HM Income and Customs (HMRC) despatched greater than 81,000 letters warning cryptocurrency holders they might owe capital features tax up to now 12 months.
A Freedom of Data (FOI) request seen by the BBC confirmed the variety of letters despatched by the tax authority had virtually tripled since 2024.
Buyers may face fines or prosecution in the event that they fail to declare earnings they comprised of promoting, even when they trade one cryptocurrency for one more.
New powers as a consequence of be given to HMRC subsequent 12 months will make it simpler to focus on rich crypto traders, with one analyst saying investigations can be like “capturing fish in a barrel”.
“There’s the expectation amongst tax authorities that cryptocurrency funding is rife with tax evasion,” says Neela Chauhan, accomplice at UHY Hacker Younger – which carried out the FOI.
“Lots of the merchants are younger, have had little earlier publicity to HMRC and sometimes work beneath the belief that HMRC has restricted visibility over their actions.”
Within the 2025-26 monetary 12 months, HMRC despatched 81,172 warning letters, emails and textual content messages to crypto traders it suspects could have underpaid tax.
The quantity in 2023-24 was simply 27,714.
An HMRC spokesperson stated: “We’re dedicated to serving to individuals pay the correct amount of tax, and the overwhelming majority do.
“We recurrently ship letters to teach, remind or immediate prospects to assessment their tax affairs, together with prospects who use crypto belongings.”
