Author: FinTax
1 Introduction
On December 23, 2025, the German Federal Law Gazette No. 352 officially published the "Decree for the Implementation of EU Directive 2023/2226" (Gesetz zur Umsetzung der Richtlinie (EU) 2023/2226), marking a further clarification of Germany's regulatory blueprint for crypto assets.
As the domestic legal transformation and implementation document of the EU DAC8 directive, this decree introduces the "Crypto Asset Tax Transparency Act" (Kryptowerte-Steuertransparenz-Gesetz, KStTG), establishing a reporting obligation for crypto asset service providers and a framework for automatic information exchange with tax authorities; it also makes supporting amendments to several existing laws, linking reporting, exchange, procedures, and management rules. The decree takes effect the day after its publication, and crypto asset service providers should consider 2026 as the first reporting period, submitting information to the competent authority by the statutory deadline of July 31, 2027.
For a long time, Germany has shown a relatively pragmatic approach to crypto asset governance: on one hand, it maintains an inclusive space for technological innovation and market development, while on the other hand, it continuously strengthens institutional constraints through financial regulation, anti-money laundering, and tax transparency tools. With the completion of the domestic legal transformation of DAC8 in Germany and the entry into the first reporting period, crypto asset activities will be more systematically integrated into a data system that is accessible, verifiable, and exchangeable by tax authorities.
In this context, this article will first outline the current regulatory landscape in Germany and the division of responsibilities among authorities, focusing on key rules and their impact on crypto asset service providers; it will then shift to the tax system, describing the taxation pathways for crypto transactions and on-chain activities under the current tax framework in Germany, with a focus on taxable event identification, cost basis and income calculation standards, and tax rate attribution logic.
2 Overview of Germany's Crypto Regulatory System
Germany's crypto regulation does not operate under a single specialized agency but functions through a collaborative division of labor among multiple authorities:
On the financial regulation side, Germany, with BaFin at its core, implements access and compliance requirements for crypto asset services under the EU MiCAR framework and has issued several guidelines to refine service types, licensing obligations, and exception boundaries; at the same time, Germany had already incorporated some crypto-related businesses into the traditional financial regulatory system prior to MiCAR, such as the regulatory classification and requirements for crypto custody services. On the anti-money laundering side, Germany, based on the "Anti-Money Laundering Act" (GwG), includes relevant entities in the obligation system, with the FIU responsible for receiving and processing suspicious transaction reports. On the tax transparency side, the Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt) is responsible for managing registration and reporting entry points, promoting service providers' entry into registration, due diligence, annual reporting, and subsequent automatic exchange chains under the KStTG framework.
In terms of the legal system, Germany has not established a dedicated law for crypto governance but has constructed a structure that overlays directly applicable EU rules with complementary German domestic laws:
On one hand, the EU MiCAR provides unified market rules, which serve as the main axis for German regulatory practice; on the other hand, Germany addresses the risk governance of business activities through existing financial and anti-money laundering laws, and in the field of tax cooperation, it uses the implementation law for DAC8 as a lever to introduce the KStTG and make supporting amendments to relevant laws to complete the domestic legal connection. The tax authorities, through unified guidance documents issued by the Ministry of Finance, incorporate common issues related to crypto asset transactions, on-chain activities, and taxpayer record-keeping obligations into executable tax analysis and audit pathways. Meanwhile, the reporting and automatic exchange mechanisms established by the KStTG also enhance the accessibility and verifiability of information for tax authorities through institutionalized data collection and exchange.
3 Germany's Crypto Tax System
On March 6, 2025, the BMF published guidance documents on the taxation of crypto assets, providing a detailed explanation of Germany's crypto tax system. Prior to this, FinTax had conducted a macro study on Germany's crypto tax system, and this article will focus on more detailed tax regulations.
3.1 Asset and Income Type Regulations
In terms of tax law attributes, the BMF clarifies that individual crypto assets are considered economic assets in the tax law sense, possessing a market price basis that can be independently valued; thus, crypto activities do not enter a separate tax system but are embedded within Germany's existing income tax framework. Activities related to crypto assets may generate various types of income (Section 2(1) of the Income Tax Act (EStG)), such as business operating income (Section 15 of the EStG), capital asset income (Section 20 of the EStG), private sales transaction income (Sections 22(2) and 23 of the EStG), or other income (Section 22(3) of the EStG), all of which are taken into consideration.
3.1.1 Business Operating Income
Applicable to activities with a continuous profit intention, repetitive nature, and economic participation characteristics, such as professional mining companies, trading platform operations, or large-scale staking pools. The tax base is net income (revenue minus deductible costs), and the tax rate follows the progressive personal income tax table (approximately 0% to 45% for the 2025/2026 fiscal year, plus a 5.5% solidarity surcharge). If it is a corporate entity, an additional 15% corporate tax and approximately 14-17% local trade tax apply.
3.1.2 Capital Asset Income
Less directly applicable to mainstream crypto activities but relevant for dividends or interest from security-type tokens, as well as applicable during futures/leverage trading. The tax rate is a flat 25% plus a 5.5% solidarity surcharge (effective tax burden of approximately 26.375%), typically not enjoying holding period exemptions.
3.1.3 Private Sales Transaction Income
Applicable to short-term speculative sales of crypto assets within private assets. The tax base is the sales revenue (selling price minus acquisition costs and related expenses), subject to the progressive personal income tax rate. If the holding period exceeds 1 year, it is fully tax-exempt; annual revenue below 1,000 euros (adjusted to this amount starting in 2024, previously 600 euros) is also exempt.
3.1.4 Other Income
Covers passive staking rewards, airdrop consideration, lending interest, and other non-commercial, non-capital nature income. The tax base is the market value at the time of acquisition, subject to the progressive personal income tax rate, with an annual total below 256 euros being tax-exempt.
3.2 Tax Trigger Points
In practice, crypto activities are quite diverse, and their tax treatment needs to distinguish between business assets and personal assets, with different forms of transactions corresponding to different tax obligations:
3.2.1 Personal Buying and Selling of Crypto Assets
For personal assets, if the holding period is less than 1 year, it is considered private sales income, subject to the progressive personal income tax rate (0-42%); if held for more than 1 year, it is tax-exempt; annual revenue below 1,000 euros is tax-exempt; if it is a business asset, it is considered business income, with no holding period exemption, and the tax rate is progressive.
3.2.2 Mining
For personal assets, occasional activities are considered other income, with an annual total below 256 euros being tax-exempt; for business assets, block rewards and transaction fees are considered business income, taxed based on market value minus costs.
3.2.3 Passive Staking
For personal assets, staking income is considered other income, taxed based on market value at the time of acquisition; for business assets, staking rewards are included in business income.
3.2.4 Lending
For personal assets, lending income is considered other income; for business assets, interest income is included in business income.
3.2.5 Airdrops
For personal assets, no consideration is generally not taxable until sold; if there is consideration, it is considered other income; for business assets, if related to business activities, it is included in business income.
3.2.6 Other Transactions
For other transactions such as Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), if it is a business asset, fundraising or sales income is included in business income; if it is a personal asset, it is considered a sale, with the holding period determining whether it is tax-exempt. Leverage trading is specifically applicable to capital income, with a flat tax rate of 25%, and no holding period exemption.
3.3 Cost and Expense Tax Rate Calculation Methods
In terms of income and profit calculation, the BMF letter requires that the calculation be based on the euro market value (FMV), using reliable sources (such as average daily prices from CoinMarketCap, Kraken quotes) to determine the time point, with undisputed regulations allowing for daily average price assessments. The following are the main calculation rules:
3.3.1 Income Recognition Time Point
The time point for income recognition is generally based on the standard of "rewards or consideration having been allocated and the taxpayer being able to dispose of them": for mining or forging block creation income, it is generally recognized when the block is confirmed and the related rewards are available for disposal; for disposal actions such as selling or exchanging, the time point is based on when the transaction is confirmed on-chain; for acquisition-type income from staking, lending, and airdrops, the time point is when the rewards are allocated and available for disposal. In the event of a fork, the value of newly generated assets is typically measured based on the fair market value at the time of the fork for subsequent measurement and cost allocation.
3.3.2 Holding Period Calculation
The holding period is calculated from the acquisition date to the sale date, with precise calculation based on calendar days; the acquisition date includes purchase, receipt, reward allocation, and the formation of new assets from forks. If disposal occurs more than one year after acquisition, it generally no longer falls within the scope of private disposal transaction taxation. Staking or lending itself does not reset the holding period of the original underlying asset, but rewards generated from it are considered newly acquired assets, and their holding period should be recalculated from the date of reward allocation.
3.3.3 Cost Basis
The cost basis is typically determined based on the fair market value at the time of acquisition; in cases such as forks or airdrops without consideration where it is difficult to reasonably determine the acquisition consideration, it may be practically recorded as 0 euros. To simplify record-keeping and accounting, the first-in, first-out (FIFO) method can be used as a common consumption order assumption, meaning that the earliest acquired assets are considered the first sold, with corresponding taxable income calculated as "selling price minus cost minus related expenses." Besides FIFO, taxpayers may also choose last-in, first-out (LIFO), highest-in, first-out (HIFO), or average cost methods, provided they have sufficient justification and ensure consistency, but typically require continuous application within the same wallet or inventory range until liquidation, and must provide verifiable cost and flow proof through UTXO tracking or account balance models.
3.3.4 Deductible Expenses
Deductible expenses differ in corporate and personal scenarios: if the crypto asset belongs to a business, various necessary expenses directly related to generating income are generally deductible, including electricity costs, hardware depreciation (which can use linear or declining balance methods), software costs, and other operating expenses; if it belongs to personal assets, generally only expenses directly related to specific disposals are allowed, such as on-chain gas fees and platform transaction fees, while indirect expenses that are mixed with personal living and difficult to directly attribute are usually not considered deductible items.
3.3.5 Inventory Tracking and Loss Handling
In terms of inventory tracking, UTXO model assets like Bitcoin are typically tracked through the input-output chain of unspent outputs; account-based assets like Ethereum often use a balance accumulation accounting model to reflect changes in holdings. For loss handling, losses can usually be used to offset similar taxable income and may be carried forward under certain rules.
3.4 Possible Tax Planning Methods
According to Section 23(1) of the German EStG, individuals can typically achieve tax-exempt sales by disposing of crypto assets after holding them for one year within the private disposal framework; at the same time, private disposal transactions with total annual profits below 1,000 euros can apply the corresponding tax-exempt threshold. For acquisition-type crypto income from staking, lending, etc., if classified as other income, annual amounts not exceeding 256 euros can also typically apply the small exemption threshold.
In terms of tax calculation, determining the acquisition cost is particularly critical, especially in cases of purchasing in batches at different times and prices. Common cost matching methods in practice include FIFO, and the German official stance also tends to favor FIFO as a simplified method for verification; however, other methods are not excluded as long as they meet consistency and traceability requirements. Reasonably selecting and consistently applying cost methods can help more accurately measure profits and losses and optimize overall tax burdens while complying with legal rules. When involving loss offsets, loss carryforwards, and more complex tax loss harvesting arrangements, professional assessments are usually needed to combine individual transaction structures with local tax practices to avoid disputes arising from method selection or insufficient documentation.
4 Conclusion
Overall, Germany is systematically integrating crypto asset activities into its existing regulatory and tax governance framework. Financial regulation and anti-money laundering remain fundamental constraints, and as DAC8 completes its domestic legal transformation and enters the first reporting period, tax transparency tools will significantly enhance tax authorities' accessibility and verifiability of information regarding crypto assets. For crypto asset service providers, compliance requirements will increasingly manifest in the ongoing operation of mechanisms such as registration, due diligence, annual reporting, and information exchange; for market participants, the tax enforcement environment will also become clearer as the data foundation strengthens.
免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。
