Can I claim a tax loss on crypto stolen from my wallet?
Possibly, but not simply because the coins have gone. Most systems need a realisation event — a point at which the asset, or the claim to it, is actually disposed of or established as worthless — together with evidence that the event happened. A theft is an event in the world; whether it is a realisation event for tax is a separate question with its own timing. Start with what you can prove: that you held the coins, that they were taken, when that happened, and what you did about it.
My exchange collapsed — when can I claim the loss?
Not necessarily in the year the platform stopped paying out. What you hold after a collapse is usually a claim against an insolvent business rather than the coins themselves, so the timing question becomes when that claim crystallised or became worthless. While a distribution is still in prospect, some value may remain. Claiming in the wrong year is the common error and it is worse than waiting, because an early claim can be denied and the correct year may be closed by the time anyone notices.
What proof do I need that the coins were mine?
The evidence has to cover both the holding and the event, and it should be contemporaneous wherever possible. For the holding: acquisition records, the addresses or accounts concerned, and the balance immediately before the loss. For the event: the chain trace of the outgoing transfer, any correspondence with the platform, reports made to the police or a regulator, and dates for all of it. Evidence assembled months afterwards is worth having but is weaker, so gather it while the records still exist.
Is stolen crypto a capital loss or a business loss?
It follows the character the holding already had. If the coins were held as capital property, the loss falls on capital account; if the activity was a trade and the coins were its stock, it falls on the other side. This is not a choice made at the moment the loss occurs. It is determined by what the holding was before the event, which is why an inconsistent history of reporting gains causes so much trouble when a loss finally has to be claimed.
I lost my seed phrase — can I deduct the coins?
This is the hardest version of the problem, because nothing has moved. The coins still sit at an address; what has been lost is your ability to reach them. Whether that amounts to a realisation event is genuinely doubtful in most systems, and the answer usually turns on whether the asset can be shown to be beyond recovery rather than merely inaccessible. Document what was held, what recovery was attempted, and when it was abandoned, then take a view with your eyes open.
Must I wait for the bankruptcy to finish before claiming?
Often, in substance, although the test is not the formal closing of the insolvency but when your claim became worthless or was otherwise settled. A partial distribution can fix the amount, and an announcement or a court determination may do so earlier. Keep the file open and dated: the correspondence, the notices, the proof of claim, and any distribution received. The year you claim in has to be supported by something that happened in that year, not by the point at which you stopped hoping.
Branch or subsidiary — which should we use to expand?
A branch keeps one taxpayer: results consolidate at home, losses are usable sooner, and the exposure is that the branch is a permanent establishment whose profit the host country taxes, sometimes with a branch tax on repatriation. A subsidiary is a separate taxpayer with limited liability and local rates, at the cost of withholding on dividends home and transfer pricing on everything between them. The deciding facts are usually expected losses, liability and exit plans. See branch against subsidiary.
Which countries have a tax treaty with the United States?
Around sixty, including Canada, the United Kingdom, India, Australia and most of western Europe — but the list matters less than the terms, because each treaty caps rates and allocates income differently. Two countries with treaties can produce opposite answers on the same pension or the same royalty. What decides your position is the specific article covering your income type. See our country guides.
