NFT tax in the UK: how NFTs are taxed for individuals (2025/26)
Worried about the tax on NFTs you've bought or sold? For most individuals it's simpler than it sounds: NFTs are taxed under Capital Gains Tax, and each NFT is a **separate chargeable asset that is not pooled**, so you just track its own cost and proceeds. Selling, swapping, spending or gifting an NFT is a disposal at market value, and buying an NFT with crypto also disposes of that crypto. The £3,000 annual exempt amount and 18%/24% rates apply. If you create and sell NFTs as a trade that's income, not CGT, and royalties are income too.
Bought or sold an NFT and not sure what you owe HMRC? For most people it's less scary than it looks. An NFT (non-fungible token) is a cryptoasset where only one specific, identifiable token can be disposed of (HMRC's own example is a piece of digital artwork). Because each NFT is unique, HMRC treats it as its own chargeable asset for tax, and for most individuals who buy and sell NFTs as investments that means Capital Gains Tax (CGT), not Income Tax.
The biggest practical difference from coins like Bitcoin or Ether is pooling. Fungible tokens go into a Section 104 pool where costs are averaged. NFTs do not go into a pool, and no same-day or 30-day matching rules apply to them. You simply compare what one specific NFT cost you against what you got when you disposed of it.
This guide covers the UK rules for the 2025/26 tax year (HMRC; Income Tax bands differ in Scotland, but CGT is UK-wide). Where a treatment genuinely depends on the facts, especially whether your activity is a 'trade', we say so.
How is an NFT taxed for an individual?
If you hold NFTs as investments, you pay CGT on the gain when you dispose of one. The gain is the disposal proceeds (the GBP market value at the moment of disposal) minus the allowable cost of that specific NFT, typically what you paid for it plus directly attributable costs such as marketplace and gas/transaction fees.
Because NFTs are not pooled, you keep the maths per NFT: each one has its own acquisition cost and its own disposal value. You don't average across NFTs the way you would with units of the same coin.
The same allowances and rates that apply to other crypto gains apply here. You have a £3,000 annual exempt amount for 2025/26, and gains above it are taxed at 18% to the extent they fall within your unused basic-rate band and 24% above that. There is no separate, lower long-term rate. See crypto tax rates 2025/26 for the band mechanics.
What counts as disposing of an NFT?
A disposal is any event where you give up beneficial ownership of the NFT. For each of these, you compare the GBP market value at disposal against that NFT's cost:
- Selling the NFT for fiat (e.g. GBP via a marketplace). The proceeds are the sale value.
- Swapping the NFT for another NFT or for crypto. This is a crypto-to-crypto-style disposal at the NFT's GBP market value.
- Spending / using the NFT to pay for goods or services. This is treated as a disposal at market value.
- Gifting the NFT to another person. This is a disposal at market value, even though you receive nothing (the exception is a gift to your spouse or civil partner, which is no-gain/no-loss).
- Not a disposal: moving an NFT between two wallets you both control. You keep beneficial ownership, so nothing is taxed on the transfer itself.
Buying an NFT with crypto triggers a second taxable event
Most NFTs are bought with ETH or another token, and that is two events: (1) you dispose of the crypto you paid with, a CGT disposal of that coin at its GBP value on the day, calculated through its Section 104 pool; and (2) you acquire the NFT, whose cost basis is that same GBP value plus fees. People often record only the later NFT sale and forget the crypto disposal on the way in, and that understates gains and can produce the wrong tax.
Buy an NFT with ETH, then sell it
Priya buys an NFT for 1 ETH when ETH is worth £2,000, pays £60 in gas, and later sells it for 2 ETH when ETH is worth £1,800 (£3,600). That gives two separate calculations: first the ETH disposal on purchase, then the NFT gain on sale.
Both gains land in the same tax year and are added to Priya's other gains. The £2,140 is within the £3,000 annual exempt amount on its own, so if she has no other gains there's no CGT, but she still tracks both events. Note the 2 ETH she received on the sale start a fresh acquisition into her ETH pool at £3,600.
When is creating or selling NFTs treated as income instead?
If you create and sell NFTs as a business, for example minting collections and selling them with a clear profit-seeking motive and regular activity, HMRC may treat the proceeds as trading income subject to Income Tax and National Insurance, not CGT. HMRC decides this using the badges of trade: things like how often you transact, whether you're seeking profit, how you market and finance the activity, and how short the holding period is.
This is one of the genuinely uncertain edges, and there's no bright line. Buying a single NFT and selling it later leans towards CGT (investment); minting, listing and flipping NFTs frequently and systematically leans towards income (trade). Where it's unclear which side you fall on, it's worth getting specific advice rather than guessing.
Royalties are a separate stream. Ongoing royalties an NFT creator receives on secondary sales are generally income (trading or miscellaneous income), not capital gains. Likewise, NFT or DeFi reward flows you receive can be income on receipt, and that GBP value then becomes the cost basis of whatever you received. See staking and airdrops.
| Event | Tax treatment |
|---|---|
| Buy an NFT with fiat (GBP) | Not taxable; sets the NFT's cost basis |
| Buy an NFT with crypto | Disposal of the crypto (CGT) + acquires the NFT |
| Mint an NFT (gas only, as an investor) | Not a disposal; gas adds to the NFT cost |
| Sell / swap / spend an NFT (investor) | CGT disposal at market value, not pooled |
| Gift an NFT (not to spouse, civil partner or charity) | CGT disposal at market value |
| Gift an NFT to spouse, civil partner or charity | No gain / no loss |
| Move an NFT between your own wallets | Not a disposal |
| Create & sell NFTs as a trade | Income Tax (trading income), not CGT |
| Royalties from your NFTs | Income (trading or miscellaneous) |
How do I report NFT gains to HMRC?
NFT gains go on the Capital Gains Tax summary (SA108) with your other crypto gains, in the cryptoassets boxes 13.1–13.8. You need to report for 2025/26 if your total gains exceed the £3,000 annual exempt amount, or if your total disposal proceeds exceed £50,000, even where the gain itself is small. The deadline for the 2025/26 return is 31 January 2027.
Keep a clear record for each NFT: acquisition date and GBP cost (including the crypto disposal that funded the purchase), fees, and the disposal date and GBP value. If an NFT sale crystallises a loss, you can set it against other gains. See crypto losses. For the full filing walkthrough, see how to report crypto on Self Assessment and the SA108 boxes 13.1–13.8 guide. If NFTs are just one part of a wider crypto picture, the complete UK crypto tax guide walks through how everything fits together.
NFT marketplaces rarely give you a clean tax CSV
Unlike major exchanges, most NFT marketplaces don't export a full, tax-ready transaction history, and on-chain trades span multiple wallets and chains. You'll often need to reconstruct each NFT's purchase (including the crypto you paid with and gas) and its sale from on-chain records. Once you have a per-transaction CSV, you can drop it into the free CryptoCGT calculator, but treat NFT figures as needing a manual check, since the source data is patchier than exchange exports.
Sources
- HMRC CRYPTO22200: Capital Gains Tax pooling (NFTs not pooled, no matching rules)
- HMRC Cryptoassets Manual (home)
- HMRC CRYPTO20250: Cryptoassets for individuals, what is trading (badges of trade)
- GOV.UK: Check if you need to pay tax when you sell cryptoassets
- GOV.UK: Capital Gains Tax rates and allowances
- GOV.UK: Self Assessment Capital Gains Tax summary (SA108)
See your own number — free, no account
Drop your exchange CSV and read your full Capital Gains Tax figure on screen, with the Section 104 working shown. You only pay if you download the report.
Start free →This guide is information, not tax advice.Figures and thresholds are for the tax year shown (England, Wales & Northern Ireland; Scottish income tax bands differ). Rates and rules can change, and your own position may differ — check your circumstances and speak to an accountant before you file. CryptoCGT is an information tool, not a regulated tax adviser.