Ireland FIFO method incorrectly restricts crypto losses — Revenue confirmed no wash-sale rule applies
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Electric lime Puma
Koinly's Ireland FIFO calculation applies a 4-week wash-sale restriction to crypto disposals, matching gains/losses on same-asset re-acquisitions within that window instead of standard FIFO. This is not required under Irish law.
Section 581 TCA 1997 (the actual Irish "bed and breakfasting" rule) applies only to shares and securities, not crypto-assets. I raised this directly with Irish Revenue's Capital Gains Tax Section, and they confirmed in writing:
"There is no four-week or 'wash sale' rule for cryptocurrency equivalent to the section 581 rule for shares. The disposal of cryptocurrency should be treated under the normal FIFO rules for capital gains tax."
Koinly's own 2023 support article (koinly.io/support/articles/9490031) acknowledges the original version of this rule was based on "incorrect guidance on Revenue's website," and even the corrected version still restricts losses that Revenue has now confirmed are fully allowable.
Request: Please update the Ireland FIFO logic to remove the crypto wash-sale restriction, or add a toggle to disable it for crypto-assets while keeping standard Irish CG1 report formatting. This is currently causing incorrect capital loss figures on generated tax reports for Irish users.
Jack
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FIFO/Ireland is a special cost basis method that accounts for wash sales.
If you believe wash sales do not apply to crypto (which does seem to be the current main view among accountants) then change your cost basis method to "normal" FIFO in your Settings.