CGT €1,270 Exemption and Losses: Crypto Examples

Updated 17 October 2026 · Information only · Not tax or financial advice

Educational information only. Not tax, legal or financial advice. We are not Revenue (the Irish tax authority) and are not affiliated with it. Check revenue.ie and consider a qualified adviser. Last checked against Revenue pages: 17 October 2026. Anything marked expected should be re-checked. Examples use made-up numbers.

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Short answer: Revenue's crypto manual says that each year the first €1,270 of an individual's total chargeable gains (after deducting losses, if any) is exempt from CGT. The annual personal exemption can only reduce a chargeable gain, so if total gains are €960 only €960 is used and the remaining €310 can't be used. A loss on a disposal can (in most cases) be deducted from a chargeable gain in the same period; any excess loss can be carried forward to future periods.

Key points

Revenue's own examples (adapted, amounts in € from the TDM)

  1. Sold for €5,000, bought for €4,500: gain €500, exemption €500, taxable €0. The remaining €770 of the exemption could be used against other gains that year.
  2. Sold for €15,000, bought for €4,500: gain €10,500; losses forward €2,500; €8,000; exemption €1,270; taxable €6,730.

Made-up extra example

Gains €3,000 and a loss of €1,000 in the same period: net €2,000; exemption €1,270; taxable €730 before applying the rate (31% expected for disposals on or after 7 October 2026 → €226.30; rate mix not applied here).

FAQ

Does the exemption carry forward?

The TDM says it only reduces a chargeable gain this year; the pages say nothing about carrying it forward.

What if I have both 33% and 31% gains?

See mixed year.

What we could not verify

  • Whether the 31% rate has been legislated: Revenue's pages (eBrief 142/26, TDM 02-03-01A) already state 31% for disposals on or after 7 October 2026 as announced in Budget 2027, but we did not check the Finance Bill/Act. We therefore write the 31% rate as expected.
  • Cost-matching method (for example first-in, first-out) for crypto: not set out in the Revenue pages read.
  • Staking, airdrops, DeFi, mining: not covered in the pages read; check Revenue.
  • Late-payment interest and late-filing surcharge: see late return (confirmed on Revenue pages, 17 October 2026).
  • Which of the 33% and 31% gains the exemption and losses reduce first when two rates apply: not stated in the Revenue pages read. (That losses are deducted before the €1,270 exemption is confirmed by TDM 02-01-03, Example 2, read 17 October 2026.)

Sources (official)

Previous: Register and pay · Next: What is a disposal

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