Exchange Rates for Tax by Country: Which Rate Each Tax Authority Uses

A creator earns January ad income in dollars. It is finalised on 31 January, lands on 15 February, and is converted into local currency on 25 February, or never. Which of those dates, and which exchange rate, the tax return uses depends on where the creator lives. This page answers that for each country in turn, grouped by region.

The method for working out the tax itself, from gross income to foreign tax credits, is in how to calculate tax on income from multiple countries. This page is the reference for the one step that changes most from country to country: the rate.

The one rule that holds everywhere

The conversion date is never the income date. In every country below, foreign income is valued on the date it counts for tax, usually the date it was received and in some places the date it was earned. Converting it later, or keeping it in dollars, does not change the income figure. It creates a separate exchange gain or loss, which each country treats in its own way.

Three kinds of rule

Tax authorities fall into three groups:

1. The law names the rate. Ghana, Pakistan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Argentina, Colombia, Brazil, India, France, Germany and, for those who pay income tax, Saudi Arabia. Use that rate, not your bank's.
2. Any reputable rate, applied consistently. The United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, South Africa and Spain. A central bank rate, the tax authority's own published rate or a major data source all qualify.
3. No rate in law, so a practical basis. Nigeria, Egypt and the Netherlands. The law is silent on income, so the basis that holds up is the one in the multi-country method: a reputable published rate for the date the income counts, from the same source every time, with the source noted. It is marked practical basis in the table below, because it is how the figure is defended, not a rule the law sets.

At a glance

Americas

United States: any posted rate, used consistently

The IRS says: "Use the exchange rate prevailing when you receive, pay, or accrue the item." It does not designate an official rate, and its yearly average rates are a reference rather than a requirement. A gain on foreign currency held in a business is ordinary income.

Canada: the date earned, at the Bank of Canada rate

Self-employed Canadians report on an accrual basis, so January income is January income even if it is paid in February. The CRA's folio on reporting currency starts from the Bank of Canada rate, accepts other sources such as Bloomberg, Thomson Reuters and OANDA, and may accept an average over a period for certain income.

Brazil: a Central Bank rate from the month before

For income declared through the monthly carnê-leão, Receita Federal converts foreign income into dollars on the date received, then into reais at the Central Bank's dollar buying rate for the last business day of the first half of the previous month. A payment received in March converts at a mid-February rate.

Argentina: the Banco de la Nación buying rate

Foreign-currency amounts convert at the Banco de la Nación Argentina buying or selling rate at the close of the day of the operation (Decree 862/2019, article 160). Freelance and professional income counts when received; business income counts when earned. A periodic average is possible only if the tax authority authorises it.

Colombia: the TRM, and a gain taxed on conversion

Income in foreign currency is measured at the TRM, the representative market rate, when it is first recognised (Estatuto Tributario, article 288). Exchange movements have no tax effect until the money is converted or paid out; then the difference between the TRM at recognition and at conversion is taxable income or a deductible loss. DIAN has confirmed this applies to cash held in bank accounts abroad.

Europe

United Kingdom: HMRC's rates are not official

Some tax software tells users to "use HMRC's rates". HMRC's Business Income Manual says its published rate "is not an 'official' rate and businesses may use other exchange rates for tax purposes." Most sole traders now use the cash basis, so income counts when received. HMRC's guidance does not settle how an exchange difference is treated under the cash basis, which is one to raise with an accountant.

Germany: the European Central Bank rate

Germany's Federal Fiscal Court has held that foreign-currency income is converted at the European Central Bank's reference rate, not the rate a bank actually applied (BFH, VI R 4/08). Income counts when received.

France: the Paris rate on the day received

The tax administration's guidance values foreign income at the Paris exchange rate on the day it is received or credited to an account abroad. As a practical alternative it allows an annual average worked out from the Banque de France rates on 1 January and 31 December. It publishes no specific rule on exchange gains for self-employed people taxed on receipts.

Spain: the spot rate, or an average of up to a month

Spanish accounting rules, which self-employed income follows, convert at the spot rate on the transaction date, and allow an average over a period of up to a month unless the rate moved significantly. Self-employed people who do not keep full commercial accounts can opt to be taxed on receipts. Converting foreign currency held privately, outside the business, into euros produces a capital gain or loss in the savings base, according to the tax directorate's binding rulings.

Netherlands: no rate in law, so a consistent published rate

Dutch business profit is worked out under "sound business practice" with a consistent method (Income Tax Act 2001, article 3.25). No rate or date is set for a sole trader's foreign income. The European Central Bank rate on 1 January that the tax authority points to applies to savings and investments in box 3, not to business income. The practical basis is a reputable published rate, such as the European Central Bank's reference rate, for the date the income is received, applied the same way every year.

Africa

Nigeria: no rate in law for income, so a published rate you can point to

Many guides say to convert income at the Central Bank of Nigeria rate. The Nigeria Tax Act 2025 prescribes the CBN rate only for expenses (section 20(4)) and sets no rate for income. Residents are taxed on income wherever it arises (section 12), and converting dollars you hold is treated as disposing of a chargeable asset (section 34). Value each payment on the date it landed, at a published rate you can point to, from the same source every time. Self-employed individuals file with their State Internal Revenue Service. Dollar income in Nigeria covers the Nigerian case in depth.

Ghana: the Bank of Ghana inter-bank rate

The Revenue Administration Act (section 21) is explicit: foreign-currency amounts are converted "at the Bank of Ghana inter-bank exchange rate applying on the date the amount is to be taken into account." Individuals can account on a cash or accrual basis, so that date is when the money was received or when it became receivable. Since 2023, a realised exchange loss on a foreign-currency holding is deductible from business income; an unrealised one is not.

Kenya: the rate at the time of payment

The KRA's guidance is to use the exchange rate at the time of payment and to report in shillings, without naming a source. A realised exchange gain is treated as a trading receipt.

South Africa: the spot rate, or elect the average

Income is converted at the spot rate when it is received or accrues, and individuals can elect to use the average rate for the tax year instead (Income Tax Act, section 25D).

Egypt: no rule in law, so a consistent published rate

Egypt's Income Tax Law and its Executive Regulations contain no rule for converting foreign-currency income. Business profit follows the income statement under Egyptian Accounting Standards. The Egyptian Tax Authority's guide for content creators confirms that AdSense income requires income tax registration, but it does not say which rate to use. The practical basis is a published rate for the date the income is received, from the same source every time, with the source noted.

Middle East

United Arab Emirates: the Central Bank rate, and a pegged dirham

The UAE has no personal income tax. A person whose business turnover passes AED 1 million a year comes under corporate tax, where foreign amounts convert at the Central Bank of the UAE's rate. For dollar income the question is mostly academic: the dirham is pegged to the dollar.

Saudi Arabia: the Saudi Central Bank rate, for those who pay income tax

Income tax applies to a resident non-Saudi individual doing business in the Kingdom, and the Income Tax Law converts at "the exchange rate declared by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency on the date of the transaction" (article 30). Saudi and GCC nationals do not pay income tax on their own activity; those with a licensed activity pay zakat instead. Gains or losses from revaluing currency are disregarded for income tax.

Asia

India: the State Bank of India rate on 31 March

Business income earned abroad is converted at the State Bank of India's telegraphic-transfer buying rate on the last day of the tax year, 31 March, unless the money was brought into India before then (Rule 115 of the Income-tax Rules). Averages are not accepted. Practitioners disagree on how this applies to money held in Payoneer or Wise.

Philippines: the bankers' association spot rate

The BIR's Revenue Memorandum Circular 12-2024 converts foreign-currency transactions "using the spot rate of exchange on the date of transaction", based on rates published by the Bankers Association of the Philippines. Using Bangko Sentral, Bloomberg or Reuters rates instead requires a notarised election filed before the tax year starts. Only realised exchange gains and losses count for tax.

Pakistan: the State Bank of Pakistan rate

The Income Tax Ordinance 2001 (section 71) converts foreign-currency amounts "at the State Bank of Pakistan rate… on the date the amount is taken into account." Individuals can account on a cash basis, so that is the date received. Exporters of IT and IT-enabled services also have tax deducted by the bank when the foreign currency is converted (section 154A), at 0.25% for those registered with the Pakistan Software Export Board (for tax years up to 2026) and 1% otherwise; it becomes a final tax only if returns are filed.

Indonesia: the weekly tax exchange rate

Indonesia's Minister of Finance sets a weekly tax exchange rate, the kurs pajak, as the basis for settling income tax. No specific date rule is published for a self-employed person paid from abroad; the practical basis is the kurs pajak in force on the date the income is received. Exchange gains are taxable income and exchange losses deductible under the Income Tax Law (Law 36/2008, articles 4 and 6).

Vietnam: your Vietnamese bank's buying rate

From 1 July 2026, Decree 253/2026 converts foreign income at the buying rate of the commercial bank where you hold your transaction account, at the time the income arises. Without a Vietnamese account, the State Bank of Vietnam's central rate applies. Before 1 July 2026, the fallback was Vietcombank's buying rate.

The exchange gain or loss, region by region

What happens when you convert later, at a different rate, varies more than the rate itself:

• Taxed or deductible when you convert: Colombia, the Philippines (realised only), Indonesia, Kenya (realised gain), the United States (business currency), Germany.
• Treated as a gain on disposing of an asset: Spain, as a capital gain where the money was held privately; Nigeria, where converting held dollars is a disposal of a chargeable asset.
• Losses only, or partial rules: Ghana allows a realised exchange loss on a foreign-currency holding and not an unrealised one.
• Disregarded: Saudi Arabia, for revaluation gains and losses.
• Not settled in published guidance: the United Kingdom under the cash basis, France for income taxed on receipts, Egypt, Vietnam.

Wherever you file, the gain or loss only counts correctly if it was recorded separately from the income. Seven ways getting paid in several currencies costs you money covers the conversion costs that sit on top of it.

Keeping it in one place

If your income comes from several platforms in several currencies, the hard part is having every payment, its date and its rate to hand when the return is due. The income tracker records each payment in its own currency with the date it landed and the rate used, and when you convert later it keeps the exchange gain or loss as its own figure, separate from your income. For what applies where you live, including whether PlatformTaxHub estimates tax for your country, check the countries page.

General information on how foreign-currency income is valued for tax, as of September 2026. Rules change, and an adviser should confirm what applies to your own return.