UK · HMRC cryptoasset letters, emails and texts

Got a letter, email or text from HMRC about crypto?

It is a campaign letter HMRC sends when its exchange data does not match a tax return. It does not open an enquiry, and some people who get one owe nothing. It asks you to check specific tax years. We rebuild those years from your exchange exports, and you or your adviser decide how to respond.

Your deadline is the one on your letter. The 2024 letter gave 60 days, but not every version uses the same template. Follow the date and instructions on the one you received.

Three ways inPick by how messy your history is
Simple history

Buy the report for each year. One to three exchanges, full exports, and only the years the letter names. Buy the self-serve UK report for each year now and import when your records are ready.

£35 to £159
per tax year
Gaps, DeFi, dead exchanges, several years

Free diagnostic, then one fixed quote. About 20 minutes of your time. We come back within about 2 business days with what reconciles, what is missing and one fixed quote for the years you need.

£499 / £999 / £1,999
Standard Fix / Complex / Forensic, per tax year
Judgement calls

An adviser, not us. How your behaviour is classed, which route to take, and submitting the disclosure are adviser work. Ask us and we will point you to one.

Their fee
agreed with them

Self-serve works in either order: pay for the tax year first and import later, or import first and pay when you see the numbers. Concierge quotes are fixed after the diagnostic; extra years are quoted separately.

QuestionsWhat people ask after the letter arrives
Is the letter real?

Check the contact details against GOV.UK, not against the letter, email or text itself. The 2024 version of the letter gave 03000 552294 and responseteam@hmrc.gov.uk. HMRC keeps a list of its genuine contacts on GOV.UK. If anything asks you for bank details or passwords, stop and check there first. GOV.UK: check a list of genuine HMRC contacts.

I never cashed out, or I made a loss. Do I owe anything?

Possibly not, but you need the figures to show it. The 2024 letter counts as disposals: selling for pounds even if the money stays on the exchange, swapping one crypto for another, spending crypto, and gifting it to anyone but a spouse. Staking, lending and mining are income. If you are satisfied nothing is due, the letter asks you to include information that shows why. A loss is shown the same way, with a computation.

My records are gone, or spread across many exchanges. What now?

Start with what you can still get: exports from the exchanges you can log into, and the addresses of any wallets you used, since blockchain history stays public. The free diagnostic tells you what reconciles, what is missing, and what can and cannot be rebuilt from chain data, before you pay anything.

What are the routes HMRC gives?

The 2024 letter gives three: amend a Self Assessment return that is still in time, use the cryptoasset disclosure service for earlier years, or reply with evidence that nothing is due. Advisers also mention the Worldwide Disclosure Facility where there is a genuine offshore element, and COP9 where conduct could be deliberate. Which route fits you is a judgement for an adviser. Vision Consulting, Sep 2026.

What is the cryptoasset disclosure service?

It is the GOV.UK service for telling HMRC about unpaid tax on cryptoassets. You register, then submit your gains and income for each year with the tax, interest and any penalty, and upload your computations. Payment is due within 30 days of submitting. HMRC can look back 4 years if you took reasonable care, 6 if you were careless, and 20 if the behaviour was deliberate. GOV.UK: tell HMRC about unpaid tax on cryptoassets.

Should I sign the certificate of tax position?

Some versions of the letter come with a certificate of tax position to sign. Advisers say not to sign it until the figures exist. Whether and when to sign is a call for you and your adviser, not for us. Vision Consulting, Sep 2026.

What happens if I ignore it?

The 2024 letter says HMRC may work out what you owe from its own figures. Having had the letter, any disclosure you make is treated as prompted, which raises the minimum penalty. For careless inaccuracy, the range is 15 to 30% prompted against 0 to 30% unprompted. For a failure to notify more than 12 months late that was not deliberate, it is 20 to 30% prompted. Deliberate behaviour starts at 35% and goes up to 100%. HMRC decides penalties case by case (factsheets CC/FS7a and CC/FS11). Vision Consulting, Sep 2026.

What you getFor each tax year

The working the disclosure service asks you to upload.

HMRC’s letter says it cannot help you work out your tax position. This is that working, for each year, with the trail behind every figure.

01
Every disposal in sterling

Sells, swaps, spends and gifts, each with its date, proceeds and cost.

02
Section 104 pool per token

Same-day and 30-day matching applied first, the HMRC way.

03
Gain after the annual allowance

Using the allowance for that year.

04
Income

Staking, lending, mining and anything else HMRC treats as income.

05
SA108 figures

The capital gains boxes, ready to copy into a return or a disclosure.

06
Evidence gaps, listed

What is missing and how it was treated, so nothing is hidden.

What stays outWe do the figures, not the advice
Out
Filing the return

You or your accountant file. We will walk them through the workpapers.

Out
Tax advice beyond the report

We reconstruct and classify. Positions on contested treatment are for your adviser.

Out
Companies, funds and other jurisdictions

Individuals in the UK and US only for now.

Out
History that cannot be recovered

If the records are gone and nothing on-chain replaces them, the diagnostic says so and the quote excludes it.

Out
Penalty negotiation and behaviour statements

How your conduct is described to HMRC is for your adviser.

Out
Choosing the route or submitting the disclosure

We give you the figures. You or your adviser decide what to send and send it.

Know your figures before you answer.

Tell us which years the letter names and where you traded. The diagnostic is free and you get one fixed quote before any work starts.

Or buy a UK tax year yourself