A total of 502 cryptocurrency investors have settled unpaid tax bills with HMRC through its disclosure route over the past two years, according to Identomat.
Data obtained by Identomat under a Freedom of Information (FOI) request shows combined settlements across the 2024/25 and 2025/26 tax years reached £8,328,132. In the first of those years, 280 people agreed settlements worth £3,543,387 in total. The following year the count of settlements dropped to 222, yet their combined value rose to £4,784,745.
These figures represent the first complete annual pictures of settlement activity since November 2023, when HMRC opened its invitation for taxpayers to disclose unpaid liabilities linked to exchange tokens, NFTs and utility tokens.
The typical settlement agreed through disclosure grew sharply, rising from £12,654 in 2024/25 to £21,552 a year later, giving a two-year average of £16,589.
In its FOI response, HMRC noted that settlement amounts can differ widely and stressed that voluntary disclosure is only one of several tools it deploys against crypto tax non-compliance.
The tax authority said: “HMRC uses a range of approaches to identify and address potential non-compliance in relation to cryptoassets, including enquiries, data analysis and targeted interventions such as nudge campaigns. The figures should therefore be considered in that wider compliance context.” Around 100,000 individuals are believed to have received nudge letters during the two years the FOI data covers.
Guidance on the HMRC website states that a disclosure should set out proposals to settle outstanding tax, penalties and interest, with the authority then either writing to accept the offer or rejecting it. Alongside publicising the disclosure route online, HMRC has also written directly to people suspected of evading tax on crypto profits.
Selling or otherwise disposing of cryptoassets will usually create a Capital Gains Tax (CGT) liability. The annual tax-free allowance has fallen to £3,000, down from £12,300, and gains above this level are charged at 18% or 24% depending on an individual’s wider income. Where HMRC judges crypto activity to amount to trading, profits may instead attract income tax and national insurance, with investors required to report through self-assessment.
Identomat COO Zurab Kotaria said, “These settlements are part of a broader compliance crackdown by the authorities which has significant implications for both crypto investors and the platforms they use. New rules came into force on January 1, 2026, requiring exchanges to collect detailed transaction records from UK customers, including their gains.
“The UK is among more than 40 countries adopting rules developed by the OECD known as the Cryptoasset Reporting Framework (CARF).
“Platforms must collect each customer’s name, address, date of birth, tax residence, National Insurance number or tax reference, and a summary of their crypto transactions — and report all of this to HMRC or face fines.
“Non-compliant platforms can face fines of £300 per user record for missing or inaccurate report – which can quickly clock up to millions of pounds for larger platforms.
“Overlapping anti-money laundering rules mean non-complaint platforms face additional penalties from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) including removal from the Cryptoasset Register, triggering a requirement to cease trading. One leading platform was fined £3.5million in 2024 for weak onboarding controls.
“As part of the new rules, transaction data is now being compiled into national reports with an expectation that these will be exchanged internationally from 2027 by signatories to CARF.”
Kotaria added, “The emerging compliance regime presents significant operational challenges for crypto platforms, many of whom are starting with a blank sheet.
“The task of verifying the identities of millions of existing customers who may have registered in an era of light-touch regulation, combined with the challenge of onboarding of new investors, more often than not requires new tech infrastructure.”
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