An upgrade to the ATO website has seen a change in the regulator’s approach toward the valuation of cryptocurrencies held inside an SMSF for year-end reporting.
“The ATO has removed the reference that previously said you could use the 30 June closing figures in Aussie dollars which has been posted on a crypto exchange,” ASF Audits head of technical Shelley Banton told SMSF Association Audit Day 2025 delegates today.
“All it says now is that the trustee has to make sure that they have proper market valuation records for their auditor.”
Banton pointed out this new attitude the ATO has confirmed over cryptocurrency valuations does mean trustees can now use prices sourced anywhere, but warned evidence is still required to be able to support and justify any valuation put forward.
She acknowledged most auditors would already have compiled a price list for frequently traded cryptocurrencies applicable to the end of the financial year and suggested some sites practioners could consider using to assist them with these valuations.
“You can go to a website such as coinmarketcap.com, CoinGecko or even Yahoo Finance for those prices and if they’re in US dollars, you need to make sure you convert them back to Aussie [dollars],” she suggested.
According to Banton, the valuation of cryptocurrencies has highlighted a flaw in the Australian digital asset framework.
“The problem is there is no centralised exchange in Australia for crypto like the ASX (Australian Securities Exchange). We’ve got many different exchanges, all of whom have their own prices, which can differ by 1 to 2 per cent,” she explained.
She noted differences in exchange prices will not present a serious issue for auditors unless they are material.
“If there is only a small ‘chump change’ difference between what [the auditor’s] price is and the price that has been recorded in the financials, you may not have to worry about it,” she said.
“Where there is a lot of price volatility going on in the market, we may see differences as high as 4 or 5 per cent and so obviously [in those situations] we need to check and make sure that if there is that level of materiality that we look at through our audits, that we are querying it and making sure we’re getting that correct because we don’t want a material misstatement in the financial reports,” she noted.
