Should you leave Australia to avoid paying 47% tax on crypto gains?

In part one of our special on how to avoid Australia’s massive hike in capital gains taxes on crypto in July next year, we looked at borrowing against your Bitcoin or setting up a self-managed super fund (SMSF), among four ways to mitigate the impact of the taxes.

While an SMSF offers Australians the greatest tax advantages, it’s only suitable for older investors, or those who are willing to lock up their crypto for decades until they retire. For younger investors, moving overseas could reduce your future crypto tax bills to 0% — but there are less drastic options to save on tax too. 

5. Leave Australia and move to country with 0% CGT

Australia’s impending tax changes have already inspired crypto king Fred Schebesta, founder of Finder.com, to become a tax exile in Singapore. 

From July, the top rate on real, long-term crypto gains will increase to 47%, minus the effects of inflation on the cost basis. 

For upwardly mobile, single crypto investors, the “nuclear option” of leaving the country to avoid giving almost half their gains to the government will look increasingly attractive.
Many of the world’s top crypto hubs — Singapore, Portugal, Malta, UAE and Hong Kong — offer 0% capital gains taxes on long-term crypto gains in an attempt to attract wealthy investors.