIFO) or weighted average cost. Pick one and use it consistently from year to year (GRA). If your crypto is trading stock, IRD values it at cost at the end of the tax year (Inland Revenue).

A paper loss doesn't count. To claim a loss you have to actually dispose of the asset. If your history is mostly spot buys, wallet transfers and on-chain swaps, working out which lot you sold is the hard part, and you may need dedicated cost-basis software or an accountant. Our guide to trading tax software in NZ explains which kind of tool fits which kind of trader.

How is forex trading taxed in New Zealand?

There's no separate forex tax. For most retail traders, a forex position through a broker (spot FX or an FX CFD) is a financial arrangement. Under those rules the gain is income and a loss is deductible, whether you trade a few times a year or every day. Most retail traders are cash basis persons, so you record the profit or loss when each trade closes, which is how your broker reports it anyway.

Each trade's result needs converting to NZD at the rate on the day it closed. Being a trader rather than an investor doesn't change whether forex is taxed. It matters for other things, like whether a loss can reduce tax on your salary in the same year. The NZ forex tax guide has a worked example, and CFD and futures tax in NZ covers the financial arrangements rules in more depth.

A heads-up on CARF, below: it applies to crypto platforms only. Forex and CFD brokers aren't part of it.

What records do you need to keep for IRD?

Keep every trade with its date, amount, NZD value and fees. If IRD ever questions your return, it's on you to back up the numbers, trade by trade. IRD can already request data from exchanges, and most centralised exchanges collect your identity details when you sign up.

That is about to get more systematic. Under the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF), NZ crypto platforms started collecting user and transaction data from 1 April 2026. Their first reports are due to IRD by 30 June 2027 (Inland Revenue). The CARF guide covers what to sort out before that data lands.

IRD has also started writing to people directly. Its first batch of letters went to people whose tax is normally assessed automatically and who IRD knows have traded crypto, inviting them to correct any errors by filing an IR3, RNZ reported.

What happens if you make a loss?

IRD lets you claim a crypto loss if a profit on the same disposal would have been taxable (Inland Revenue). Forex losses on financial arrangements are deductible too. Whether a net trading loss reduces the tax on your salary this year, or carries forward to soak up future trading profits, depends on how your activity is classified. That's worth confirming with an accountant before you file, because it changes your refund. Losses you can't use now carry forward indefinitely. See loss carry-forward for NZ traders.

Can the transitional residency exemption apply to crypto gains?

Possibly. If you're a transitional resident (generally someone who has recently moved to New Zealand), foreign-sourced income can be exempt for up to four years. GRA notes that IRD has accepted this can cover crypto gains where the gain has an offshore source, for example through an overseas exchange. Where a gain is sourced is a technical question, though, and it doesn't stretch to income from a trading business you run here. Get advice before you rely on it.

How can you estimate your forex and crypto tax in 2026?

The free NZ Trading Tax Calculator estimates the tax on your trading profit across forex, crypto, metals or shares. It uses the actual NZ brackets, the ACC levy and the provisional tax rules, and shows every step of the working. If your trading tax is heading past $5,000, read up on provisional tax for NZ traders before the next instalment date.

To do it with your real trades, TradeLog NZ imports your broker history, converts every trade to NZD at the RBNZ rate and builds the tax report. The Free plan covers your first 30 trades. Starter is $19 a month or $190 a year for unlimited trades and file import. Pro is $39 a month or $390 a year and adds the PDF export and an accountant share link.

Key Takeaways

• New Zealand has no capital gains tax, but crypto and forex profits are usually taxed as income at your marginal rate, up to 39%.
• Crypto is property, not currency. Selling, swapping or spending it is a disposal, and you don't need to cash out to NZD for tax to apply.
• Staking rewards are income when received. That NZD value becomes your cost, so a later sale is taxed only on the movement since.
• Forex through a broker is usually a financial arrangement: gains are income and losses deductible, business or not.
• A loss is claimable if the gain would have been taxable. Whether it offsets salary this year depends on your circumstances. Unused losses carry forward indefinitely.
• CARF data collection started on 1 April 2026 for crypto platforms only, and first reports reach IRD by 30 June 2027.

References

1. Cryptoassets — Inland Revenue
2. Declare cryptoasset income or loss — Inland Revenue
3. Tax rates for individuals — Inland Revenue
4. Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework — Inland Revenue
5. Crypto Tax in New Zealand: What You Need to Know in 2026 — GRA — 2026-04-20
6. Inland Revenue contacts crypto investors over unpaid tax — RNZ — 2026-04-20