Sync Celsius CSV Recap can account for your Celsius transactions, making it easy to manage your crypto tax calculations. Upload your Celsius transactions to Recap to manage your cryptocurrency portfolio and effortlessly automate your taxes.
Disclaimer
The information provided in this content does not endorse Celsius. Furthermore, it does not constitute tax advice. If you are uncertain about any financial or tax-related matters, we strongly recommend seeking guidance from a qualified tax professional. Additionally, you may utilise our accountant and professional advisor sharing features.
What was Celsius?
Celsius was a cryptocurrency lending platform and Bitcoin mining company that emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January 2024.
What Celsius offered
Here's a breakdown of what Celsius offered:
- Crypto Lending: Allowed users to borrow against their cryptocurrency holdings without needing to sell them, using their crypto as collateral.
- Interest Earning: Enabled users to earn interest on their cryptocurrency deposits, with interest paid out weekly.
- CelPay: Offered a payment service that allowed users to send and receive cryptocurrency instantly and with no fees.
- Borrowing in Fiat: Provided loans in fiat currency using cryptocurrency as collateral.
How to calculate your Celsius bankruptcy tax write-off?
You can make the process of calculating your taxes stress-free with our crypto tax software. Add your Celsius account transactions to Recap, and check out our guide on how to claim a tax loss.
How are Celsius Transactions Taxed?
Tax implications on your Celsius transactions differ based on transaction types and your tax jurisdiction. Here are the tax guidelines for the different transaction types on Celsius:
Celsius tax table
| Transaction type | CGT disposal | CGT acquisition | Income |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deposits prior to beneficial ownership transfer | CGT disposal: no | CGT acquisition: no | Income: no |
| Deposits post beneficial ownership transfer | CGT disposal: yes. With Celsius bankruptcy rules enabled, a deposit dated on or after the beneficial-ownership transfer date is followed by an automatically generated trade that disposes of the deposited coin. Recap's default transfer date: 2022-04-15 (Celsius terms of use v8). Configurable: the date is editable per account, and the 'Apply bankruptcy rules' switch is off by default. With it off, the deposit generates no capital gains events at all. | CGT acquisition: yes. The same generated trade acquires a 'right to the asset' (asset, identifier 'celsius') for the value of the coin deposited. | Income: no |
| Withdrawals prior to beneficial ownership transfer | CGT disposal: no | CGT acquisition: no | Income: no |
| Withdrawals post beneficial ownership transfer | CGT disposal: yes. After the transfer date the balance is held as a 'right to the asset', so a withdrawal generates a trade that disposes of that right. | CGT acquisition: yes. The same generated trade re-acquires the underlying coin at the value of the right given up. Recap's default transfer date: 2022-04-15; configurable per account, and only applied when 'Apply bankruptcy rules' is enabled (off by default), otherwise the withdrawal generates no capital gains events. | Income: no |
| Crypto to crypto swap | CGT disposal: yes. The outgoing leg is disposed of at the trade's valued amount. | CGT acquisition: yes. The incoming leg enters the pool. If the swap is dated after the beneficial-ownership transfer date with bankruptcy rules enabled, both legs are converted to 'right to the asset' assets, but the disposal/acquisition pattern is unchanged. Loan principal and interest liquidations are also mapped as sell trades, with proceeds of zero. | Income: no |
| Earning rewards | CGT disposal: no | CGT acquisition: yes. The reward also enters the section 104 pool at the same market value. With bankruptcy rules enabled, rewards dated after the transfer date are acquired as a 'right to the asset' rather than the coin itself. | Income: yes. Interest, rewards and referral/referred awards are recorded as income at market value. Bonus tokens and promo code rewards from the API are instead mapped as airdrops, which are an acquisition only and never generate an income event in Recap; Recap's default airdrop pool cost is zero for portfolios created after 2024-04-06 (market value for older ones) and can be overridden per transaction. Configurable: 'deduct income fees' (off by default) nets a same-asset fee off the income amount. |
| Right of action disposals | CGT disposal: yes. Any 'right to the asset' or loan-collateral right still held on the write-off date is written off as a zero-proceeds disposal, so the whole pooled cost of the right becomes a capital loss. Recap's default write-off date: 2022-07-14 (Celsius Chapter 11 filing); configurable per account, as is whether loan collateral becomes a right on deposit or on the beneficial-ownership transfer date. | CGT acquisition: no | Income: no |
| Distributions | CGT disposal: yes. In code a distribution is not a disposal event: it is an acquisition that is additionally charged directly as a capital gain at its value on receipt, which is added to gains and proceeds in the capital gains computation, giving the same net effect as a disposal with no cost basis. A balancing withdrawal is auto-generated one second later and itself produces no events. | CGT acquisition: yes. The distributed asset also enters the section 104 pool at the value used. Configurable: distributions are entered manually per account (date, amount, asset and price); Recap pre-fills the effective-date valuations (BTC $42,973, ETH $2,577, Ionic $20, converted at 0.782655 USD/GBP) and the price is editable. | Income: no |
This table shows how Recap classifies each transaction type by default. Some treatments — such as the acquisition cost used for airdrops — are configurable in Recap. This is general information, not tax advice; consult a qualified tax professional about your circumstances.
This table shows Recap's default classification for common Celsius transactions. It is not an exhaustive schedule or a ruling. Treatment depends on your circumstances and jurisdiction, including whether you enable bankruptcy rules, and you can recategorise any transaction where yours differ. Confirm your position with a qualified tax adviser.
Please take a look at our bankruptcy guide for a more detailed on the tax position for Celsius creditors.
