Bitcoin Taxes in Germany: The Complete Guide 2026

Short answer: Bitcoin taxes in Germany only arise when you sell bitcoin, exchange it or pay with it. If you hold it for more than a year, the gain is tax-free. If you sell earlier, the gain counts as income, unless all such gains in a year stay below €1’000. Buying and holding is tax-free (as of Nov 12, 2026).

You bought bitcoin, the price went up, and now you are wondering: what does the tax office want from it? For long-term holders, German tax law is unusually friendly. But if you don't know the rules, you can easily pay avoidable taxes or be unable to prove when you bought. This guide explains bitcoin taxes in Germany in plain language, with worked examples and a checklist.

How is bitcoin taxed in Germany?

Under German tax law, bitcoin is neither money nor a security but an "other asset" (anderes Wirtschaftsgut). If you hold bitcoin privately, the rules for private sales transactions (private Veräußerungsgeschäfte) under § 23 of the Income Tax Act apply. The same rules apply to gold or works of art, for example. That the state taxes bitcoin also means it treats bitcoin as legal. Whether that could change is explained in Can bitcoin be banned?.

In a detailed letter of Mar 6, 2025, the Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF) set out how tax offices treat crypto assets. It is binding on tax offices, not on courts, and forms the basis of this article.

Rule to remember: Buying is tax-free, holding is tax-free. Only selling, exchanging or paying within one year can trigger taxes.

When bitcoin taxes arise in Germany

For tax purposes, these transactions are a sale (Veräußerung). If the purchase was less than a year ago, you have to report a gain:

Many people overlook this: paying with bitcoin is a sale. If you buy a coffee with sats you bought three months ago, that is a small sales transaction. Such amounts usually stay below the tax-free limit, but they belong in your records.

The holding period: tax-free after one year

The most important sentence for every bitcoin holder: if more than twelve months lie between purchase and sale, your gain is tax-free. There is no upper limit. Whether you make €500 or €500’000 in gains makes no difference.

The period starts on the day after the purchase. If you buy on Mar 15, 2025, you may sell tax-free from Mar 16, 2026. If you want to be on the safe side, wait one more day.

The period applies to each purchase lot separately. If you buy every month through a savings plan, each installment has its own date from which it is tax-free.

Worked example: selling before and after one year

The €1’000 tax-free limit

If you sell within one year, your gain still stays tax-free as long as all gains from private sales transactions in a calendar year together come to less than €1’000. Until 2023, this limit was €600.

Note: this is a tax-free limit (Freigrenze), not an allowance (Freibetrag). The difference costs money:

At €990 you pay nothing. From €1’000, the whole gain is taxable, not just the part above the limit.

The limit applies per person. For married couples filing jointly, each partner has their own €1’000, for the bitcoin that belong to them. Gains from other private sales, such as gold or an art collection, count too.

Losses: offset them instead of giving them away

If you sell bitcoin at a loss within one year, the loss has value for tax purposes. You can offset it against gains from other private sales transactions in the same year, including gold or other crypto assets.

If a loss is left over, it is carried back to the previous year or carried forward into the future and offset against such gains there. You cannot offset it against your salary or stock gains.

For this to work, you have to declare the loss in your tax return, even if you pay no taxes that year. The tax office then formally records it. Losses on bitcoin you have held for more than a year, on the other hand, don't count: what would be tax-free can't create a loss either.

Which bitcoin did you sell? FIFO and wallets

If you bought several times, you have to say which bitcoin are leaving when you sell. That determines whether the holding period is already over and which purchase price counts.

The BMF says: if the individual lot can be identified, that lot applies. If not, the bitcoin bought first are deemed sold first (FIFO, "first in, first out"). This applies per wallet or exchange account separately, not across all your holdings. You may calculate the gain by FIFO or by the wallet's average price. Stick with the method you have chosen.

That leads to a simple practice: keep old and new holdings deliberately separate, for example a wallet for long-term bitcoin that you don't touch, and an exchange account for purchases you may need soon. How to store your bitcoin securely for the long term is in the custody guide.

Lending, staking, mining and airdrops

Not every bitcoin comes to you through a purchase. Bitcoin you receive as income has its own rules:

• Interest from lending. If you lend bitcoin and receive interest in bitcoin, it counts as other income (sonstige Einkünfte) under § 22 No. 3 EStG when received. It is valued at the euro price on the day it is received. A separate tax-free limit of €256 a year applies here.
• Mining. According to the BMF, anyone who mines bitcoin is usually engaged in a commercial activity if they do it on an ongoing basis with the intention of making a profit. Then the income counts as business profit, and electricity and equipment are business expenses. Whether mining at home pays off at all is shown in Bitcoin mining explained. Why no holding period applies to business assets and how bitcoin appear on the balance sheet is explained in Bitcoin accounting for companies.
• Airdrops and forks. These are special cases with their own rules in the BMF letter. Airdrops for which you have to do something, such as disclose data or advertise, are other income. For bitcoin-only holders they hardly matter.

For bitcoin received privately, such as interest from lending, a new holding period begins on receipt. If you sell it within one year, any price gain since receipt is also taxable.

Income from bitcoin preferred stock is not a bitcoin sale either, but capital income from securities. What that means for digital credit is in the article Digital credit explained.

Bitcoin ETPs and bitcoin ETFs

If a bitcoin ETP only represents a claim to delivery of deposited bitcoin or to the proceeds of their sale, the BMF treats it like real bitcoin: after one year the gain is tax-free, as with Xetra-Gold (BMF letter of Mar 6, 2025, para. 84–85). For funds, ETFs and unsecured tracker certificates, on the other hand, the 25% flat-rate withholding tax (Abgeltungsteuer) plus solidarity surcharge applies, with no holding period. What else distinguishes an ETP from real bitcoin is shown in Bitcoin ETP or real bitcoin.

Giving and inheriting

Giving bitcoin away is not a sale. No income tax is due. The recipient takes over your purchase date and purchase price: if you have held the bitcoin for more than a year, they can sell tax-free right away.

For the gift itself, the normal allowances of gift and inheritance tax apply, renewed every ten years:

It is valued at the euro price on the day of the gift. Tax rates, reporting obligations and why giving early saves tax when prices rise are explained in Giving and inheriting bitcoin: tax consequences. How your family can reach your bitcoin at all in an emergency is a separate question. Start with an open conversation: Talking to your partner and family about bitcoin.

Bitcoin in your tax return

Gains and losses from bitcoin sales within one year go in Anlage SO (the annex for other income), and so does lending income. Commercial mining belongs in Anlage G (the business income annex) with its own profit calculation.

If you only bought and held, or only sold after more than a year, you don't need to enter anything for it. Keep the records anyway. If the tax office asks, you must be able to prove the holding period.

Step by step:

1. Collect all accounts and wallets. Download the annual report or transaction list from every exchange and every app.
2. Find the year's sales. Mark every sale, exchange and payment with bitcoin.
3. Check the holding period. Match each sale to its purchase by FIFO per wallet. Anything older than a year is left out.
4. Calculate gains and losses. Proceeds minus purchase price minus fees, for every taxable sale.
5. Check the tax-free limit. Total gain under €1’000: no tax, but still declare losses.
6. Fill in Anlage SO and attach your records or keep them ready.

With many transactions, crypto tax software that imports your exchanges' reports helps. Check the result anyway: withdrawals to your own wallet are often wrongly counted as sales there.

The tax office sees more: DAC8

Since Jan 1, 2026, crypto providers in the EU record your transactions for the tax authorities. The basis is the EU directive DAC8, implemented in Germany by the Kryptowerte-Steuertransparenzgesetz (Crypto Assets Tax Transparency Act). The first data for 2026 go to the Federal Central Tax Office in 2027 and from there to your tax office.

For honest holders, little changes. Anyone who has not declared earlier sales should sort that out with a tax adviser before the tax office asks. Exactly which data are reported and what about your own wallet is explained in DAC8 and CARF: what crypto providers report.

Planned reform: will the holding period go?

In 2026, the Federal Ministry of Finance presented a draft bill that would tax bitcoin like stocks. According to reports on the draft:

As of Nov 12, 2026, this is not law. The cabinet decision expected for October 2026 did not happen; the start and cut-off date are open. Purchases from 2027 or 2028 have been mentioned. Until a law is promulgated, the one-year period applies unchanged, including for purchases after Nov 12, 2026.

So don't rush to buy just to get in before a possible cut-off date. A purchase made for tax reasons at the wrong price often costs more than the tax it saves. We will update this article as soon as there is a decision.

What the rules mean for long-term holders

For anyone holding bitcoin over years, all of this leads to a few clear rules:

1. Plan sales by the calendar, not just by the price. A sale a few weeks after the one-year period ends often saves a third of the gain.
2. If you need money, check alternatives to selling. A loan against bitcoin is not a sale and triggers no tax, but it has its own risks. The Borrow instead of selling calculator shows what that costs and at what price drop it gets tight.
3. Partial sales with rules. If you sell portions in hot market phases, only take lots that are older than a year. Where the price currently stands relative to the long-term trend is shown in the Power Law analysis with zones. How we calculate is in the methodology.
4. Buying back restarts the period. If you sell tax-free and later buy back, a new year begins for the new bitcoin.
5. Write down your rules. In My Goal you set how many sats you want and when you sell. Factor the tax in there, as described in the article Setting your bitcoin goal.

You can play through for yourself whether "sell high, buy back low" pays off after taxes. The calculator uses the floor and the top band of the Power Law model; remember that a sale within one year quickly eats up the advantage:

How to buy bitcoin cheaply and with clean records is in the guide Buying bitcoin. If you live in Austria, 27.5% KESt (capital gains tax) applies with no holding period; that is explained in Bitcoin taxes in Austria. If you live in Switzerland, read Bitcoin taxes in Switzerland and fill in your tax return with the guide Bitcoin in the Swiss tax return. When a Swiss resident counts as a professional securities dealer and does have to pay tax on gains is shown in Professional securities trading with bitcoin. Which obligations the EU's MiCA regulation places on exchanges and apps is explained in MiCA and bitcoin. Providers for regular purchases are compared in the article Bitcoin savings plans compared. All articles on law and taxes are collected in the category Law, taxes and practice.