What an EU-Wide Crypto Tax Could Actually Look Like 🇪🇺 For quite some time, there have been rumours and calls for EU-wide crypto taxes in Brussels as part of efforts to create new EU own resources. Until now, however, there has been very little detail on what such an EU-wide crypto tax might actually look like. Politico now reported on a leaked Commission services paper, circulated ahead of next week's Council discussions on the EU's next long-term budget, that provides the first detailed insight into the options currently being explored. The paper discusses two possible models: 🔹 A crypto transaction tax (example: 0.1% on crypto transaction value), with CASPs potentially acting as collection and reporting points 🔹 A tax on realised crypto capital gains The Commission estimates a transaction-based model could raise roughly €3-4bn annually, while a capital gains approach could generate around €1-2.4bn depending on market conditions. At the same time, the paper highlights major hurdles: → Unanimous approval by all Member States would be required. → A harmonised EU tax base would first need to be established. → Reliable DAC8 reporting data will only start becoming available from 2027. → Activity could migrate outside the EU or into DeFi and self-custody wallets → Crypto market volatility makes revenues difficult to forecast. Interestingly, the paper suggests that stablecoins used as a means of payment should likely be excluded from a transaction-based tax, and notes that capital gains taxation would generally not apply to stablecoins. The document will be discussed alongside possible new EU own resources based on digital services and online gambling. Of the three, crypto taxation appears to face the greatest technical, legal and implementation challenges. Importantly, this is not (yet) a legislative proposal. But it is the first time we are seeing concrete details on what potential EU-wide crypto taxation could look like and how the EU is thinking about its implementation. A short personal take: The substantive political, legal and operational challenges outlined in the paper make me hopeful that EU-wide crypto taxation will not become a near-term policy priority. Also, I think one cannot underscore the likely behavioural response to such a tax enough. Any transaction-based crypto tax would likely accelerate migration towards non-taxed channels (e.g. DeFi, self-custody, non-EU players) and/or non-taxed assets (e.g. stablecoins). In practice, imo, that would significantly reduce the revenue potential on which these projections are based.(Patrick Hansen)