Do you have to report crypto if you have not sold it?

In brief

Buying with fiat money

Not a taxable event

Holding

Not a taxable event, whether the value rises or falls

Moving between your own accounts

Not a taxable event

Swapping and paying with a coin

A sale in every respect

Coins from mining or as salary

Income on receipt, even without a sale

Capital declaration

Includes digital assets, when the Tax Authority requires one

What exactly is not a taxable event?

According to the Tax Authority’s Q&A, three things are not taxable events: buying digital coins with fiat money, holding them regardless of how their value changes, and moving them between digital wallets or exchange accounts belonging to the same person.

By the same token, a fall in value while you hold a coin does not create a capital loss. A loss arises only on a sale, and only then can it be offset.

Which acts count as a sale even without converting to shekels?

According to the Tax Authority’s Q&A, a sale also includes exchanging one digital asset for another, using a digital asset to pay for goods or services, and transferring a digital asset to another person. Each of these is a taxable event: the gain or loss has to be calculated, reported and the tax paid.

A gift to a relative, or to another individual, where the assessing officer is satisfied it was made in good faith, is exempt from capital gains tax under section 97(a)(5) of the Income Tax Ordinance, provided the recipient is not a foreign resident.

Can income arise without selling?

Yes. Coins received in return for mining are taxed as business income when they are received, and coins an employee receives from an employer are taxed as employment income when they are received, in both cases at their fair value at that time.

No specific position has been published for rewards such as staking and airdrops; the separate question on them sets out the closest rules that have been published.

When do the holdings themselves have to be listed?

A capital declaration lists all assets and liabilities in Israel and abroad, and is filed only when the Tax Authority requires one: within 120 days of the demand or of the date the declaration is required for, whichever is later.

In May 2025 the capital declaration form, Form 1219, was updated with dedicated sections for digital assets, so coins that are held and not sold are listed on it.

In a 2024 report the State Comptroller noted that, on the face of it, Israel has no reporting obligation for holding crypto as such, and that the Tax Authority had not published whether a digital coin is a "foreign asset" for the annual-return obligation that applies to people holding high-value foreign assets.

How does Crypto Tax help when there were no sales?

Importing your trading history into Crypto Tax costs nothing, and the history is kept, so in the year a sale does happen the original price of every coin is already on record.

A report is generated only for a tax year that needs one, and you buy one tax year report for each such year.

Sources

• Digital assets Q&A, Israel Tax Authority (opens in a new tab)
• Capital declaration (online system and Form 1219), Israel Tax Authority (opens in a new tab)
• The Tax Authority launches a digital capital declaration, Israel Tax Authority (opens in a new tab)
• Income Tax Ordinance [New Version], section 97, Israel Tax Authority (opens in a new tab)
• State Comptroller, report 75A (2024) - taxation of digital currencies (opens in a new tab)