Chainlink (LINK) Tax UK: Staking Rewards and Capital Gains Explained
A UK tax guide for Chainlink holders — how CGT applies to LINK disposals and how HMRC treats LINK staking rewards as income for 2025/26.
Chainlink (LINK) sits at the centre of many DeFi portfolios, and with LINK staking now widely available, UK holders face two separate tax questions: how disposals are taxed, and how staking rewards are taxed. HMRC handles these very differently.
Capital Gains Tax on LINK disposals
LINK is a cryptoasset, so HMRC treats it as property. You make a disposal when you sell LINK for GBP, swap it for another token, spend it, or gift it to someone other than your spouse. Your gain is the disposal proceeds minus the cost basis drawn from your Section 104 pool — the weighted-average cost across all your LINK purchases. The same-day and 30-day matching rules apply before the pool.
For 2025/26 the tax-free allowance is £3,000, with gains above taxed at 18% (basic rate) or 24% (higher rate).
How LINK staking rewards are taxed
This is where many holders get caught out. Staking rewards are generally taxed as miscellaneous income, valued in GBP at the market price on the day each reward is received. This income sits on top of your other earnings and is taxed at your marginal income tax rate — 20%, 40%, or 45%.
If you receive small, frequent staking payouts, you technically have a taxable receipt for each one. The cumulative GBP value across the tax year is what matters for your return.
The second tax event: disposing of staked rewards
The GBP value you declared as income becomes the cost basis of those reward tokens. When you later sell or swap them, you calculate a capital gain or loss against that figure. So a single batch of staking rewards can be taxed twice — once as income on receipt, then for CGT on any price movement before disposal.
Records HMRC expects
You need the date and GBP value of every staking reward, plus the full buy/sell/swap history for your LINK pool. Reward timestamps matter because the GBP price can swing sharply between payouts. CryptoLens separates your LINK income events from your capital disposals automatically, so the income and CGT figures don't get tangled.
Practical tip
Set aside a portion of each staking reward for the income tax due. Because rewards are taxed on receipt regardless of whether you sell, a falling LINK price can leave you owing income tax on value you no longer hold.
Frequently asked questions
Are Chainlink staking rewards income or capital gains?
Staking rewards are normally taxed as miscellaneous income at their GBP value on the day received. A separate Capital Gains Tax calculation then applies when you later dispose of those reward tokens.
What is the cost basis of my LINK staking rewards?
It's the GBP market value you declared as income when you received them. That figure becomes the acquisition cost for any future CGT calculation on disposal.
Estimate your LINK staking tax
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