Spouse transfers, the most overlooked line in UK crypto tax.
A transfer of cryptoassets between spouses or civil partners living together is not a taxable event. Section 58 TCGA 1992 treats it as happening at whatever price produces no gain and no loss, and the receiving partner inherits the original cost. The gain is not erased, it is relocated, and relocation is the point.
Compare the two routes on your own numbers
Selling it all yourself, against transferring a share first and both of you selling. Two allowances instead of one, and each person's own rate band. The tool runs on this page in your browser, nothing you type is transmitted or stored.
Nothing is computed until the figures are real. Still needed:
- The total gain on the holding
- Your income
- Their income
Computed in your browser at 2026 to 2027 rates, nothing transmitted, the copy link keeps your figures after the # where browsers never send them. It assumes the whole holding is sold and that neither of you has other gains this year. The saving is only real if the transfer is a genuine outright gift, their wallet and their decision, and your base cost travels across with it.
The worked shape
You hold ETH bought for £4,000, now worth £14,000, a £10,000 gain if you sell it all yourself, of which £3,000 is covered by your allowance and £7,000 is taxed, at 24% if you are a higher-rate payer, £1,680. Transfer half to your spouse first, no tax event, they inherit £2,000 of your cost, and each of you sells £7,000 of ETH carrying a £5,000 gain. Two allowances cover £6,000 of it, and if your spouse has basic-rate headroom their remainder is taxed at 18%. The same economics, materially less tax, entirely inside the rules. Put those figures into the calculator above and it lands on the same answer.
The three traps
It must be real. The transfer has to move beneficial ownership, their wallet or account, their asset, their decision when to sell. A transfer that exists only on paper while you keep control is not a transfer.
Living together, or within the separation window. The treatment covers couples living together, and since 2023 extends up to three tax years after separation, longer under a formal agreement, the boundaries are exact and a real separation deserves advice.
The 30-day rule still applies per person. If the receiving partner sells and you rebuy the same asset within 30 days in your own account, nothing bad happens, matching is per taxpayer. But each person's own rebuys within 30 days of their own disposals match as usual.
Model it before you move it
The app computes per owner, so the clean way to plan this is a what-if sale on your own figures first, then the same disposal sized against a second allowance and rate. The working paper shows each disposal with its matching rule either way.
Run the what-ifCommon questions
Is transferring crypto to my spouse a taxable disposal?
No, not between spouses or civil partners living together. Section 58 TCGA 1992 treats the transfer as made at no gain and no loss, whatever the market price that day.
What cost does my spouse inherit?
Yours. The transfer passes your base cost across, so the gain that eventually arises on their sale is measured from what you originally paid, not from the transfer date.
Why bother, if the gain survives the transfer?
Because the sale then happens against their allowance and their rate band. Two allowances instead of one, and 18% instead of 24% where the receiving partner has basic-rate headroom.
Does this work for unmarried partners?
No. Section 58 covers spouses and civil partners only. A transfer to an unmarried partner is a disposal at market value.
What if we are separated?
The no-gain-no-loss window now extends up to three tax years after the year of separation, and further where the transfer follows a formal divorce agreement or court order. The boundaries matter, take advice on a real separation.
How much should I transfer?
Enough to use their allowance and any basic-rate headroom, rarely more. The calculator on this page scans every split and names the percentage that produces the lowest combined tax on your two incomes.
Does the calculator send my figures anywhere?
No. It runs on this page in your browser, nothing is transmitted or stored. The copy link button keeps your inputs after the # in the URL, the part browsers never send to any server.
Statute, section 58 TCGA 1992, accessed 22 August 2026. Allowance and rates per gov.uk. The calculator is a computation on the figures you type, general information, not personal tax advice, separation cases especially deserve a professional.