Binance, Coinbase and Kraken Tax Reports for UK Self Assessment

HMRC says exchange reports can be essential evidence but are not tax calculations and do not maintain the taxpayer’s Section 104 pooled costs. A UK report must combine every exchange and wallet, convert each event to pounds sterling, identify disposals, apply same-day and 30-day matching before the pool, and separate capital gains from income. It must also use the UK tax year—not a calendar-year dashboard. This guide explains the complete workflow for Binance, Coinbase and Kraken data in 2025/26 and 2026/27.

Start with the correct UK tax year

The UK tax year runs from 6 April to 5 April, while exchange dashboards often default to 1 January through 31 December. For example, a 2025/26 report covers 6 April 2025 through 5 April 2026. A calendar-2025 export is therefore insufficient by itself: it omits January to 5 April 2026 and includes January to 5 April 2025 in the wrong tax year.

For individuals, official HMRC rates are 18% and 24% for general Capital Gains Tax during both 2025/26 and from 6 April 2026. Which band applies depends on taxable income and gains; software should not simply multiply every crypto gain by one headline rate. The individual annual exempt amount is £3,000 for both 2025/26 and 2026/27.

The annual exempt amount and personal rate are final-return items. A transaction report should calculate gross gains and allowable losses, then show the tax-year summary without pretending to know all non-crypto income, other gains, reliefs or special residence claims.

What to download from Binance, Coinbase and Kraken

Retrieve enough history to establish the opening Section 104 pool, not just activity inside the tax year. A sale in 2026 can draw pooled cost accumulated years earlier. Keep original files, account identifiers, export filters and download dates.

A Binance tax API is a data connection, not an HMRC calculation. Keep it read-only with no trading or withdrawal permission. Coinbase reports intended for US forms do not apply UK pooling. Kraken’s Balance export can check holdings but does not replace the complete Trades and Ledgers histories.

If the platform limits a single export period, create consecutive non-overlapping exports and reconcile the combined row counts. Preserve inactive-account and delisted-product histories before closing an account.

Reconcile exchanges and self-custody wallets first

HMRC pooling follows beneficial ownership and token type, not the exchange account. BTC held by the same individual across Binance, Coinbase, Kraken and self-custody normally contributes to one relevant pool, subject to the matching rules. A transfer between the owner’s accounts is not a sale merely because one platform sees a withdrawal and another sees a deposit.

Match transfers using token, gross and net quantity, timestamp, network, addresses and transaction hash. Keep network fees separately because disposing of tokens to pay a fee may itself need analysis and the fee’s allowability depends on the transaction.

1. Import every exchange, wallet and opening balance.
2. Normalise time zones while retaining the source timestamp.
3. Link own withdrawals and deposits without resetting cost.
4. Remove true API/CSV duplicates while preserving split fills and fees.
5. Reconcile token balances and GBP cash movements to statements.
6. Flag unmatched transfers, negative pools and missing costs.

If cost cannot be recovered, mark the affected quantity not calculable. Zero is a real value, not a placeholder. The rest of the report can continue, but unverified lines must remain outside confirmed totals or be conspicuously disclosed.

Apply same-day, 30-day and Section 104 rules globally

HMRC requires each type of fungible token to have its own pool. Bitcoin, ether and litecoin therefore have separate quantities and pooled allowable costs. NFTs are separately identifiable and are not placed in a fungible-token Section 104 pool.

For a disposal of fungible tokens, apply the matching hierarchy:

1. Same-day acquisitions: match acquisitions of the same token type made in the same capacity on the disposal date.
2. Acquisitions in the following 30 days: match same-type tokens acquired in the same capacity after disposal, earliest disposal first under the rules.
3. Section 104 pool: allocate the appropriate proportion of the remaining pooled allowable cost.

This is why a report cannot calculate each platform independently. A Coinbase sale on 10 June may be matched with a Binance repurchase on 20 June. If Coinbase’s local cost is used and the Binance acquisition is added to a separate pool, both the disposal gain and later pool become wrong.

Example: a taxpayer’s ETH pool contains 10 ETH with £15,000 cost. They sell 4 ETH for £8,000 and do not acquire ETH on the same day or in the following 30 days. The pool allocation is 4/10 × £15,000 = £6,000, so the gain before other allowable costs is £2,000. The remaining pool is 6 ETH with £9,000 cost.

The UK crypto 30-day guide covers partial matches and interactions with the pool.

Identify disposals, income and contract events

HMRC says a disposal can arise when an individual sells tokens, exchanges them for a different cryptoasset, uses them for goods or services, or gives them away other than to a qualifying spouse, civil partner or charity. A BTC-to-ETH swap is therefore not ignored merely because no sterling entered the bank account. Record GBP market value for both legs.

Transfers between wallets under the same beneficial ownership are not disposals, but fees and protocol interactions need separate analysis. Wrapping, bridging, liquidity deposits and receipt tokens depend on whether beneficial ownership and the legal asset changed. A generic exchange “transfer” label does not answer that question.

Crypto received from employment, mining, staking, lending or services may create Income Tax before a later capital disposal. HMRC notes that where Income Tax has applied to received token value, that value is not taxed again as the capital gain’s starting amount; only the later movement is considered. The report must preserve receipt date, GBP value and income category, then add the relevant token cost to the correct pool.

Futures and perpetuals require their legal contracts and activity profile. Open trades and position snapshots document exposure but are not realised profit. Close P&L, settlements, funding and fees belong in a derivative review schedule rather than the spot token pool. HMRC says financial trading status for individuals is exceptional; high volume alone does not automatically turn investment activity into a trade.

Allowable costs and capital losses

HMRC’s public crypto guidance lists transaction fees, advertising for a buyer or seller, contract costs, valuation costs and the appropriate pooled cost among potentially allowable capital costs. Costs already deducted for Income Tax and mining equipment or electricity are not deductible again in the capital computation.

Allowable current-year capital losses reduce chargeable gains under the normal ordering rules. Unused losses can be carried forward once properly notified, but they do not usually reduce staking income or salary. Maintain an opening-loss balance, current losses, losses used and closing balance. See the UK crypto-loss guide.

A fall in exchange value, frozen withdrawal or lost private key is not automatically a disposal. A negligible-value claim can be considered only where the conditions are satisfied and evidence supports the claimed value and recovery prospects.

From the working paper to Self Assessment

HMRC’s Self Assessment return includes a cryptoasset section from tax year 2024/25 onward. Reports must be completed in pounds sterling. For non-property capital gains, an individual may use Self Assessment or, where eligible, HMRC’s real-time Capital Gains Tax service; a person already within Self Assessment must still include the gain in the return as required.

The working paper should provide:

• disposal proceeds and allowable costs in GBP;
• same-day, 30-day and pool match for each disposal;
• gross gains, allowable losses and net capital result;
• separate income receipts and derivative review totals;
• opening and closing pool quantity and cost by token;
• unresolved transactions and missing valuations;
• source-file and transaction-hash audit trail.

For 2025/26, online Self Assessment filing and payment are generally due by 31 January 2027, subject to the taxpayer’s circumstances. Check the current HMRC filing requirements rather than relying only on the exchange’s tax centre.

CARF reporting starts with 2026 data

UK CARF rules took effect on 1 January 2026. UK reporting cryptoasset service providers collect required user and transaction information for the 2026 calendar year, with first reports due by 31 May 2027. This calendar-year reporting period is another reason not to confuse an exchange compliance file with a 6-April-to-5-April Self Assessment computation.

CARF data does not maintain the user’s Section 104 pools, resolve ownership of external wallets or classify DeFi and income. Taxpayers still need their own records. The UK CARF guide explains the reporting layer.

Final review checklist

• Report period runs 6 April to 5 April.
• Historic data supports every opening token pool.
• All exchanges and self-custody wallets are consolidated by beneficial owner.
• Same-day and following-30-day matches are applied before Section 104.
• Every disposal and income receipt has a documented GBP value.
• Crypto-to-crypto swaps are recorded as disposals where applicable.
• Income, spot gains and derivative results are separated.
• Missing basis is not silently entered as zero.
• Pool quantities and costs reconcile before and after the tax year.

Frequently asked questions

Official and platform sources

• HMRC: disposals, pooling, records and reporting cryptoassets
• HMRC CRYPTO22200: same-day, 30-day and Section 104 pooling
• HMRC: current CGT rates and annual exempt amount
• HMRC: UK Cryptoasset Reporting Framework
• Coinbase Help: statements and transaction exports
• Kraken Support: Trades, Ledgers and balance exports
• Binance Support: tax-report API and statements

Sources checked on 1 September 2026. The report supports UK filing but does not calculate the taxpayer’s final liability without their wider income and gains.

Disclaimer: This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute tax advice. For individual tax advice, consult a licensed tax professional.