Map the accounts before calculating
List the exchanges and wallets you owned during the year, including accounts closed or no longer used. Preserve exports and transaction identifiers. Match movements between owned accounts so the same transfer does not create unexplained proceeds in one report and an unknown-cost purchase in another.
Record fees and any rewards, staking, mining or other receipts separately. Those activities can require different analysis from a straightforward purchase and sale. Whether a result is business income or a capital gain depends on the facts and should be reviewed before applying a calculation method.
Worked example: a supported capital-cost calculation
Assume a hypothetical Ottawa investor acquires five identical units for $10,500 plus $100 of eligible acquisition costs, with no other holdings or adjustments. Total adjusted cost is $10,600, or $2,120 per unit. Two units are later sold for $5,900 with $100 of selling costs.
Net proceeds are $5,800. Allocated cost for the two units is $4,240, leaving a $1,560 capital gain under these stated assumptions, before applying the relevant inclusion and tax rules. The example is not a tax bill, and it does not establish capital treatment for every crypto activity.
Investigate missing values rather than accepting defaults
A software report may assign zero cost when an earlier purchase was not imported. Trace that acquisition or identify the gap explicitly. Check timestamps, currencies and transfer matching, particularly when a platform reports local time or a fee in crypto units.
Keep the source and method used for Canadian-dollar values. A consistent record allows another reviewer to follow the calculation. Do not replace a missing transaction value with the current market price simply because that figure is easier to find.
Prepare a complete review package
Reconcile opening units, acquisitions, dispositions, fees and closing units where records permit. Supply the transaction schedule with the source files and a list of unresolved issues. Prior-year activity may be needed to establish this year’s cost history.
The agreed scope should distinguish record reconstruction from specialized tax advice and actual return filing. The initial enquiry needs only the type of activity and records problem. Private keys, seed phrases and trading passwords are not part of a tax document checklist.
Put this into practice
Sources and current guidance
A practical next step
Bring the records you have.
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