“There’s No Specific Crypto Tax Law, So I’m Not Captured”—Think Again

It’s a line we’ve heard many times: “There’s no crypto-specific legislation in New Zealand, so I don’t have to worry about tax on my crypto.”

While it’s true that New Zealand doesn’t have a dedicated “Crypto Tax Act,” that doesn’t mean crypto is untaxed. Instead, IRD applies general tax principles, particularly those around property, trading, and income.

Crypto Is Treated as Property, Not Currency

Under NZ law, cryptocurrency is considered property, not money. This means it’s subject to rules similar to those for shares, business assets, and other forms of property.

However, the IRD’s position is that it does not provide any income, utility, or private benefit of owning it. Therefore, their default position is that you are likely acquiring cryptocurrency with the intention of disposing of it.

Acquiring property with an intention to dispose of it is a taxable event under section CB4 of the Income Tax Act.

When Crypto Is Taxable

If you acquired crypto with the intention to dispose, any gain from a sale or swap is taxable, even if you never convert it to fiat. Other taxable scenarios include:

• Trading or swapping between coins or tokens

• Selling NFTs or receiving royalties

• Receiving income through staking, mining, or DeFi protocols

• Earning crypto as payment for services

These rules don’t require crypto-specific laws; they rely on existing tax legislation around income and revenue.

It’s difficult to argue that you have acquired cryptocurrency without an intention to dispose of it, especially when the onus of proof is on the taxpayer to provide evidence.  Unlike, a car which you can drive from home to work (utility), or a house (that you can live in, or earn rental income from), or a share (owning a company to earn dividend income), cryptocurrency doesn’t provide any of these benefits. For most taxpayers, it is a speculative investment.