HolderTax / Germany
Jurisdiction · Schedule H–DE · tax year 2026
Germany
Hold for one year — and the gain is tax-free, however large. Few regimes are more generous, and few are measured more precisely: German crypto tax is a clock, two exemption thresholds, and — since March 2025 — a markedly stricter rulebook on records.
Filing deadline31 July 2027 (for 2026 · longer with a tax adviser)
Answer first
What HolderTax can say from the current evidence
Pre-publicationThese claims are still awaiting licensed human approval. Use the evidence bundle below to inspect the authority and review state.
Action-sensitive pageA deadline, disclosure route, examination or other consequential step is involved. Use the instructions on the authority document you actually received and do not treat this summary as advice.
Kryptowerte as WirtschaftsgüterCrypto-assets are Wirtschaftsgüter; private disposals can fall under §23 EStGBMF letter 6 March 2025, paras 31, 53
Private disposal holding periodPrivate disposal is within §23 when acquisition-to-disposal period is not more than one yearBMF letter 6 March 2025, paras 53–55
Private-sale thresholdGains from all private disposal transactions remain tax-free if total annual gain is less than €1,000BMF letter 6 March 2025, para 53
Crypto-to-crypto swapSwap is a disposal and acquisition; one-year period begins again for acquired cryptoBMF letter 6 March 2025, paras 54–55
Current position
The schedule.
Status marks: — settled in practice, ! watch (moving or commonly misapplied), ? unresolved. All lines are a working draft pending licensed review.
Schedule H · Part IClassification, holding period, thresholds, income events, reporting and deadlines
FORM H–DE / 2026
STATUS: WORKING REVIEW| Line | Position | Current treatment | What it means | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Classification | Other economic asset · § 23 EStG | Not capital income, no flat withholding: cryptoassets run as private sales transactions — like gold. | — |
| 02 | Holding period | 1 year · then tax-free · to the day | Buy on 15 March, free from 16 March next year. The period is politically debated — no consensus to abolish it exists. | ! |
| 03 | Within the year | Personal rate · 0–45% | The gain joins taxable income — progression, not a flat rate. | — |
| 04 | Exemption thresholds | €1,000 (§ 23) · €256 (§ 22 no. 3) | Cliff-edge thresholds, not allowances: one euro over makes the entire amount taxable. | ! |
| 05 | Computation | Individual identification; FIFO simplification · wallet-based | The BMF starts with individual identification. Where individual identification is not possible, FIFO can be used as a simplifying assumption; the selected valuation method is applied wallet by wallet and consistently. | — |
| 06 | Swaps & spending | Disposal · clock restarts | BTC for ETH realises the BTC gain and sets the ETH clock to zero. Own-wallet transfers stay neutral. | — |
| 07 | Staking · lending | Other income at receipt | Market value on receipt is taxable; the rewards then start their own one-year clock. The mirror image of Austria's zero-cost rule. | ! |
| 08 | The 10-year scare | Abolished · one year stands | The old fear that staking stretched the period to ten years is settled since the 2022 tax act and the 2025 BMF letter. Active validators remain case-by-case. | — |
| 09 | Mining · commercial trading | Business treatment possible | Scale and organisation decide — then trade tax, bookkeeping, and no holding-period exemption. | ! |
| 10 | NFTs · derivatives | § 23 in principle · boundaries fluid | NFTs are other economic assets; frequent flipping slides into § 22 no. 3 or business. Futures run separately. | ? |
| 11 | Losses | Within § 23 only · back and forward | Private-sale losses offset only private-sale gains — not salary, not capital income. | — |
| 12 | Exchange data · DAC8 | 2026 reporting period · provider report 31 Jan 2027 · EU exchange by 30 Sep 2027 | EU platforms report in bulk, automatically. The BMF letter's record-keeping duties are the other jaw of the same clamp. | ! |
| 13 | Filing | Anlage SO · 31 July 2027 | Considerably longer with professional representation. Even tax-free post-year sales deserve clean documentation. | — |
| 14 | Records | BMF 2025: extended cooperation duties | Coin, quantity, timestamps, prices, fees — per transaction, per wallet. The bar has been visibly raised since March 2025. | ! |
Working draft · all 14 lines pending licensed review · sign-off dates will appear per lineStart with line 02 →
Crypto inquiryThe Finanzamt asks for clarificationDeadline on the letter. Before answering, check whether past years are affected — the order decides the immunity.Deadline on letter
Audit orderAn external audit has been orderedOnce announced, the self-disclosure is blocked for the audited years and tax types.Blocking ground
Criminal tax proceedingsProceedings have been openedThe door is shut. From here: defence, with counsel, before any statement.Closed
No letter yetThe open windowComplete across ten years, timely, paid: § 371 AO grants immunity — above €25,000 per offence with a surcharge.Voluntary
Published pages · Germany
Read in the order trouble arrives.
Rule
The holding period
One year to the day, two cliff-edge thresholds, FIFO per wallet — and a political debate at the margin.
→ RuleStaking and lending
Tax the receipt, then start the rewards' own clock — the exact mirror of Austria.
→ DecisionThe § 371 self-disclosure
Complete across ten years or not at all. The blocking grounds, the €25,000 threshold, the surcharge.
→ AnalysisDAC8: first provider reports January 2027
The first reportable period is 2026. Providers report by 31 January 2027 and tax authorities exchange by 30 September 2027 — what that means for the disclosure window.
→Evidence bundle
Canonical claims used on this page
Claim IDs are the publication contract. A translation or article may explain a claim, but cannot silently change its source, status or review lifecycle.
de.asset_classKryptowerte as WirtschaftsgüterCrypto-assets are Wirtschaftsgüter; private disposals can fall under §23 EStGde.holding_periodPrivate disposal holding periodPrivate disposal is within §23 when acquisition-to-disposal period is not more than one yearde.private_sale_thresholdPrivate-sale thresholdGains from all private disposal transactions remain tax-free if total annual gain is less than €1,000de.swap_clockCrypto-to-crypto swapSwap is a disposal and acquisition; one-year period begins again for acquired cryptode.basis_methodIdentification / FIFO by walletIndividual identification is primary; where it is not possible, BMF permits simplifying FIFO valuation. Method is wallet-related and must be kept consistently within a wallet until full disposal of that token typede.no_ten_year_extensionNo ten-year extension for payment tokensBMF states the ten-year extension does not apply to currency/payment tokensde.staking_incomePassive stakingNormally taxable as other income under §22 No.3 at market value on acquisition/receipt; claiming simplification appliesde.lending_incomeLendingPrivate lending income is taxable under §22 No.3; received crypto valued at market value on receiptde.self_disclosure_371§371 AO self-disclosureTax evasion self-disclosure requires complete correction/supplementation within statutory scope and is subject to blocking groundsde.dac8_collectionDAC8 reporting periodDAC8 applies to reportable crypto-asset activity from calendar year 2026de.dac8_provider_deadlineDAC8 provider reporting deadlineReporting crypto-asset service providers report 2026 information by 31 January 2027 under Annex VI; first inter-authority exchange by 30 September 2027