Can a Queensland Real Estate Agent Accept Crypto for Their Commission?
A seller asks whether you’d take half your commission in Bitcoin. An overseas buyer making a Gold Coast purchase mentions they hold most of their liquid wealth in Ethereum and would prefer to settle your fee that way. These conversations are happening — and the number of Queensland agents fielding them is growing. The question is not whether it will come up. It is whether you know how to handle it when it does.
The short answer is that there is no provision in Queensland law that expressly prohibits a Queensland real estate agent from accepting cryptocurrency as payment for their commission. But the pathway to doing so lawfully is considerably more involved than simply sharing a wallet address. Commission structures, Form 6 requirements, trust account obligations, GST, and the ATO’s treatment of crypto as a taxable asset all intersect in ways that create real compliance exposure for agents who move too quickly.
This article works through each of those layers systematically.
The Legal Framework for Commission in Queensland
Queensland agents must be formally appointed in writing before they are entitled to sell a property or charge commission — this is done using the prescribed Appointment of Property Agent (Form 6) under the Property Occupations Act 2014 (Qld).
In accordance with the Property Occupations Act 2014, agents must specify a commission amount that is GST inclusive and specify when commission is payable. The Act does not prescribe the form in which commission must be received — it does not say “Australian dollars only.” The commission provisions in the Act are largely concerned with how much can be charged, when entitlement arises, and how disputes are resolved — not the denomination of payment.
Section 88 of the Act provides that a property agent who performs services for the payment of a commission must not claim commission worked out on an amount more than the actual sale price of the property, the actual rental for the property being let or the actual amount of rent collected. This is the critical constraint. The commission must be calculated against a real AUD sale price. If a seller proposes to pay a portion of commission in crypto, the AUD value of that crypto at the point of payment must equal the agreed commission amount, and that amount must not exceed what is authorised in the Form 6.
The entitlement of the real estate agent and the auctioneer to recover commission, fees, charges and expenses will be regulated by the terms of the written appointment of the agent or auctioneer and by legislation. So the legal authority for any crypto arrangement begins and ends with what the Form 6 says. If it says nothing about crypto, the commission obligation defaults to a standard monetary debt — which means the agent can receive AUD and nothing else unless both parties have otherwise agreed in writing.
What the Form 6 Must Say
If an agent intends to accept crypto as commission — even partially — this needs to be addressed in the Form 6 before the agent commences work. The Form 6 must specify the commission amount in AUD (GST inclusive) and describe when it becomes payable. The commission rate is negotiable and must be agreed in writing before the agent starts work; it is commonly expressed as a percentage of the sale price or a fixed dollar amount.
The cleanest approach is to express the commission as a fixed AUD amount, then separately note in the Form 6 (or a contemporaneous written agreement with the seller) that the parties have agreed the commission will be settled in cryptocurrency of equivalent market value at the time of payment, with a nominated reference exchange rate or methodology. The key principle is that the AUD obligation must be clearly established first. Crypto is then the agreed method of satisfying that obligation — not the unit in which the obligation is measured.
Agents should obtain their principal’s approval before offering crypto commission arrangements to clients. Franchise networks and some larger agencies have their own internal policies on this, and an agent acting outside those policies exposes the agency as well as themselves.
Trust Accounts and the Crypto Problem
This is where the compliance picture gets significantly more complicated for Queensland agents, and it is the angle that most articles on this topic either gloss over or miss entirely.
Trust accounts are strictly regulated in Queensland, meaning the person managing the account must follow specific rules and report how the money is handled — the purpose being to protect both the buyer and the seller by ensuring no one can misuse the funds. Trust accounts must be set up with an approved bank, and funds held in them must not be mixed with business money.
Queensland trust accounts must comply with trust account legislative requirements in the Property Occupations Act 2014 and the Agents Financial Administration Act 2014. Under the Agents Financial Administration Act 2014 (Qld), “trust money” means money received by a licensee on behalf of a person in the course of or in connection with carrying on a business as a property agent. That money must be held in a financial institution trust account — a conventional bank account. Cryptocurrency cannot currently be held in a statutory trust account in Queensland. The legislation simply has not been extended to accommodate digital assets.
This creates an important distinction that agents need to understand clearly. Commission — the agent’s own fee — is not the same as trust money. Commission flows to the agent; trust money (such as a buyer’s deposit) is held on behalf of a client. An agent is not required to pass their own commission through a trust account. Once commission has been released from settlement proceeds (via the normal PEXA or conveyancing process), it belongs to the agent or agency, and the agent can arrange with the client to receive it in whatever form both parties have agreed.
The practical flow in a standard Queensland sale is that the seller’s proceeds, including the commission, pass through the settlement process in AUD. If an agent and client have agreed to a crypto settlement of commission, the AUD equivalent is paid to the agent at settlement in the normal way, and the client separately transfers crypto to the agent’s nominated wallet — or the agent converts the AUD they’ve received and acquires the agreed crypto on the open market. The real estate transaction itself remains in AUD. The crypto exchange is a separate bilateral arrangement.
There is no mechanism under current Queensland legislation for crypto to pass directly through a settlement statement or PEXA workspace. That remains AUD-denominated by design.
GST: The Commission Is Still Taxable at 10%
Regardless of how commission is paid, it remains a taxable supply under the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 (Cth). An agent who accepts crypto as commission has not escaped GST.
Agent services attract 10% GST. The GST liability is calculated on the AUD value of the commission at the time of supply. If you agree to receive $15,000 in Bitcoin for your commission, and the AUD value of that Bitcoin on the date of payment is $15,000 (GST inclusive), you owe the ATO one-eleventh of that amount — $1,363.64 — as GST. You invoice the client in AUD, include GST, and the fact that the client satisfied the invoice with crypto does not change that obligation.
The agent must also account for the AUD value of the commission for income tax purposes. Whether the individual agent or the agency entity is registered for GST will affect the reporting obligations, but it does not change the underlying liability.
The ATO’s Treatment of Crypto: Capital Gains and Income
This is where the tax exposure becomes layered and where agents who accept crypto commission need to think carefully about both their income tax and their CGT position.
Despite its name, cryptocurrency is treated as an asset (or property) by the Australian Taxation Office, rather than a type of currency — meaning it is typically taxed in the same way as shares or real estate.
When an agent receives crypto as commission, there are two separate tax events to consider.
First, the income event. The AUD value of the commission at the time of receipt is assessable income — exactly as it would be if the commission had been paid in cash. If you receive Bitcoin worth $20,000 AUD on the date of transfer, you have $20,000 of income (less GST) to declare. This is straightforward and mirrors how the ATO treats other non-cash remuneration.
Second, the CGT event. The crypto you received as commission becomes a CGT asset with a cost base equal to its AUD value at the time you received it. If you later sell, exchange, or dispose of that crypto, a CGT event occurs. You will make a capital gain if the proceeds from the disposal of your crypto asset exceed its cost base. You may be able to reduce capital gains using the CGT discount if you hold your crypto asset for at least 12 months.
So an agent who receives Bitcoin worth $20,000 at the time of receiving commission, and later sells that Bitcoin when it is worth $28,000, has a capital gain of $8,000 — potentially discountable by 50% if held for more than 12 months. Conversely, if the Bitcoin drops to $14,000 before disposal, the agent realises a capital loss of $6,000, which can be offset against other capital gains.
The ATO requires comprehensive documentation of cryptocurrency activities, including the date of each transaction, the value in AUD, the purpose of the transaction, and any associated fees. Agents accepting crypto commission must record the AUD value of the crypto at the exact date and time of receipt. This is the cost base for future CGT purposes. Using a reputable exchange price (such as from CoinSpot, Independent Reserve, or a similar regulated Australian platform) at the time of transfer is the most defensible approach.
The landscape of crypto compliance in Australia is tightening — the ATO now shares data directly with major exchanges, which means the ATO knows what you bought and sold and expects you to report these transactions accurately in your tax return. Agents cannot treat crypto commission as an under-the-table arrangement. The ATO’s data-matching program is active and growing.
Anti-Money Laundering Considerations
Real estate agents in Queensland who accept cryptocurrency for commission also need to be aware of their obligations under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth), administered by AUSTRAC.
Queensland real estate agents are already designated reporting entities under that Act in relation to their real estate services. While the detailed AML/CTF obligations for real estate agents were significantly expanded from 31 March 2026, agents should be alert to the fact that receiving crypto from a client — even as legitimate commission payment — is a financial transaction that may fall within their reporting and record-keeping obligations. Crypto transactions can, in some circumstances, trigger threshold transaction reporting or suspicious matter reporting obligations. Agents operating in the luxury residential market, or with a high proportion of overseas buyers, face heightened scrutiny in this area.
Agents seeking to accept crypto commission regularly, or as an ongoing offer to clients, should ensure their AML/CTF program specifically addresses digital asset payments. This is not an area to navigate by intuition.
Volatility: The Practical Risk for Agents
Beyond compliance, there is a commercial reality that any agent accepting cryptocurrency as commission needs to factor in. Crypto markets are volatile in ways that AUD simply is not. Between the point at which a commission amount is agreed (at Form 6 execution), the point at which an unconditional contract is formed, and the point at which settlement occurs, the AUD value of any agreed crypto amount can move substantially.
If an agent agrees to receive 0.5 Bitcoin as commission, and Bitcoin falls 30% between agreement and settlement, the agent has effectively accepted a significant pay cut. Equally, if the price rises, the agent may receive more than anticipated.
The simplest way to manage this risk is to denominate the commission in AUD in the Form 6 (as required), and to convert any crypto received into AUD as promptly as possible after settlement. This limits the window of price exposure and simplifies the tax calculation. Agents who hold crypto long-term are making a deliberate investment decision, and that should be a considered choice — not something that happens by default because they forgot to convert.
Stablecoins — cryptocurrencies pegged to AUD or USD — reduce this volatility risk substantially and may be a more practical option for agents who wish to offer crypto settlement without the price exposure of volatile assets. AUDC or USDC are examples. Even so, stablecoins carry their own counterparty and smart contract risks that agents should understand before accepting them.
What This Means for Queensland Agents
Accepting cryptocurrency as commission is not prohibited under Queensland’s property legislation, but it requires careful structuring to remain compliant.
The Form 6 must express commission in AUD. Crypto can be agreed as the method of satisfying that AUD obligation, but the obligation itself must be denominated in Australian dollars. Any crypto arrangement should be documented in writing, ideally as a schedule or addendum to the Form 6, signed by both parties.
Commission does not flow through trust accounts. The real estate settlement process remains in AUD. A crypto payment for commission is a direct bilateral transaction between the agent and the seller, separate from the conveyancing settlement. Agents must not attempt to receive crypto through the agency trust account — there is no legislative framework for this, and doing so would create trust account irregularities.
Tax compliance is non-negotiable. The AUD value of crypto received as commission is assessable income in the year of receipt. The cost base of that crypto is established at that same point. Any subsequent disposal of the crypto triggers a CGT event. Records of the AUD value at the time of each transaction are essential. Agents should engage a tax accountant with experience in digital assets to manage their reporting obligations.
Volatility management is a business decision. Agents who accept volatile crypto should have a clear policy on when and how they convert to AUD. Holding crypto as a speculative investment is a separate decision from accepting it as payment for services.
AML/CTF exposure is real. Crypto payments from clients — particularly overseas buyers or high-value transactions — warrant careful consideration under the agent’s AML/CTF obligations. Ensure your program covers digital asset receipts and that you are meeting your AUSTRAC reporting obligations.
As the Queensland property market continues to attract international investors and crypto-holding buyers, agents who can competently navigate this question — rather than simply declining it — will have a genuine competitive advantage. The framework exists to do it properly. The key is knowing the framework before the client asks.