Italy crypto tax in 2026: gains, reporting and the crypto-asset value tax

Italy changed its crypto rules twice in two years. The EUR 2,000 threshold was removed from 1 January 2025, and the substitute-tax rate on ordinary crypto-asset gains and other proceeds increased from 26% to 33% for amounts realised from 1 January 2026. A narrowly defined euro-denominated electronic-money-token category can remain at 26%. Income tax is only one part of the return: residents may also need crypto-asset monitoring and the 0.2% annual value tax. This English guide separates the 2025 return filed in 2026 from transactions realised during calendar year 2026.

The crucial timeline: 2025 return versus 2026 transactions

Italian articles often use “2026 crypto tax” for two different things. The 2026 income-tax return generally reports the 2025 calendar year. Crypto gains realised during 2025 are generally within the 26% regime, and the former EUR 2,000 threshold no longer protects small gains. Gains realised from 1 January 2026 are generally subject to the new 33% rate and will normally feed the return filed in 2027.

A 2026 transaction report should therefore not insert its amounts into a form designed for the 2025 period. It may prepare an official-style workpaper, but the final 2027 filing fields and instructions must be checked when the Agenzia delle Entrate publishes them.

The 26% euro e-money-token exception is narrow

The current law applies 26%, instead of the ordinary 33%, to qualifying other income and proceeds from holding, disposing of or using euro-denominated electronic money tokens. The statutory definition is not “any stablecoin worth about one euro.” It requires a token stably referenced to the euro with reserve funds held entirely in euro-denominated assets at authorised European Union entities.

The provision also states that the mere conversion of euros into qualifying euro electronic money tokens, and conversion back into euros, does not constitute realisation. A token pegged to the US dollar, backed by a mixed reserve, issued outside the qualifying structure or insufficiently documented should not receive this result automatically.

A report needs an explicit, evidence-based token classification. Symbol, marketing name and price stability are not enough. Keep the issuer's MiCAR status, white paper, reserve terms and the exact transaction route. If those facts are absent, apply the general category or leave a review position rather than promising the 26% exception.

Which crypto events can realise Italian taxable income?

Article 67(1)(c-sexies) covers capital gains and other proceeds realised through reimbursement, onerous disposal, exchange or holding of crypto-assets for individuals outside business activity. Typical review events include:

• sale of crypto for euros or another fiat currency;
• spending crypto for goods, services or another non-equivalent right;
• redemption or settlement of a token;
• an exchange where the surrendered and received crypto-assets do not have equal characteristics and functions;
• rewards or proceeds derived from holding crypto-assets;
• transfer of an NFT, utility right, tokenised security or DeFi claim.

The law excludes an exchange between crypto-assets having equal characteristics and functions from being a taxable realisation. This wording is more precise than “all crypto-to-crypto swaps are tax-free.” Exchanging ordinary payment tokens may fit in many cases, while exchanging into an NFT, utility token, tokenised financial right or economically different DeFi claim may not. Preserve both token classifications and fair values even when the report treats the swap as non-realising.

A transfer between wallets belonging to the same taxpayer is not an onerous disposal, but the original cost and acquisition date must follow the asset. A bridge or wrapper should not be labelled an own-wallet transfer until beneficial ownership and the rights received have been checked.

Cost basis, evidence and crypto losses

The taxable gain is broadly the consideration or normal value received minus documented acquisition cost or value. Eligible direct transaction costs must be analysed under the applicable computation. Taxpayers carry the burden of supporting cost: exchange exports, bank records, wallet transaction hashes and earlier returns should connect the acquisition to the disposal.

Do not silently use zero when the acquisition history is missing. Zero may appear conservative, but it converts an import problem into an unsupported tax figure and can corrupt the acquisition date, loss position and later lots. A report should mark the disposal “not computable,” show the uncovered quantity and continue generating the other complete positions.

Crypto gains and losses are computed under their dedicated rules. The current system allows qualifying excess losses to be carried against relevant future crypto gains within the statutory period, but thresholds and transitional amounts depend on the year. Because the EUR 2,000 threshold was removed from 2025, a current engine must not use the old threshold to suppress 2025 or 2026 gains or losses.

The optional 1 January 2025 revaluation required an 18% substitute tax and a deadline in 2025. It is not a general election that a taxpayer can first make in a 2026 report. Where a valid revaluation was completed, retain the payment and election evidence because the revalued basis can also restrict resulting loss recognition.

Quadro RT, Quadro T and the correct filing year

The Agenzia delle Entrate's Redditi PF 2026 instructions use Quadro RT, section V-A, for relevant crypto gains realised through 31 December 2025. The 730/2026 framework includes the corresponding crypto capital-gain section in Quadro T. Which return and schedule is appropriate depends on the taxpayer's entire filing position, not only the presence of crypto.

A reliable workpaper for 2025 contains disposal date, consideration, supported cost, result, loss carry information and any valid revaluation. A workpaper for 2026 should calculate the new rate categories but describe form transfer as pending the forms filed in 2027. It must not call a private “official-style worksheet” an official Agenzia form.

The German-language Italy crypto-tax guide explains the same chronology for German-speaking residents. Cross-border investors should also review the Southern Europe comparison, because residence and treaty rules determine which country can tax a period.

Crypto monitoring and the 0.2% value tax

Italian residents generally need to address fiscal monitoring for held crypto-assets, not only realised gains. The personal return framework uses Quadro RW in Redditi PF or the corresponding Quadro W route in Form 730. The declaration records ownership, period and value information and also supports the annual tax on the value of crypto-assets.

The crypto-asset value tax is generally 0.2% of the relevant value, adjusted for the ownership period and share. Where an Italian intermediary has already applied the stamp-duty-equivalent charge or the statutory responsibility differs, avoid double counting. Custody on an Italian platform does not justify omitting the asset without checking the intermediary statement and the current instructions.

Valuation may follow year-end market value or cost where the required value is unavailable under the applicable instructions. The software should show its source and never call a one-to-one ECB conversion a crypto market value. Missing price data belongs in a review list.

Staking, mining, DeFi, NFTs and business activity

Proceeds from holding crypto-assets can fall within the dedicated crypto other-income regime even without a sale. Staking rewards, lending yield and protocol distributions therefore require a receipt-time valuation and an analysis of the right earned. A later disposal is a second event whose cost must connect to the amount already treated under the applicable rule.

Mining or organised trading carried on as a business does not use the private-investor result by default. Business accounts, ordinary income-tax or corporate rules, VAT analysis, deductible costs and inventory treatment may be relevant. The report profile must reflect actual organisation and activity; frequency alone is evidence, not a user election to choose a lower rate.

Futures and perpetuals need their contract classification. Realised close P&L and funding must remain separate from spot token disposals. open_long, open_short and position snapshots are documentation and must not be counted as a second taxable gain. If the opening date or entry price is reconstructed, label the source and preserve the broker's realised result.

NFTs, LP tokens, wrapped assets and tokenised securities can have different characteristics and functions. That distinction is central to the swap rule and can also move an asset outside the ordinary payment-token workflow. A review schedule is more accurate than forcing every blockchain event into the same 33% line.

Italy crypto tax report checklist

1. Confirm Italian residence and the calendar year.
2. Separate 2025 transactions from transactions realised from 1 January 2026.
3. Import all exchanges, wallets and opening balances.
4. Classify sales, swaps, rewards, own-wallet transfers and contracts.
5. Document cost and acquisition date for every disposal.
6. Determine whether both sides of a swap have equal characteristics and functions.
7. Apply 26% only to a documented qualifying euro e-money token or the correct 2025 period.
8. Calculate the ordinary 33% category for 2026 without a EUR 2,000 threshold.
9. Prepare Quadro RT/T figures for the correct form year.
10. Prepare Quadro RW/W monitoring and the 0.2% value-tax reconciliation.
11. Reconcile any intermediary stamp duty or withholding.
12. Keep non-computable positions visible until the evidence is restored.

CoinTaxReporting can produce transaction, monitoring and review schedules. It does not replace the official return, determine residence or infer MiCAR issuer status from a ticker. The global reporting guide explains why DAC8/CARF data does not calculate the Italian tax result.

Frequently asked questions

Official Italian sources

• Italy: Law 207/2024, current crypto provisions
• Agenzia delle Entrate/FiscoOggi: 2025 Budget crypto changes
• Agenzia delle Entrate: Redditi PF 2026 Quadro RT
• Agenzia delle Entrate: Form 730/2026 crypto capital gains
• Agenzia delle Entrate: foreign assets and crypto-asset monitoring

Official-source review completed 1 September 2026. Final 2026 transaction-year form fields must be checked when the 2027 return package is published.

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