eofy

$BTC | Australia''s 2026 EOFY closes on 30 June. That is 33 days from today. For Australian-resident crypto holders sitting on unrealised losses, this is the window where the tax math materially changes by deliberate action rather than market direction. I will walk through the Part IVA framework, cost-base method choice, and the carry-forward record-keeping that 90 per cent of retail traders get wrong.
## The mechanic
If you hold a crypto asset at a capital loss, you can crystallise that loss by disposing of it during the 2025 to 2026 financial year. The realised capital loss offsets capital gains in the same income year. Any unused balance carries forward indefinitely against future capital gains.
The disposal must be genuine. Sending the asset to another wallet you control is not a disposal. Swapping to a related coin under common control structures is not a disposal. The ATO treats these as the same asset for cost-base purposes. Genuine disposal means selling to a third party at market price.
## Where it goes wrong: ATO Part IVA wash-sale framework
Australia does not have a fixed 30-day wash-sale rule the way the US does. What we have is Part IVA of the ITAA 1936, an anti-avoidance framework. Taxation Determination TD 2008/29 and the ATO''s broader wash-sale guidance treat a transaction sequence as a wash sale if the dominant purpose of the disposal-and-reacquisition was to obtain the tax benefit, not a genuine commercial purpose.
There is no fixed waiting period. There is a substantive test of dominant purpose. The ATO''s case studies suggest that a same-day sell-and-rebuy is almost certainly Part IVA. A 14-day gap with a documented commercial reason is more defensible. A 30-day-plus gap with intervening market movement is generally fine.
The practical guidance: aim for at least 30 days between disposal and reacquisition, and document the commercial reasoning at the time of disposal, not retroactively when the ATO asks.
## Cost-base method choice
Australia allows multiple cost-base methods for crypto: First-In-First-Out (FIFO), Last-In-First-Out (LIFO), Highest-In-First-Out (HIFO), and specific-identification. The method must be applied consistently within an asset class and documented.
For tax-loss harvesting purposes, HIFO and specific-identification maximise the realised loss on disposal. But switching methods to optimise loss-realisation in the harvesting year and then switching back is a Part IVA red flag. Pick one method, apply it consistently, and document the choice in your tax records.
## Carry-forward records
Unused capital losses carry forward indefinitely against future capital gains in Australia. But ONLY if you correctly report them on the relevant year''s tax return. The ATO myGov pre-fill does not populate capital losses automatically. It pulls disposal data from the major exchanges but does not compute the loss-vs-gain math. You must claim the loss on Schedule of Capital Gains and carry the unused balance forward year-on-year via the same line item.
I have seen Australian-resident traders lose access to AUD 50,000-plus in carry-forward losses because the loss was not reported in the year of realisation, and the ATO''s amended-return window had closed by the time the gain arrived to offset against.
## The 12-month CGT discount layer
If you have a long-held position you are considering selling at a loss to harvest, ask first whether the gain side has positions held over 12 months that would qualify for the 50 per cent CGT discount on disposal. Realising a loss before realising a 50-per-cent-discounted gain is suboptimal. The loss netting against a discounted gain only reduces the gain at half the dollar value of the loss. In some configurations, harvesting the loss in this year while deferring the gain disposal until a year you have less ordinary income produces a better after-tax result than netting them in the same year.
## Worked example
A holder has AUD 100,000 unrealised loss in altcoin position A and AUD 80,000 unrealised gain in BTC held over 12 months. If both are realised in 2025 to 2026:
- Loss: AUD 100,000 capital loss.
- Gain: AUD 80,000 reduced to AUD 40,000 after 50 per cent CGT discount.
- Net: AUD 60,000 unused capital loss carries forward.
Versus realising only the loss in 2025 to 2026 and deferring the gain to 2026 to 2027 when the holder will be in a lower marginal bracket:
- 2025 to 2026: AUD 100,000 unused capital loss carries forward.
- 2026 to 2027: AUD 80,000 gain, half discounted to AUD 40,000, fully offset by carried-forward loss. AUD 60,000 unused loss carries forward to 2027 to 2028.
Same total tax outcome but different cash-flow timing and bracket-shifting flexibility.
The free EOFY-timed calculator I built runs this math end-to-end including the Part IVA timing buffer:
https://satoshimacro.com/crypto/tax-loss-harvesting-calculator/
The tool is free, ad-supported (broker affiliate links on the main site, not in the calculator).
Disclosure: I built and maintain SatoshiMacro. This is editorial, not financial advice. Talk to a registered tax agent before executing.
#SatoshiMacro #CryptoTax #EOFY #Bitcoin