Exporting from Kraken
Kraken stores your activity in a ledger format where every trade is split into separate debit and credit rows linked by a reference ID (refid). Staking rewards, deposits, and withdrawals each appear as their own ledger entries. To build accurate FIFO cost basis queues for your NZ tax return, you need to export your complete history.
How to export:
- Log in to kraken.com.
- Click your profile icon (top right) and select Documents.
- Click Create Export.
- Select Ledger as the export type.
- Set the date range from account opening to today, not just the tax year.
- Ensure the format is CSV, then click Generate.
- Download when ready - the file arrives as a .zip.
- Upload the .zip directly, or extract ledgers.csv first.
Upload your complete history including prior years. The calculator needs your earliest purchases to build accurate cost basis queues for FIFO matching. Both Ledger and Trades formats are supported - we auto-detect which one you uploaded.
When are Kraken profits taxable in NZ?
New Zealand has no general capital gains tax. But if you acquired crypto with the intention to dispose of it for profit, IRD treats any gain as taxable income. For most people actively trading on Kraken, this threshold is met.
The key legal test is "acquired for the purpose of disposal." If you bought crypto on Kraken planning to sell it when the price went up, the profit is taxable. This catches most exchange traders, especially those making regular buys and sells.
Taxable gains are added to your other income and taxed at your marginal rate, which ranges from 10.5% to 39% depending on your total income bracket.
- Taxable: Sells where intent to profit existed at purchase, regular trading, crypto-to-crypto swaps, spending crypto.
- May not be taxable: Long-term holds with genuinely no intent to sell at the time of purchase. IRD's view is that most crypto trading is taxable, so this exception is narrow and rarely applies to active exchange users.
- Staking rewards: Taxable as income at fair market value when received, regardless of intent. Income from property is always taxable in NZ.
- Filing deadline: 7 July for individual tax returns.
IRD has signaled increasing enforcement on crypto. Information-sharing agreements with overseas tax authorities mean Kraken activity is not invisible to New Zealand tax officials.
What the calculator does
The calculator reads every row in your Kraken CSV, groups debit and credit entries by refid, and reconstructs complete trades. Kraken CSVs do not always include NZD spot prices for every transaction. Our engine automatically enriches every transaction with historical daily prices and converts all values to New Zealand dollars using ECB exchange rates.
Each disposal in your selected period gets a cost basis, proceeds, and disposal result using FIFO matching. The report provides these records for advisor review; it does not calculate final income tax because the calendar-year selection differs from New Zealand's income year and tax treatment is fact-specific.
Both Ledger and Trades formats are supported - we auto-detect which one you uploaded. The Ledger format is preferred because it includes staking rewards, deposits, and withdrawals alongside trades. The report includes a trading summary, income section for staking rewards, top assets by P&L, end-of-year holdings, and a complete transaction audit trail.
IRD and your Kraken history
- Active trading suggests intent: If you're buying and selling on Kraken regularly - multiple trades over weeks or months - IRD will likely consider your activity taxable. The more frequently you trade, the stronger the case for taxation.
- Kraken staking fully active for NZ users: Unlike in the US where Kraken shut down staking in 2023, Kraken staking remains available for New Zealand customers. All staking rewards in your Ledger export are identified and valued at fair market value on the day received. Income from property is always taxable in NZ regardless of intent.
- NZD conversion from native currencies: Kraken supports multiple quote currencies including USD, EUR, and AUD pairs. The preview converts supported transactions to NZD for review; verify the rates and tax treatment before filing.
- Refid pairing handles Kraken's unique format: Kraken's Ledger export lists individual debit and credit entries rather than complete trades. Each trade is split across multiple rows linked by a reference ID (refid). Our parser reconstructs complete transactions by pairing these entries automatically.
- Automatic price enrichment: Kraken CSVs do not always include spot prices for every transaction. Our engine enriches every transaction with historical daily prices so your cost basis is accurate in NZD.
- IRD data-sharing agreements: Kraken does not report directly to IRD. However, New Zealand participates in the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) and has information-sharing agreements with other tax jurisdictions. You should not assume your Kraken activity is invisible.
Related calculators and guides
Kraken calculator: Kraken Tax Calculator (all countries)
NZ calculator: New Zealand Crypto Tax Calculator (all exchanges)
Other exchanges in NZ:
Coinbase NZ ·
Binance NZ