Crypto Taxes in Germany: The 2026 English Guide

Germany can exempt a private crypto disposal after a holding period of more than one year, but that headline is only the beginning. A swap is a disposal, the new token starts a new holding period, short-term gains use the individual income tax rate, and the annual private-sale threshold is €1,000—not the outdated €600. The Federal Ministry of Finance also states that currency and payment tokens do not acquire a ten-year holding period merely because staking or lending generated income.

Short answer: private spot crypto generally follows Section § 23 EStG

The German Federal Ministry of Finance treats units of currency and payment tokens held as private assets as separate economic assets. A sale can be a private disposal transaction under Section 23 of the Income Tax Act when no more than one year passes between acquisition and disposal. If the private disposal occurs after more than one year, it is generally outside this rule.

“Disposal” is broader than a cash-out. Selling Bitcoin for euros, swapping BTC for ETH, and paying for goods or services with crypto can each be taxable. The property received in the exchange has its own acquisition cost and starts a new holding period. Moving the same units between wallets owned by the same taxpayer is not a sale, but the original date and basis must follow the transfer.

The annual threshold is €1,000, not €600

Section 23 now provides that the aggregate profit from all private disposal transactions in the calendar year remains tax-free only when it is less than €1,000. This is a threshold (Freigrenze), not an allowance. If the aggregate qualifying profit reaches €1,000, the whole amount is potentially taxable; the rule does not exempt the first €1,000.

Taxable private-sale income is subject to the taxpayer’s individual German income tax rate. The common 25 percent investment-income rate plus solidarity surcharge is not the general rate for private spot-crypto disposals. Church tax, solidarity surcharge, deductions, other income, and the taxpayer’s full assessment determine the final amount.

Losses under Section 23 are ring-fenced. They can offset gains from private disposal transactions but do not freely reduce salary or ordinary investment income. The statute provides specific carryback and carryforward treatment within that category. A report should therefore preserve both the tax year and the private-sale classification rather than presenting one universal net capital loss.

Unit identification, average value, and FIFO are not interchangeable slogans

The 2025 BMF guidance begins with a unit-by-unit analysis. If that is not possible, the oldest units of the same trade name are deemed sold for holding-period purposes, while the value is determined using an average. For simplification, the taxpayer may also use FIFO to determine value. The analysis is performed wallet by wallet.

Within a wallet, the selected method for one token must generally be retained until all units of that token have been sold. A method can be selected again after the wallet’s position is fully closed and later rebuilt. Different tokens in the same wallet may use different choices. This is more precise than the old statement that “Germany always uses FIFO across every account.”

1. Pair transfers between wallets before applying a disposal method.
2. Preserve the original acquisition date and cost of transferred units.
3. Apply the chosen method consistently within each wallet and token.
4. Use euro values from a documented, plausible source at the transaction time.
5. Separate tax-free long-held disposals from taxable short-held disposals.

Staking and lending do not create a ten-year period for payment tokens

Passive staking and lending receipts can be taxable as other income under Section 22 no. 3 when received or claimable, valued at market price. Those newly received tokens are acquired for a tax value and may later produce a separate Section 23 result when sold. Business mining, validator operations, or organized services may instead belong to a business income category.

The BMF’s current guidance expressly states that the ten-year extension in Section 23 does not apply to currency or payment tokens. The former article’s claim that staking or lending automatically extended the holding period to ten years was therefore wrong. The ordinary one-year framework remains relevant to a later disposal of acquired payment tokens.

Not every DeFi label is covered by the BMF letter. The Ministry specifically notes that NFTs and liquidity mining are not yet included. Depositing into a liquidity pool, receiving a claim token, wrapping, bridging, or liquid staking must be analyzed from the actual rights exchanged. A software event name is not an official tax classification. See our Germany DeFi tax guide for the evidence required in unresolved cases.

Anlage SO, tax reports, and recordkeeping

Private disposal gains and losses are generally reported with Anlage SO to the German income tax return. Other crypto income can also require Anlage SO but belongs to the correct line and category. Business activity uses business accounting and different forms. The federal tax year follows the calendar year.

The 2025 BMF letter places substantial emphasis on cooperation and records. Tax software output can support the return, but the tax office may request original exchange files, wallet addresses, transaction hashes, method choices, market-price sources, and a reconciliation of balances. A PDF total without source data is not sufficient by itself.

• complete raw exports and read-only API records;
• all owned wallet addresses and transfer matching;
• euro rate, source, date, and time for each taxable event;
• fees assigned to the correct acquisition or disposal;
• wallet-level method and holding-period calculation;
• separate ledgers for rewards, derivatives, NFTs, and unresolved DeFi.

The full Germany guide covers resident taxpayers in more detail. Before filing, use the checklist of common German crypto tax errors.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

• Federal Ministry of Finance: 2025 crypto-assets guidance, English translation
• German Income Tax Act, Section 23

Substantively reviewed September 1, 2026. General information, not individualized German tax advice.

Disclaimer: This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute tax advice. For individual tax advice, consult a licensed tax professional.