HMRC Crypto Letter Checklist: Printable Step-by-Step

Got a letter, email or text from HMRC about crypto? Work through this list in order, tick each box, and keep the page with your records. It is a checklist, not advice: for a personalised one, use the HMRC crypto letter helper. If sums are large or anything looks deliberate, get a qualified UK tax adviser first.

1. Check it is genuine

• I have not clicked any link, scanned any QR code or rung any number in the message.
• I have compared it with GOV.UK's lists of genuine HMRC letters, emails and texts, and the Cryptoassets entry.
• It does not ask for bank or card details, or offer a refund for personal information.
• Anything asking for information came from an email address ending in hmrc.gov.uk.
• If it is a scam, I have forwarded the email to phishing@hmrc.gov.uk or the text to 60599, then deleted it.

More detail: how to check an HMRC crypto letter is genuine.

2. Note the details

• Date on the letter, and the response date it gives (use yours, not one from a website): **____**
• Tax years it names: **____**
• How it reached me (letter, email or text) and any reference: **____**
• If I cannot meet the date, I will contact HMRC before it passes.

3. Gather your records

HMRC's manual (CRYPTO10400) expects you to keep records of every transaction.

• Full transaction exports (CSV or XLSX) from every exchange I used in those years, including closed accounts.
• Bank statements showing money into and out of exchanges.
• Wallet addresses I control, and the withdrawals that fed them.
• Staking, mining, lending or airdrop reward records, with dates.
• Earlier tax returns and any letters from HMRC.

4. Work out your position for each year

• For each named year, I have listed every sale, swap, spend and gift of crypto (all disposals).
• I have worked out gains and losses in pounds using the same-day, 30-day and section 104 pool rules, not "bought at X, sold at Y". See the section 104 pool guide.
• I have compared each year's total gain with that year's allowance: £12,300 for 2020/21 to 2022/23 (£12,000 for 2019/20), £6,000 for 2023/24, £3,000 from 2024/25.
• I have separated crypto income (staking, mining, interest, rewards) from gains.

Tool: the free crypto tax calculator does the matching and shows the rule behind each disposal.

5. Choose your route

• I have picked a route. If I cannot pay, I will call HMRC on 03000 55 22 94 before the deadline.

6. Before I reply

• I have kept copies of everything I send and receive.
• I have not guessed any figure. Where I estimated, I know how and why, and I can show it.
• I have diarised the response date and the payment date.

Independent of HMRC and not tax advice. Free checklist from CryptoTaxCheck, cryptotaxcheck.uk/hmrc-crypto-letter-checklist. Last reviewed 29 September 2026.

Sources

• Check if a letter you've received from HMRC is genuine — GOV.UK
• Check if an email you've received from HMRC is genuine — GOV.UK
• Check if a text message you've received from HMRC is genuine — GOV.UK
• Check genuine HMRC contact that uses more than one communication method — GOV.UK
• Tell HMRC about unpaid tax on cryptoassets — GOV.UK
• Check if you need to pay tax when you sell cryptoassets — GOV.UK
• CRYPTO10400 — Record keeping — HMRC Cryptoassets Manual