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- The UK plans to expand the CARF so that all domestic crypto platforms must report every transaction made.
- Crypto exchanges, custodians, and other service providers to UK residents will be required to comply.
The UK is introducing an expansion of crypto reporting requirements that will force domestic crypto platforms to collect and report detailed transaction and user data for all UK-resident customers. This includes purely domestic transfers, as part of its implementation of the OECD-aligned Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF).
The change is due to take effect from January 1, 2026, and will channel data to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) for tax and compliance purposes.
Under the new framework, reporting cryptoasset service providers operating in the UK must collect and submit, on an ongoing basis, a set of identifying and transactional information for UK-resident users. The types of data required include: name, date of birth, address, tax identifiers where available, details of accounts/wallets, and full transaction records, amounts, asset types, counterparties, and dates.
The government guidance makes clear that the intent is to align with CARF and close reporting gaps. The reporting duty is being introduced via secondary legislation and HMRC guidance issued in 2025. The statutory Reporting Cryptoasset Service Providers instrument and associated guidance set out that firms must begin collecting the necessary user and transaction data ahead of the first reporting cycles in 2026.
The change will help HMRC detect and deter undeclared crypto income and capital gains, and will strengthen the UK’s anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist financing efforts by improving transparency of crypto flows.
As reported in another CNF coverage, HMRC plans to update how it taxes DeFi activities like lending and liquidity-pool participation so the rules better match their real economic effect. Under the proposed approach, putting tokens into a DeFi loan or liquidity pool wouldn’t count as a taxable event.
There’s also a wider international push; South Korea’s tax authorities ramped up their approach in October. The body announced that they will no longer focus only on crypto held on exchanges but will also seize cold wallets, hard drives, or any device used to store crypto offline in case of suspicion.
In Spain, the Sumar parliamentary group proposed tax changes that amend several core tax laws so that profits from crypto are taxed as regular personal income. This would push the top tax rate on crypto gains to 47%, up from the current maximum of around 30% under the savings-income category.
