UK to Treat Stablecoins 'More Like Money' for Tax From 2027 — What's Changing

HM Treasury and HMRC have published the outcome of their Taxation of Stablecoins call for evidence, confirming plans to treat certain stablecoins "more like money" across Capital Gains Tax, Income Tax, and Corporation Tax — a meaningful shift from how crypto assets are taxed today.

What's actually changing

Under the proposed regime, individuals and trustees would receive a Capital Gains Tax exemption on disposals of eligible stablecoins, meaning you wouldn't owe CGT simply for spending or converting them the way you currently might with Bitcoin or Ethereum. Separately, certain interest-like returns generated by holding stablecoins would instead be taxed as savings income rather than as miscellaneous or capital gains income.

To qualify, a token needs to meet several conditions: it must hold sufficient currency or other assets to support a stable value against sterling or another currency, be designed primarily for payment or settlement rather than speculation, and be widely available and actively traded. Bitcoin and other volatile cryptocurrencies are explicitly excluded — the government has been clear they aren't comparable to stable-value assets.

Timeline

The measures are slated for Finance Bill 2026–27 and would take effect from April 2027. An eight-week technical consultation opened on 13 July 2026 and closes on 7 September 2026, before draft legislation goes to Parliament.

Why it matters

Today, using a stablecoin to pay for goods, transfer value, or move between platforms can technically trigger a CGT event in the UK, even if the coin's value barely moved — a quirk that's discouraged everyday stablecoin use and added disproportionate compliance burden for something designed to behave like cash. Removing that friction for genuinely stable, payment-focused tokens brings the UK's approach closer to how it already treats foreign currency transactions.

International comparison

The UK's proposed approach differs from the US, where the IRS still treats stablecoins as property for tax purposes, meaning every disposal is potentially a taxable event regardless of price stability — although guidance there continues to evolve. The EU's MiCA framework regulates stablecoins (or "e-money tokens") primarily from a prudential and consumer-protection angle rather than through a bespoke tax carve-out, leaving member states to apply their own domestic tax treatment.

What to do now

• If you hold or transact in stablecoins, keep records of disposals now — the exemption won't apply retroactively to gains realised before April 2027.
• Watch for the outcome of the consultation closing 7 September 2026, since eligibility criteria could be refined before the Finance Bill is finalised.
• Don't assume all "stablecoins" will qualify — algorithmic or under-collateralised tokens that don't meet the stability tests may remain taxed under current CGT rules.
• If you use stablecoins for business payments, speak to your accountant about how the savings-income treatment of returns could affect Corporation Tax reporting from 2027.

Key Numbers

• 8 weeks — length of the technical consultation, closing 7 September 2026
• April 2027 — proposed start date for the new regime, via Finance Bill 2026–27
• £0 — proposed CGT liability on disposals of eligible stablecoins, versus standard treatment today

Sources

• Crypto Daily: UK Crypto Tax in 2026 — Capital Gains, Income Tax and HMRC Reporting Rules
• Coin Edition: UK Publishes Draft Crypto Tax Rules for Lending, Liquidity Pools and Stablecoins
• Crypto Accountants: UK Stablecoin Tax Rules for 2027 — New HMRC Policy
• Koinly: Crypto Tax UK — Expert Guide to HMRC Rules 2026

Educational content only — not financial advice.