CryptoCards.caa MITEY guide
Ask Mitey
Tax

CARF: when crypto platforms start reporting to CRA

Canada plans to adopt the OECD Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework. The deferred 2027 start, the bill that carries it, and what it means for card users.

Checked against official sources: October 31, 2026Independent · no affiliate links
Short answer

Canada intends to require crypto platforms to report users’ transactions to CRA under the OECD Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework. Budget 2025 deferred its application to January 1, 2027. The implementing bill, C-31, had not received Royal Assent as of October 30, 2026. Card users should assume their platform activity will become visible to CRA.

Figures as of October 31, 2026.
Mitey the yeti with a clipboard checklist
Mitey lines up a year of exports so they match what a platform would one day report to CRA.
  • Draft legislation (Finance Canada, August 15, 2025) adds a new Part XXI to the Income Tax Act requiring reporting crypto-asset service providers to file annual information returns.
  • Budget 2025’s tax-measures annex (modified November 4, 2025) defers application to January 1, 2027.
  • Bill C-31 carries the measure. On October 30, 2026 LEGISinfo showed it at report stage in the House, without Royal Assent.

Nothing about CARF changes how your rewards are taxed. It changes who tells CRA about them. Good records now save a reconciliation headache later. See the record-keeping checklist.

How many lines a converting card could add to a platform’s CARF report
How many lines a converting card could add to a platform’s CARF report: inputs, steps and result
Card purchases30 a month
Card that spends a CAD balance0 crypto dispositions at the tillYou choose when to sell crypto for CAD
Card that sells crypto at the till360 dispositions a yearOne per purchase, each with its own gain or loss
Extra records to keep (converting card)360 a yeardate, units sold, CAD amount and ACB for each

Computed 2026-11-03.

What this means for you

CARF changes who tells CRA, not what is taxable. Keep records that will reconcile with a platform’s report.

Sources

  1. Finance Canada — Legislative proposals relating to the Income Tax Act (CARF, Part XXI) — page dated August 15, 2025
  2. Budget 2025 — Tax measures: supplementary information (CARF deferred to Jan 1, 2027) — page dated November 4, 2025
  3. LEGISinfo — Bill C-31 (Budget 2025 Implementation Act, No. 2) — no date shown; read October 30, 2026
  4. CRA — Keeping books and records of crypto-assets for tax filing — page dated November 10, 2025

Educational information, not financial, tax or legal advice. 4 min read. Reviewed October 31, 2026.