Staking, mining and airdrops in a limited company: Corporation Tax

In short: A UK limited company's non-trading staking or mining rewards are generally taxable at their sterling value when received, less appropriate expenses. The net amount goes in CT600 box 205. A genuine mining or staking trade includes them in trading profit (box 155) instead. Taxley, a UK online Corporation Tax (CT600) filing service, supports defined cases and asks about custody, activity, costs and accounts treatment before calculating the return.

Check whether Taxley fits your company, or see filing prices.

Key facts (checked on 26 October 2026)

Is the company earning miscellaneous income or running a crypto trade?

Non-trading rewards and a commercial mining operation follow different tax routes. HMRC considers the activity, organisation, risk and commerciality. Its examples distinguish spare computer capacity from dedicated mining equipment bought to make a net profit. The decision affects where both receipts and costs belong. See CRYPTO40200.

For a non-trading activity, the company calculates miscellaneous income under the sweep-up charge in CTA 2009 s.979. Keep it separate from the profit of another business. Owning a consultancy does not automatically make rewards on its investment coins consultancy income.

A genuine staking, validating or mining trade includes its receipts and allowable costs in trading profits. Taxley's supported business route requires that activity to be clearly a trade and the company's only trade, with the tokens shown as stock. It is available for trading companies and companies combining that trade with property letting.

Buying and selling tokens is a separate question. The crypto trading guide explains why transactions described as trades do not necessarily establish a tax trade.

How much staking or mining income is taxable before the tokens are sold?

For non-trading rewards, record the sterling value when received, even if the company keeps the tokens. Selling later is a separate event. Keep a receipt log with token quantities, dates and valuation evidence so the income figure can be reconciled to the wallet records. HMRC explains the receipt valuation in CRYPTO40250.

Do not substitute the year-end market value or the eventual cash withdrawal. A reward worth £300 when received remains a £300 receipt for this calculation even if its price changes later. That illustrative figure concerns receipt income only.

The capital disposal calculation needs its own records and applicable tax cost. Keep mining expenditure separate from acquisition costs: HMRC says mining costs are not deductible when calculating the token disposal gain in CRYPTO41300. Taxley asks you to list each capital crypto disposal under Chargeable gains. It does not turn a wallet's total cash withdrawals into taxable gains.

Which costs reduce box 205 without being deducted twice?

Appropriate costs of earning miscellaneous crypto income reduce that income. They must then be removed from any trading or management-expense deduction that already includes them. HMRC applies trade-profit expense principles where relevant, but normally gives no capital allowances against miscellaneous income, and interest paid is normally not deductible. See BIM100155.

Taxley asks for the income's sterling value and the earning costs already in the accounts. These can include relevant electricity, hosting, node or wallet fees and commission recorded as a cost. Equipment purchases and depreciation are not entered as those running costs.

For miscellaneous income, show the rewards once in Other operating income and confirm that placement. Enter the costs in their proper expense lines. Taxley then relocates them for tax. Keep gross receipts and separately recorded commission distinguishable; entering only a net receipt and claiming the same commission again understates income.

In a mixed trading and property company, Taxley asks which business's figures contain the costs. Costs split between both businesses, and crypto amounts netted against other lines, remain unsupported on this route. A blank answer needs completing; it is not a reason to guess a tax treatment.

What does a company staking example look like on the CT600?

An investment company receives £3,000 of eligible non-trading staking rewards and incurs £500 of appropriate earning costs. Its miscellaneous income is £2,500. Separately, £6,000 bank interest and £1,700 qualifying management expenses leave total taxable profits of £6,800. This example assumes the company is a close investment-holding company throughout.

Illustrative assumptions: 1 February 2025 to 31 January 2026; company-controlled wallets; no lending, receipt tokens, disposals, other income, brought-forward losses or reliefs. The £2,200 total accounts costs comprise £500 earning costs and £1,700 management expenses. All are shown separately. The investment business continues.

The £500 is deducted once. Leaving it in box 245 as well would deduct it twice. A close investment-holding company pays the main rate without marginal relief, as HMRC CTM03951 explains. The investment company filing guide covers its other income and accounts.

For comparison, assume a clearly established mining trade earns £30,000 and has £10,000 allowable running costs. With no other adjustments, box 155 trading profit is £20,000 and box 205 contains no mining income. For a UK resident trading company (so not a CIHC), a 12-month accounting period starting on or after 1 April 2023, no associated companies and no exempt distributions, tax at 19% is £3,800. There is no marginal relief in this example. See GOV.UK Corporation Tax rates.

Are airdrops taxable for a UK limited company?

The reason for receiving the airdrop matters. Tokens earned for a service can be income; tokens earned through an existing trade belong with that trade. Taxley's miscellaneous route covers qualifying service rewards outside the company's trade. It does not accept an airdrop received for doing nothing.

HMRC's airdrop page, CRYPTO21250, discusses individuals. It says Income Tax may not apply to tokens received for nothing outside a crypto business, while airdrops received for, or in expectation of, a service are taxed as miscellaneous income or trade receipts. That personal treatment is not a company exemption. For companies, BIM100150 confirms that the miscellaneous charge covers money or money's worth. Applying that general charge to a service reward is the basis of the supported company route.

Keep evidence of the task or service and the receipt valuation. Taxley asks whether any receipt came through the company's trade. Such receipts remain outside this miscellaneous crypto route, even though they can be taxable trading receipts. Do not answer “No” simply because payment arrived in tokens.

Which crypto income cases can Taxley file, and what remains unsupported?

Taxley supports screened non-trading staking, own-validator and mining income, plus service airdrops outside an existing trade. It also supports a clearly established sole staking or mining trade with tokens as stock. The questions distinguish these routes before figures reach the computation; the same answer set must describe the company's holdings.

Taxley cannot yet file these crypto income cases:

• Lending, or staking through an exchange, platform or pool that holds the coins; liquid-staking and receipt tokens.
• Free airdrops, rewards earned through an existing trade on the miscellaneous route, or rewards on a crypto dealing trade's stock.
• Income on crypto shown as stock by a company that doesn't run the activity as a business, on crypto the company got to use in its activities, or on crypto an earlier return treated under Part 8; stablecoins, NFTs, rights tokens or holdings shown in different ways.
• Miscellaneous costs exceeding income, or unused miscellaneous losses brought forward.
• A staking or mining business that is not clearly a trade, has another trade alongside it, does not show its tokens as stock, or is in a company filed as an investment or property company.
• Any crypto amount netted against another line in the accounts, earning costs split between trading and property figures, or a typed box 205 figure in a trading, property or mixed company's return.

These are product limits. Platform terms can determine whether beneficial ownership passes and a disposal occurs; see CRYPTO61620. HMRC also distinguishes income-like and capital-like DeFi returns in CRYPTO61214. A product refusal does not mean the receipt is tax-free.

For acquired-for-use holdings read the Part 8 guide. For accounts exceeding 12 months read crypto and two CT600 returns. Check your company's fit and view pricing when the records are ready.

Frequently asked questions

Does my company owe tax if staking rewards stay in its wallet?

Generally yes for non-trading staking income. The calculation uses sterling value when received, less appropriate costs. Keeping the tokens does not postpone that income calculation until a cash withdrawal. A later disposal needs separate consideration under the applicable tax regime.

Can I put crypto rewards in the bank interest box?

Do not classify rewards as bank interest merely because a platform calls them yield. The supported non-trading reward route uses box 205. Lending and platform staking need different contractual checks and remain outside Taxley's supported crypto income cases.

Can electricity and hosting reduce company mining income?

Appropriate earning costs can reduce non-trading mining income. Keep supporting records and separate them from equipment and depreciation. Where the accounts already include those costs in another deduction, Taxley takes them out of that deduction before setting them against the crypto income.

Is an airdrop received for nothing tax-free for a company?

This guide does not assert a company exemption. HMRC's specific airdrop Income Tax guidance concerns individuals. Taxley cannot yet file free company airdrops; the absence of support does not establish that no Corporation Tax is due.

Can Taxley handle staking alongside a consultancy?

It can handle eligible miscellaneous staking income alongside a trading business after its checks, provided the rewards are not received through the consultancy's own trade. A separate staking operation that is itself another trade falls outside the one-trade route. Answer the activity questions about what the company actually does.

What if my accounts cover more than twelve months?

The company needs separate Corporation Tax accounting periods. Taxley time-apportions supported miscellaneous income and costs with the accounts figures. Capital disposals follow their disposal dates. Check each return's computation and keep the two allocation methods separate.

Review your figures before you file, ideally with a qualified adviser.