Ethereum tax in Australia: why ETH often mixes CGT and staking income in the same year
ETH is where many investors run into both disposal logic and staking logic at once. That is why it helps to separate "what happened on receipt" from "what happened when I later sold or swapped the tokens."
The plain-English answer
ETH sells and swaps are treated as disposal events in this estimator. ETH staking rewards are treated as ordinary income on receipt and then become new parcels for later CGT calculations.
Why ETH creates confusion
ETH investors are more likely than simple buy-and-hold BTC investors to mix disposals with staking rewards. That means one year can contain both ordinary income and capital gains or losses.
Worked example
If you stake ETH during the year and later swap part of the position into another token, the staking rewards can be income first while the later swap can create a disposal event with its own CGT outcome.
Where this breaks down
If your ETH activity extends into complex DeFi flows, LP positions, restaking, or bridge-heavy activity, the current estimator is no longer a clean fit. Use the coverage page first.
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Tax Accuracy & Sources
General information about crypto tax in Australia for individual investors. Not tax advice.