Crypto Income With No T5 Slip: How To Report It to the CRA

Short answer: you report crypto income whether or not a T5 or any other slip arrives. The CRA treats staking rewards credited on a platform as income when they are credited, mining income as business income when earned, and every sale or swap as a disposition. Value each receipt in Canadian dollars, keep the records, and report it yourself.

Most Canadians who hold crypto learn the slip system from their bank. Interest arrives, a T5 follows in the spring, and the tax software fills in the box. Crypto does not work that way. You can earn staking rewards, lending interest, mining payouts or trading profits all year and open your tax software to find nothing prefilled at all. The absence of a slip feels like an answer. It is not one.

This guide explains what the Canada Revenue Agency expects when no slip arrives: which crypto receipts are income, how to value them, where they go on your return, how the adjusted cost base carries forward, what records to keep, and what to do if an earlier year was filed without them. I am Chris Herbst, founder of CountDeFi. We are crypto tax accountants: we reconcile clients' full crypto histories and produce the reports that they, or their own accountant, file from. Every rule below is taken from the CRA's own published guidance, linked where it is stated.

Why a Missing T5 Slip Does Not Remove the Income

A slip is a reporting tool for the payer. The obligation to report sits with you. The CRA's line 12100 guidance says it directly for interest: report interest paid or credited to you even if you did not receive an information slip, and it adds that you may not receive a T5 slip for amounts under $50 but must still report the income.

The same principle runs through the CRA's crypto guidance. Its overview of crypto-asset tax obligations says that as a crypto-asset user you have to report your earnings or losses on your income tax return, and that depending on your activities you may realize business income or a capital gain, which are reported differently. Nothing in that obligation depends on a platform sending you a form.

Does the CRA know about crypto income that came with no slip?

Assume it can find out. Canadian and foreign platforms keep account records, and blockchains are public ledgers. The safer working assumption is that any income you do not report can be matched to you later, and that a correction then costs more than getting it right now. Our guide to a CRA crypto audit covers what a review looks like when it happens.

What if my platform is outside Canada?

A foreign platform is not required to issue Canadian slips, so you should expect none. Canadian residents still report the income. Amounts earned in a foreign currency or priced in US dollars are converted to Canadian dollars, covered in the valuation section below.

Which Crypto Receipts Are Income in Canada

Before anything is reported, sort what you received into two groups: amounts you earned (income at the time you receive them) and amounts you realized by disposing of crypto (a gain or loss when you sell, swap or spend). The CRA's guidance draws that line clearly, and the table below maps the common events to the page that governs them.

Are staking rewards income when no slip arrives?

Yes. The CRA's mining and staking page says rewards received from staking crypto-assets on a centralized crypto-asset exchange platform will generally be considered income at the time the rewards are credited to your wallet on the platform. A slip plays no part in that test. The date the reward is credited is the date that matters, and its value on that date is the amount of income.

Is mining income reported without a slip?

Yes. The CRA says that if you are in the business of crypto-asset mining, the value of the crypto you receive must be included in your business income at the time it is earned, and that in most cases mining is considered carrying on a business because of the scale and resources involved. No payer issues a slip for a block reward, so the whole figure comes from your own records.

What about interest from lending crypto?

Treat it as income when it is paid or credited to you, and value it in Canadian dollars on that date. The line 12100 rule quoted above, report interest even without a slip, is the CRA's general position for interest. The character of a particular lending product, and the line it belongs on, is something to confirm with whoever prepares your return, especially where the platform pays in a token rather than dollars.

Is swapping or selling crypto income?

Not at the moment you receive the new coin, but it is a disposition of the coin you gave up. The CRA lists trading or exchanging crypto for government-issued currency or another crypto-asset, using it to buy goods or services, and gifting or donating it as dispositions. Each one produces a gain or loss measured against your adjusted cost base, whether or not any slip reports the proceeds.

How To Value Crypto Income in Canadian Dollars

Income without a slip still needs a number, and the CRA leaves the method to you within limits. Its page on determining the value of crypto-assets says the CRA will generally accept a crypto-asset's fair market value for tax reporting purposes, and that you must use a reasonable method even when a direct value is not readily available.

What counts as fair market value for a reward?

The CRA describes fair market value as generally the highest price, expressed in dollars, that a willing buyer and a willing seller who are knowledgeable, informed, prudent and acting independently would agree to in an open and unrestricted market. For a staking reward, that is the price of the coin at the time it was credited.

Which price source should I use?

The CRA gives two examples of acceptable approaches: an exchange rate taken from the same exchange you are using, or an average of the high, low, open and close values across a number of high-volume exchanges. Whichever you choose, the CRA says to use it consistently from year to year and to keep a record of how it was used. Switching sources from one reward to the next to pick the lowest price is the kind of inconsistency a reviewer notices.

How do I convert rewards priced in US dollars?

Most crypto price feeds quote US dollars. For foreign-currency income, the CRA's line 12100 page says the amount should generally be converted using the Bank of Canada exchange rate in effect on the day the amount arises, and that it generally also accepts rates from other sources it names, with an average over the relevant period allowed in certain circumstances. Price directly in Canadian dollars where your source allows it, and convert on the day of receipt where it does not.

What if a reward token has no reliable market price?

Some DeFi protocols pay in tokens that trade on one small market or not at all. The CRA's position still applies: you must use a reasonable method for determining the value, even when a direct value is not readily available. In practice that means documenting the source you used, why it was the best available, and applying the same approach to every receipt of that token. A token that genuinely cannot be sold is still recorded, with the valuation reasoning kept alongside it, because the question may be asked years later.

Where Crypto Income Goes on Your T1 Return

Once each receipt has a date and a Canadian-dollar value, it has to be placed on the return in the right part. The split that decides most of this is whether you are carrying on a business or holding on account of capital.

Is my crypto income business income or a capital gain?

The CRA says the answer is determined case by case from all the facts. Its guidance on crypto-asset transactions lists factors that may indicate a business: frequent buying and selling, short holding periods, knowledge of crypto markets, a substantial part of your time spent studying them, financing purchases with debt, and advertising that you buy crypto. An isolated transaction can also be business income when it is an adventure or concern in the nature of trade. This is a question about your own intentions and conduct, and it is one you settle with your preparer, not one a transaction export can answer.

Where does business income from crypto go?

If your crypto activity is a business, the CRA says you report the full amount of your profits or losses, and it points to Guide T4002 for self-employed business income. That guide's related documents include Form T2125, Statement of Business or Professional Activities, which is where business income and expenses are set out. Mining income reported as business income follows the same route.

Where do crypto capital gains go?

Dispositions on account of capital are reported on Schedule 3. The CRA's capital gains guide, T4037, says to report the disposition of crypto-assets on line 7 in Part 3 of Schedule 3, and that if you disposed of a crypto-asset you enter your total proceeds on line 15200 and your total gain or loss on line 15301. The CRA's crypto guidance says you must include half of your capital gains, the taxable capital gain, in your income.

Where does staking income go if I am not running a business?

The CRA's published statement is about timing: staking rewards on a centralized platform are generally income when credited. It is not a line-by-line instruction for every staking arrangement. If your activity is a business, it goes through Form T2125 with your other business income. If it is not, your preparer places it on the line of the T1 that matches its character. Either way, the amount is the Canadian-dollar value on the day each reward was credited, summed for the year.

How Income Without a Slip Sets Your Adjusted Cost Base

Reporting the income is half the job. The value you include in income also becomes the cost of the coins you received, and that cost is what protects you from paying tax twice when you later sell them.

Does the value I report as income become my cost?

That is how the numbers connect. The CRA's valuation page says that to calculate gains or losses on disposal you need the total cost at acquisition using fair market value, and T4037 calculates a crypto gain by subtracting the adjusted cost base from the proceeds of disposition. A reward you included in income at its value on the day it was credited has been acquired at that value. If you leave it out of your adjusted cost base, the full sale price is taxed again when you sell.

How is the adjusted cost base tracked across many rewards?

Canada averages the cost of identical property, so each reward adds its units and its Canadian-dollar value to the pool for that coin, and each disposal removes units at the average cost per unit at that moment. Frequent rewards make that pool long and easy to break. Our walkthrough of how to calculate crypto gains with ACB shows the arithmetic, and our Canada crypto tax guide covers how the pool applies to individuals and holding companies.

What if the cost of coins bought years ago is missing?

Rebuild it from the platforms' own records before assuming anything. Exchange trade and transfer histories usually reach back further than people expect, and on-chain records fill many of the remaining gaps. Our guide to missing cost basis in crypto sets out the order to work through the sources.

Records the CRA Expects When There Is No Slip

Without a slip, your own records are the only evidence of what you received and what you declared. The CRA's page on keeping books and records of crypto-assets sets out what that means in practice.

What records should I keep for crypto income?

For exchanges and other custodial platforms, the CRA lists trade ledgers covering buys, sells and swaps, transfer ledgers covering deposits and withdrawals of both crypto and government-issued currency, and records supporting any other types of transactions on the platform. For mining, it lists hardware receipts, records of expenses such as power costs and pool fees, and records supporting each mining pool arrangement. T4037 adds that you should keep records showing how you calculated the proceeds of disposition and the adjusted cost base.

How long do I need to keep crypto records?

The CRA says you are responsible for keeping all required books and records for at least six years from the end of the last taxation year to which they relate. For crypto, the last year a record relates to can be many years after the coin arrived, because the cost of a reward received today matters in the year you finally sell it.

Why export records regularly?

The CRA recommends exporting your transaction records regularly and keeping them electronically. It notes that exchanges have different standards for what they keep and for how long, and it tells users to export a history of their activity so they have adequate records in case an exchange ceases operating, stops offering services in Canada, or they lose access to the account.

What should a year-end crypto income schedule contain?

Build one schedule per year that you would be comfortable handing to the CRA. For each receipt it should show the platform or wallet, the date and time credited, the coin and number of units, the price used and its source, and the Canadian-dollar value. Totals by type of income sit at the bottom and tie to the figures on the return. Keep the raw platform exports that the schedule was built from alongside it, so every row can be traced back to its source. The same schedule becomes the opening point for next year's adjusted cost base.

A Worked Example: A Year of Staking Rewards With No Slip

The figures below are illustrative only, to show the method. Suppose a Canadian resident, not carrying on a business, holds a coin on a centralized exchange and receives staking rewards each month. No slip arrives.

Step 1: Export and date every reward

Export the platform's full transaction history and filter it to reward credits. Each row needs the date and time credited, the number of units and the coin. If the platform pays daily, there may be hundreds of rows for one year. Each one is a separate receipt.

Step 2: Value each reward on its date

Apply one consistent price source to every row, in Canadian dollars or converted on the day. If a reward of 0.5 units was credited when the coin traded at $40, that row is $20 of income. Summing every row gives the year's staking income, say $1,200.

Step 3: Report the income and add it to the cost base

The $1,200 goes on the return as income for the year. The same rewards are added to the coin's adjusted cost base pool at $1,200 in total, alongside any coins bought for cash.

Step 4: Report any disposal against the average cost

If some of the coin is later sold, the gain is the proceeds less the average cost per unit of the units sold, reported on Schedule 3 for a capital holding. Because the rewards entered the pool at the value already taxed, only the growth after each reward was credited is taxed on the sale.

What To Do If You Missed Crypto Income in an Earlier Year

Many people read about slips only after filing a return that left crypto income out. The fix depends on how far back it goes and whether the CRA has already contacted you.

Can I change a return I already filed?

Yes. The CRA's page on changing your return describes the "Change my return" service in your CRA account, the "ReFILE" service in certified tax software, and Form T1-ADJ, T1 Adjustment Request, sent by mail with supporting documents. ReFILE cannot be used to change a return before the 2021 tax year, and "Change my return" cannot be used for the 2015 tax year or earlier. The CRA also says a refund cannot be issued for an adjustment request made more than 10 calendar years after the end of the tax year.

What is the Voluntary Disclosures Program?

The CRA describes its Voluntary Disclosures Program as granting relief on a case-by-case basis to taxpayers who come forward to fix errors or omissions in their tax filings, and says changes made effective October 1, 2025 were meant to make it easier to apply and understand. Whether an application or a simple adjustment is the right route depends on the amounts, the years and your circumstances, and it is a decision to make with your preparer before anything is sent.

Do I need to rebuild every year, or only the one I missed?

Rebuild from the first year you held crypto. A missed reward in an earlier year changes the adjusted cost base carried into every later year, so the later years' gains move too. Correcting one year in isolation tends to create a second error in the next one.

When To Get Help With Crypto Income That Has No Slip

A single exchange with a few dozen rewards is manageable with a spreadsheet and a consistent price source. It gets harder quickly when rewards arrive daily across several platforms, when coins move between exchanges and self-custody wallets, or when DeFi protocols pay in tokens with thin markets and no obvious price.

Can crypto tax software handle this?

Software calculates from the data it is given. It works well when every platform and wallet is connected and every transfer is matched. It struggles when a reward is mislabelled as a deposit, when a transfer between your own wallets is read as a sale, or when an exchange you used has closed. Our comparison of Koinly versus hiring a crypto accountant covers where the line usually falls.

What does a crypto tax accountant deliver for a Canadian filer?

The useful output is a reconciled history in Canadian dollars: every income receipt dated and valued, every transfer between your own wallets matched, the adjusted cost base pool for each coin, and the gains and income figures for each year, split the way your return needs them. Our guide to choosing a crypto tax accountant in Canada explains who can file your T1 and deal with the CRA on your behalf, which are separate jobs from the reconciliation itself.

If your rewards, trades and transfers span several platforms and years and the figures do not reconcile, our crypto tax accounting service rebuilds the full history and produces the reports you or your accountant file from. We are crypto tax accountants, not a CPA firm.