Before December 31: the crypto moves that still count, and the ones that backfire.

Your 2026 tax return gets filed in the spring, but the year it describes closes on December 31. Once it does, everything on the return is a matter of record. What follows is a short guide to what you can still change in the last weeks of the year, what tends to go wrong when people rush it, and the income that slips through because nobody thought of it as income.

Why the calendar matters more than the filing date

Most people treat April 30 as their tax deadline. It is the deadline for filing and paying. It is not the deadline for deciding. Losses, donations and gifts all count in the year they actually happen. Do them on December 31 and they belong to 2026. Do them on January 2 and they belong to 2027.

The one well known exception is the RRSP. Contributions made up to March 1, 2027 can still count toward your 2026 return. Almost nothing else gets that grace period.

Moves that still count for 2026

Taking a loss on purpose

If you are holding something that is worth less than you paid, selling it before December 31 records that loss in 2026, where it can be set against gains you made earlier in the year. The catch is the 30-day rule. Buy the same thing back within 30 days before or after the sale, and still own it at the end of that window, and the loss is put on hold rather than claimed. That includes purchases by your spouse or a company you control. We wrote a full guide to it, linked at the end of this article.

Donating crypto

A donation to a registered charity counts in the year the charity receives it, and you get a receipt for the full fair market value. What surprises people is that in Canada, unlike donations of publicly listed shares, the growth on donated crypto is still taxed as if you had sold it. That doesn’t make it a poor choice. It just means it is worth running the numbers before you send it, especially if the coins have grown a lot.

Giving crypto to family

Giving crypto to a child or another family member is generally treated as selling it that day at what it is worth. If you paid $1,000 and it is worth $5,000 when you hand it over, the $4,000 of growth goes on your return. Gifts to a spouse work differently and come with their own rules, so ask before you send.

Business equipment

For business owners, a deduction for equipment generally depends on when the asset is available for use, not when you paid for it. Under the proposed Productivity Mega Deduction, eligible property could be written off in full in that first year. Equipment that is paid for in December but delivered after your business’s year-end generally lands in the following year.

Moves that backfire

• Buying it straight back. Selling at a loss and repurchasing the same coin inside the 30-day window is the single most common way people undo a December loss.
• Selling without knowing what the loss is for. A capital loss is set against capital gains, not against your salary. If you have no gains this year, the loss can be carried back up to three years or forward indefinitely, which can still be valuable, but it is worth knowing which before you sell something you would rather keep.
• Shuffling coins between apps in a panic. Moving crypto between your own wallets is not a sale. But every transfer is another record that has to be explained later. If you do not need to move it, don’t.
• Waiting for a tax slip. Many crypto platforms do not send one. No slip does not mean nothing to report.
• Leaving it to December 31. Donations have to reach the charity, transfers have to confirm, and support lines close for the holidays. Give yourself a few days of margin.

The income people forget

Crypto you received during the year can count as income on the day it arrived, whether or not you ever sold it. The common ones:

• Payments for work or freelance projects made in crypto
• Staking rewards
• Some airdrops
• Interest from lending your crypto out

For each one, write down the date and the value in Canadian dollars on the day it landed. That number is usually what counts, and it is far easier to record now than to reconstruct in April.

The records job

Before the year ends, log in to every exchange, app and wallet you used in 2026, including the ones you stopped using, and download the full transaction history. Not the summary screen, and not only the tax report. Save it somewhere that is not the app itself. Platforms change their exports, close accounts and get bought, and nobody else is keeping a copy for you. Records should be kept for six years after the end of the tax year they relate to.

What comes after December 31

• March 1, 2027: RRSP contribution deadline for 2026, and the deadline for T4, T5 and T5008 slips to be issued.
• Late February 2027: online filing is expected to open. CRA confirms the date in January.
• April 30, 2027: filing and payment deadline for most people.
• June 15, 2027: filing deadline if you or your spouse are self-employed, although any balance is still due April 30.

For the 30-day rule in detail, see our guide: Selling crypto at a loss before December 31.

Dilan Ropero

Head of Crypto Accounting and Senior Accountant at MyBookly Accounting. He works with investors and businesses on digital asset reporting, reconciliation, and tax strategy.