HMRC Cracks Down on Crypto Investors with Record Number of Tax Warnings

HMRC has issued over 81,000 tax warnings to crypto investors in the past year, a 25% increase from the previous year. This comes as the UK prepares for mandatory CARF reporting in 2026, which will grant authorities greater visibility into digital asset transactions.

The data obtained through a UK Freedom of Information Act request shows that HMRC sent out 81,172 notices to investors who may have undeclared tax liabilities from crypto assets. While these warnings do not constitute formal tax assessments and do not prove tax evasion, they indicate that HMRC has information that may not align with the declared data.

The timing of this campaign is significant as the UK enters a transition period where tax authorities will have more structured flow of information regarding crypto asset holders and their transactions. Starting January 1, 2026, crypto service providers in the UK began collecting information under the Cryptoasset Reporting Framework (CARF), which aims to close the information gap between countries.