Taxes · 🇩🇪 Germany
Crypto and tokenized asset taxes in Germany
Crypto sold after more than one year is tax-free; within a year gains are taxed at your income tax rate. Tokens that work like securities fall under the 25% capital income tax instead. A draft bill of 30 Sep 2026 would end the one-year exemption for crypto bought from 2027 — not adopted yet.
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Crypto
Gains
Personal income tax rate (up to 45% + 5.5% solidarity surcharge) if sold within one year; 0% after more than one year
Holding period
More than one year: gains are tax-free (§ 23 EStG). Staking or lending does not extend this to ten years (BMF letter of 6 March 2025).
Tax-free allowance
€1,000 per year exemption limit (Freigrenze) for all private disposal gains: if the total is €1,000 or more, the whole amount is taxed
Losses
Losses from sales within one year can only offset gains from private disposals (§ 23 EStG), in the same year, the previous year, or carried forward.
Also
A draft bill of 30 September 2026 would tax crypto bought from 1 January 2027 as capital income (25% flat + solidarity surcharge) with no holding-period exemption; holdings bought until 31 December 2026 would keep the one-year rule. As of late October 2026 the cabinet has not adopted it.
Income and tokenized assets
Staking, lending, yield
Staking, lending and similar rewards are 'other income' (§ 22 Nr. 3 EStG), taxed at the personal income tax rate when received or claimed, with a €256 per-year exemption limit. Coins received this way can later be sold tax-free after one year.
Tokenized stocks, bonds, funds
Per the BMF letter, tokens that can be treated like securities produce capital income (§ 20 EStG): gains on sale fall under § 20 Abs. 2 Nr. 7 EStG and are taxed at 25% flat tax + 5.5% solidarity surcharge (26.375%, plus church tax if applicable), with no one-year exemption and a €1,000 saver's allowance. The letter leaves classification to a case-by-case review. For tracker certificates like xStocks there is no specific guidance.
Tokenized gold
The Federal Fiscal Court (BFH, VIII R 4/15) treated Xetra-Gold bonds with a gold delivery right as private disposals: tax-free after one year. Whether PAXG or XAUT get the same treatment: no specific guidance.
Filing
Tax year
Calendar year; return due 31 July of the following year without a tax adviser
Reporting
Gains and staking income go in the annual return (Anlage SO); capital income from token securities in Anlage KAP when no German bank withheld tax. DAC8 is implemented by the KStTG, in force since 1 January 2026: crypto providers report 2026 data to the BZSt by 31 July 2027.
Tax authority
Watch out
- The €1,000 limit is a Freigrenze, not an allowance: one euro over and the whole gain is taxed.
- Crypto-to-crypto swaps are disposals and start a new one-year period for the coin received.
- Keep records of purchase dates and prices; the one-year rule depends on them.
- Watch the 2027 reform: coins bought from 2027 may lose the one-year exemption if the draft becomes law.
Sources
- BMF letter on crypto assets, 6 March 2025 · bundesfinanzministerium.de
- CMS: update of the BMF letter · cms.law
- PwC: BMF draft bill on crypto taxation (30 Sep 2026) · blogs.pwc.de
- Ledger: holding period reform status · ledger.com
- Cash-Online: cabinet postpones crypto tax reform · cash-online.de
- Deloitte: BFH on Xetra-Gold · deloitte-tax-news.de
- CMS: KStTG (DAC8) · cms.law
Not confirmed
- Whether xStocks / Backed tracker certificates and Ondo tokens count as securities (§ 20) or as crypto (§ 23) — no specific guidance found.
- Treatment of PAXG/XAUT — BFH Xetra-Gold rule applied by analogy only.
- Exact wording of the BMF letter on staking valuation timing (receipt vs claim) — secondary sources differ.
- Cabinet status after 28 October 2026.
Researched 2026-11-01 for private individuals resident in Germany. Information, not tax advice — rules change; check the tax authority before you file.