GST/HST on Crypto in Canada: What the CRA Says

17 October 2026 · en-CA · Educational information · No affiliate links

Educational information only, not tax advice. We are not the CRA and are not affiliated with it. Check canada.ca and consider a qualified Canadian tax professional. Sources read October 17, 2026. Anything marked expected should be re-checked (re-check planned December 1, 2026). Examples use made-up numbers. This page contains no affiliate links.

Short answer: The CRA's GST/HST page says that when a person sells a crypto-asset that meets the definition of a virtual payment instrument in subsection 123(1) of the Excise Tax Act, the sale is an exempt supply of a financial service: no GST/HST, and no input tax credits. The CRA gives bitcoin, ether and litecoin as examples generally accepted as virtual payment instruments. A resident selling a crypto-asset that is not one is likely selling taxable intangible personal property and has to collect GST/HST, unless a small supplier or the supply is zero-rated.

Accepting crypto as payment

If you are a GST/HST registrant and accept crypto for taxable goods or services, you calculate GST/HST on the fair market value of the crypto at the time of the transaction. Keep records showing how you calculated the value.

Small supplier

A small supplier is, per the CRA page, a person whose worldwide taxable-supply revenue (with associated persons) was $30,000 or less ($50,000 for public service bodies) in a single quarter and over the last four consecutive quarters. The calculation excludes goodwill, financial services and capital-property sales.

Mining

Section 188.2 of the Excise Tax Act (effective 5 February 2022) applies to mining activities and payments for them. Generally, a person engaged in mining is not engaged in commercial activity for GST/HST purposes, so does not collect GST/HST on payments received and cannot claim input tax credits for the mining activity. A limited exception can apply where one person mines for another whose identity is known.

Exchanges and the digital economy

Specified non-resident suppliers and intermediaries may have to register and collect GST/HST on taxable supplies made on a crypto-asset exchange.

What the page does not say

• Whether a particular token (for example an NFT or utility token) is a virtual payment instrument; it says those may be excluded from the definition but does not classify each.
• Provincial sales tax effects.

This is education, not advice; ask a qualified Canadian tax professional.

Related

Paying with crypto: barter rules · Mining and staking income · Trader or investor?

FAQ

Does selling bitcoin attract GST/HST? For a virtual payment instrument the CRA page says no.

Does income tax still apply? Yes; GST/HST and income tax are separate (see the income pages).

What we could not verify

• Classification of each token type as a virtual payment instrument (not given).
• Notice 324 and the Excise Tax Act text were not read.
• Provincial sales tax.
• Dates: no review date shown on the CRA page.

Sources (official)

• Canada Revenue Agency, Collecting and remitting GST/HST from crypto-asset transactions — https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/programs/about-canada-revenue-agency-cra/compliance/cryptocurrency-guide/gst-hst-crypto-transactions.html (read in full 17 October 2026; no review date shown)