How to do your BTC Markets taxes

What is BTC Markets

BTC Markets is a digital currency exchange that first launched in 2013. BTC Markets helps Australians to buy and sell cryptocurrency. They are one of the few exchanges operating an open orderbook in Australia with over $23B in total lifetime trade volume executed.

The benefits of using BTC Markets for Australian investors are:

Australian based exchange
fast and reliable orderbook infrastructure
2022 Digital Exchange of the year - Blockchain Australia

BTC Markets has the following tax reports:

BTC Markets tax statement PDF
BTC Markets tax statement CSV
BTC Markets tax report API

Syla has a direct API and CSV integration with BTC Markets that makes calculating and minimising crypto tax simple and easy.

Syla + BTC Markets integration

✅ API data-feed

✅ CSV file import

Do you have to pay tax on cryptocurrency?

Ever since the ATO first introduced taxation guidelines for crypto back in 2014 it’s been clear that crypto is taxable. You can also read the most up to date ATO guidelines on crypto.

For most individuals, your crypto will be subject to capital gains tax. This means you must calculate the gain or loss on every transaction and declare the resulting capital gains.

The ATO has advised that Australian taxpayers must keep the following records:

receipts when you buy, transfer or dispose of crypto assets
a record of the date of each transaction
a record of what the transaction is for and who the other party is (this can just be their crypto asset address)
exchange records
a record of the value of the crypto asset in Australian dollars at the time of each transaction

How is crypto taxed on BTC Markets

The type and amount of tax paid can vary depending on the transaction, asset type and your tax settings. Here’s just some of the transaction types that can occur on BTC Markets, all with different possible tax outcomes.

BTC Markets transactions in Syla

Example tax treatment:

ordinary income - airdrops, trade rebates and staking
deduction / capitalisation - brokerage fees and withdrawal fees
zero cost acquisition - chainsplits

All events involving cryptocurrency assets may result in acquisitions or disposals of a CGT asset.

As we all know, crypto tax is complicated, which is why most tax professionals recommend using crypto tax software to automate the tax calculations for you. That way you won’t make mistakes that could trigger an ATO audit.

If you want to know more about the different tax treatments, you can find detailed information in our ultimate crypto tax guide.

Does BTC Markets report transactions to the ATO

BTC Markets is a registered Digital Currency Exchange (DCE) with AUSTRAC. As an AUSTRAC registered DCE, BTC Markets must perform KYC and know the identity of their customers. This is important for preventing scammers and criminal activity.

Since 2019 the ATO has been operating a data sharing program with Australian Digital Currency Exchanges. Under the data sharing program, the digital currency exchange must provide transaction data of their users to the ATO.

In short, the ATO knows your transaction history on BTC Markets. You’ll know the ATO has your cryptocurrency transaction data, as it will show in the prefill report on your tax return. That means it’s important that you do calculate and declare your crypto gains, otherwise it’s only a matter of time before the ATO comes knocking.

What your tax agent can see on your prefill report for your tax return

API sync - how to create API keys

Click Account > API Key.
Click Add new API key.
Enter Syla as the API Key Name.
Ensure that each drop-down is set to Read only.
Click Submit and enter your Two-Factor Code if prompted.
Copy the Secret API Key and paste into Syla.
In BTC Markets, click Copy Public API Key icon and paste into Syla..
In Syla, click Secure Sync.

CSV file import - how to get your transaction history

There is one important BTC Markets tax CSV file that you need to download to get your transaction history from BTC Markets:

Transaction Report CSV

Click Account > Transaction History.
Ensure the currency drop-down is set to All.
Click Export to CSV.

PDF balances - how to download your wallet balances

There is also one important PDF tax statement from BTC Markets:

Wallet Balances PDF

The wallet balances provides a snapshot of your balances on 30 June, which can be used to confirm your calculated balances in Syla match what is reported on BTC Markets.

Click Account > Tax Report.
Select the financial year.
Click Download PDF.

How to do BTC Markets taxes

Our Australian financial year starts on the 1 July and ends on the 30 June each year. You can prepare and lodge your tax return any time after the 30 June.

You have until the 31 October to lodge your individual tax return, or you can get an extended lodgement deadline till 15 May when lodging through a registered tax agent.

There are three ways you can complete your cryptocurrency tax return

do it yourself by hand in a spreadsheet 😭
provide your transaction statements to your tax agent / accountant
use crypto tax software to automate the calculations and optimise for lower tax.

If you decide to do it yourself by hand, then you will need to be very careful to track the individual cost base of each crypto asset, and calculate the capital gain or loss on each disposal. This might be okay if you only have a handful of transactions. 👍

Otherwise, you can use Syla to do your BTC Markets crypto tax calculations and tax optimisation. You can also provide the final Crypto Tax Report you create in Syla to your tax agent, or you can use the report yourself to lodge your own tax return.

Important tips for BTC Markets taxes and minimising your tax bill

Follow these tips for common gotchya’s that will save you time and lead to better tax outcomes.

Withdrawal fees - are not included in the Transaction Report CSV export from BTC Markets. Often Syla can intelligently determine these for you, otherwise you can edit each withdrawal manually to include the withdrawal fee.

Syla’s smart tax logic for BTC Markets

You’ll find some really smart logic in Syla that is going to make doing your crypto taxes on BTC Markets quick and easy.

Smart logic means that transactions are correctly classified for you automatically and all possible costs are claimed. That’s great, because you’ll have certainty in your tax and avoid paying more tax than you are legally required to.

Here’s just some of smart logic that has been specifically implemented for BTC Markets that you’ll find in Syla’s crypto tax calculator:

chainsplit detection for BCH, BSV and others
airdrop detection for OMG and others
claim deposit fees on Poli deposits of AUD
classify staking rewards
smart grouping for orders that resulted in multiple trades being executed
EFT, BPAY, NPP and Poli deposits of AUD
identification of both trade rebates (for maker orders) and brokerage fees (for taker orders)

Pay the lowest crypto tax and save the hassle of doing crypto tax yourself

It's very difficult to calculate all the tax outcomes correctly for your crypto by hand unless you're a tax professional.

If you are using a tax accountant, then you probably don’t want them doing it by hand either, as it's going to take a long time and cost a lot.

That’s why using cryptocurrency tax software can save you a lot of time that you’d rather spend doing something else. 😊

Syla is the only crypto tax software designed specifically and only for Australia. Syla not only calculates all your tax outcomes to ensure you are compliant to the ATO, but it also optimises your tax to ensure you pay the lowest crypto tax legally possible, saving you both time and money.

Syla is built specifically for Australian taxpayers
Syla’s tax logic is optimised by Australian tax lawyers to legally minimise tax
Syla’s Crypto Tax Reports are recognised by Australian tax professionals as being ATO compliant

You can get started in Syla for free.

FAQ

Does BTC Markets have tax statements?

Yes, BTC Markets has 1 BTC Markets Tax Statement in PDF format (Wallet Balances), and 1 tax CSV transaction statements (Transaction Report) that you can download. These are both important for completing your crypto tax calculations and record keeping.

How do I get BTC Markets tax statements?

You can download your tax CSV statements, or connect by API to do your tax report. Once you have your tax statements, you can use crypto tax software to import your data and calculate your tax. Syla is a crypto tax software specifically designed for Australian taxpayers.

Does BTC Markets have an end of year tax statement?

Yes, BTC Markets has an Wallet Balances tax statement that you can download in PDF format. This document is helpful for your record keeping and substantiation of your activity. It’s hard to get the data from a PDF, so you’ll still need to download your tax CSV transaction statements to do your tax calculations.

Do I have to pay taxes on BTC Markets?

Yes, BTC Markets reports user transaction data to the ATO, and the ATO has been providing crypto tax guidance since 2014. You’ll be facing an audit and penalties from the ATO if you don’t declare your crypto gains.

Is it safe to share my BTC Markets API Keys?

Yes, it's perfectly safe to share your Read-Only API Keys, as Read-Only does not provide access to place trades or withdraw crypto. As an additional security measure, Syla will automatically reject API keys that you accidentally provide that have permission to trade or withdraw crypto.