Guides
Plain-English, primary-source-cited guides to UK CARF - written by a practitioner, updated the same week HMRC or the OECD publishes anything that changes them.
The UK CARF Handbook: HMRC crypto reporting explained
in reviewThe practitioner's pillar guide: who must report, every deadline and penalty, and how to prepare.
What is CARF? The Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework, plainly
in reviewThe two-minute definitional version.
Am I an RCASP? Who must report under UK CARF
in reviewEntity-by-entity scope walk-through: exchanges, OTC, wallets, payment apps and DeFi, which of them actually meet the test, and the UK-nexus traps.
CARF penalties UK: the £100, £300, £5,000 and £600/day rules
in reviewWhich failure triggers which maximum, why the self-certification rule displaces the general one, and worked examples.
RCASP registration with HMRC
in reviewWho must register, by when, and what the deadline actually turns on.
Your first CARF report: complete checklist for 31 May 2027
in reviewWorking backwards from the deadline to what you must do this quarter.
CARF self-certification: requirements + free template
in reviewThe document the up-to-£300 per-user penalty hinges on - what it must contain, the refuser problem, and a template pack.
The CARF XML schema, explained for humans
in reviewThe OECD schema, what schema validation does and does not prove, and the corrections lifecycle - without the standards-document prose.
Non-UK crypto platforms: when UK CARF applies to you
in reviewOffshore incorporation doesn't put you outside UK CARF - the four nexus tests and the classic fact patterns.
UK CARF deadline calendar
in reviewEvery date that matters, kept current, with reminders by email.
CARF vs DAC8: the UK/EU split explained
in reviewOne OECD standard, and the UK filing regime under SI 2025/744. What a platform obligated in more than one jurisdiction has to reconcile.
CARF due diligence: what HMRC expects from 1 Jan 2026
in reviewThe running obligation the report is built on - and how failures become per-user penalties.
TIN formats for CARF: NINO, UTR and 18 jurisdictions
in reviewA reference sheet for the taxpayer identification numbers CARF self-certifications turn on.
SI 2025/744 in plain English
in reviewThe UK's CARF statutory instrument, translated into operational order.
Submitting a CARF report via Government Gateway
in reviewWhat SI 2025/744 requires of the filing itself: an electronic report, an electronic validation step, and a hard deadline.
Will HMRC know about my crypto? What exchanges report from 2026
in reviewFor individuals: what's in the reporting pipeline and what to do about past filings.
Each guide is checked against the primary sources before it goes up, which is slower than writing it and the reason this list is honest about what is still in review. Want to know when each lands? The homepage signup is exactly that.