What this ruling covers
The Australian Taxation Office has released a draft tax ruling, TR 2026/D1, explaining how income tax applies when Australian residents receive or issue crypto assets through an airdrop. An airdrop is a distribution of crypto assets to wallet addresses that requires little or no action from the recipient.
The ruling covers seven scenarios, including:
- Airdrops received by crypto trading businesses
- Airdrops received as payment for services
- Hobby-related airdrops
- Airdrops received as a result of phishing scams
- Airdrops received without the recipient's knowledge
What the ruling does not cover
The ruling does not address GST implications of airdrops. It also does not apply to:
- Crypto received in exchange for fiat currency or other crypto assets
- Airdrops from non-arm's length transactions
- Liquidity rewards
- Tokens with a rebasing mechanism
Draft status and reliance
This ruling is in draft form and is open for public comment. It is not yet final. The ATO states that if a person relies on the draft ruling reasonably and in good faith, the ATO will not charge interest or penalties if the draft later turns out to be incorrect and tax has been underpaid. The correct amount of tax is still owed.
Key actions
- Read the full draft ruling at https://www.ato.gov.au/law/view/document?docid=DTR/TR2026D1/NAT/ATO/00001 to check whether any of the seven examples match your situation.
- Check Appendix 2 of the ruling for instructions on how to submit comments on the draft. The source does not specify a submission deadline - check the ATO's Advice under development program item 4178 for the closing date.
- If a business trades crypto assets and has received airdrops, review Examples 1 and 2 in the ruling to understand whether the airdrop value is ordinary income.
- If crypto airdrops have been received without any action taken (they appeared in a wallet without prompting), review Example 5 to understand the tax position.
- Track the ATO's Advice under development program at https://www.ato.gov.au for updates on when this draft ruling is finalised.
This is a plain-English summary for information only, not legal or compliance advice. Always check the official source or consult a qualified professional.