Policy Forum: The Income Taxation of Crypto Contracts

Current Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) guidance suggests that cryptoassets (such as bitcoin) should generally be taxed as commodities for the purposes of the Income Tax Act. However, recent changes in the regulation of entities that facilitate the purchase and sale of cryptoassets (crypto trading platforms) under securities law have introduced new ways of understanding transactions involving cryptoassets. Many crypto trading platforms hold cryptoassets on behalf of users rather than delivering the cryptoassets directly to them, and the Canadian Securities Administrators has taken the position that this relationship among crypto trading platforms and their users itself constitutes a security. To date, there has been no guidance from the CRA relating to the taxation of these securities, which are known as "crypto contracts." This article considers potential income tax implications arising from the existence of crypto contracts by exploring how income taxation would differ for users of crypto trading platforms if they were taxed on crypto contracts rather than cryptoassets. Specifically, the article considers the treatment of transactions as being on income or capital account, the availability of elections to treat transactions on capital account, the applicability of section 49.1 of the Income Tax Act, and the income taxation of staking rewards earned through crypto trading platforms. Rather than offering conclusions on these topics, this article aims to provide a framework for thinking about crypto contracts from a Canadian income tax perspective and to provoke further thought from Canadian tax professionals.