UK crypto tax specialists
HMRC Crypto Nudge Letter: What To Do First
HMRC nudge letters about cryptoassets are prompted by exchange data. What you do in the first 30 days shapes the penalty position for every year that follows.
- HMRC Cryptoasset Manual applied line by line
- Timestamped pricing feeds for every valuation
- Pooling and the 30-day rule handled correctly
An HMRC nudge letter about cryptoassets is not a random mailing. It is generated because HMRC holds data linking you to crypto activity, usually supplied by an exchange, and its records do not match what you have declared. The letter is deliberately soft in tone and asks you to review your position. Treat it as the opening move in a compliance process, because that is what it is.
What the letter actually means
The letter is a one-to-many prompt. HMRC is not yet asserting that tax is due, and no formal enquiry has opened. That matters, because any correction you make now can still qualify as unprompted or prompted-but-cooperative, and both attract far lower penalties than an error discovered inside a formal enquiry.
It also means HMRC already has data. Exchange information reaches HMRC through information notices, existing exchange-of-information agreements and, from 2026, the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework. Ignoring the letter does not remove you from that dataset.
The first 30 days
- Do not sign and return a certificate of tax position without advice. It is a statement made under your own declaration, it has no statutory deadline, and an inaccurate one carries serious consequences.
- Do not contact HMRC with a partial or off-the-cuff answer. Anything you say frames the enquiry that may follow.
- Export everything now, from every exchange and wallet, while access still exists. Exchanges close and APIs change.
- Get the actual position computed before you decide what to tell HMRC. In a meaningful number of cases the correct answer is that nothing further is owed, and that answer needs evidence behind it.
Establishing your real position
We reconstruct the full history across exchanges, wallets and chains, apply Section 104 pooling with the same-day and 30-day rules, separate income from capital for staking, lending, mining and airdrops, and produce a defensible computation for each year in scope. Only then is a response drafted.
Where tax is owed the disclosure route depends on the facts: an amendment for a recent year, the Digital Disclosure Service for domestic omissions, the Worldwide Disclosure Facility where the assets were held offshore, or Code of Practice 9 where the behaviour was deliberate.
Who this is for
Holders with six-figure or larger portfolios, multi-year histories, or activity across several exchanges. If you traded a few hundred pounds and hold complete records, you likely need an hour of advice rather than an engagement.
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- HMRC Cryptoasset Manual applied line by line
- Timestamped pricing feeds for every valuation
- Pooling and the 30-day rule handled correctly