Bitcoin Taxes in Austria: KESt, Old Holdings and Tax Return 2026

Short answer: Bitcoin taxes in Austria are 27.5% on every realised gain, no matter how long you held. Tax becomes due when you sell for euros or pay with bitcoin, not when you buy, hold or swap into other crypto assets. Bitcoin you bought up to Feb 28, 2021, you sell tax-free (as of Nov 13, 2026).

You live in Austria, hold bitcoin and have heard that there has been no Spekulationsfrist (the one-year holding period) since 2022. True. But that doesn't mean every sale costs the same: when you bought, where your coins sit and how you use losses decide hundreds or thousands of euros. Here you learn how bitcoin taxes in Austria work, with worked examples and the steps for your tax return.

How is bitcoin taxed in Austria?

With its eco-social tax reform, Austria added cryptocurrencies to income from capital assets (§ 27b EStG, the Income Tax Act). Since Mar 1, 2022, bitcoin is subject to the same special tax rate as shares, funds and bonds: 27.5%.

The rate is fixed. It doesn't depend on your income, nor does it raise the tax rate on your salary. Whether you earn €30’000 or €300’000 a year, you pay the same 27.5% on a bitcoin gain.

The Ministry of Finance (BMF) distinguishes two kinds of income:

• Realised gains in value: the gain when you sell or pay with bitcoin.
• Ongoing income: returns your bitcoin generate, such as interest from lending or bitcoin from mining.

Rule of thumb: In Austria, what counts is not how long you hold, but when you bought. Bought before Mar 1, 2021: tax-free. After that: 27.5% on the gain.

Old and new holdings: the date decides

The new rules apply to bitcoin you bought after Feb 28, 2021. The BMF calls them Neuvermögen (new assets). Bitcoin you bought up to Feb 28, 2021 are Altbestand (old holdings) and continue to be taxed under the old rules.

Under the old rules, a sale after a holding period of one year was tax-free. Since all old holdings are now more than five years old, you sell them tax-free today, regardless of the gain.

One trap: if you lend out old holdings and receive interest in bitcoin for it, the interest is new holdings. The old holdings lent out stay old holdings.

Which bitcoin go first?

If old and new holdings sit in the same wallet, you may choose which bitcoin you sell (§ 3 KryptowährungsVO, the Cryptocurrency Ordinance). If you don't choose, the first bought count as the first sold, i.e. the old holdings.

For long-term holders, that is usually unfavourable: the tax-free old holdings go, the taxable new holdings stay. It is simpler to keep the two holdings in separate wallets. Then it is clear with every sale what you are selling, and later you don't have to prove anything you can no longer find. How to store bitcoin safely for the long term is shown in the custody guide.

When are bitcoin taxes due in Austria?

A transaction only becomes taxable when you take bitcoin out of the crypto world:

Swapping into other crypto assets is an Austrian special case: in Germany it is a taxable sale. For bitcoin-only holders it hardly matters. It only postpones the tax until you eventually switch into euros.

When paying with bitcoin, every coffee is a small sale. With small amounts the gain is small, but it belongs in your records if no Austrian provider deducts the tax. How Lightning payments work technically is explained in The Lightning Network explained.

How to calculate the gain: average cost instead of FIFO

Gain is sale proceeds minus acquisition cost. Fees when buying increase your acquisition cost and so reduce the gain.

If you bought several times in one wallet, for example through a savings plan, Austria uses the moving average cost: each purchase mixes with the holdings, and all bitcoin in that wallet have the same cost basis. This applies per wallet or address, always in euros. An order such as FIFO in Germany does not exist for new holdings.

Worked example: old holdings versus new holdings

KESt deduction by Austrian providers

Since Jan 1, 2024, Austrian providers must deduct the KESt on bitcoin gains themselves and pay it to the tax office. The tax is then endbesteuert (final, fully settled): you no longer need to enter the gain in your tax return.

This works smoothly as long as you buy from one provider and also sell there. It gets difficult when you deposit bitcoin from outside, for example from your own wallet:

• The provider doesn't know your purchase price. You can give it the acquisition data.
• If you don't, it must assume new holdings and set half of the sale proceeds as acquisition cost. So it taxes 50% of the proceeds, whether your real gain was higher or lower.
• If that is to your disadvantage, you correct it in your tax return. Since 2025, the provider gives you a tax report for this on request.

If you have old holdings, this is especially important: without proof, you pay KESt on bitcoin that would actually be tax-free.

Offsetting losses

If you sell new holdings at a loss, you can offset the loss in the same calendar year against other capital income taxed at 27.5%: gains from shares and funds, dividends, other bitcoin gains. You can't offset it against interest from savings and bank accounts, nor against salary or rent.

Important: a loss not used up within the year expires. There is no loss carryforward.

Losses from old holdings don't count. What would be tax-free can't create a loss either.

Lending, mining and airdrops

• Interest from lending. If you lend bitcoin through a platform, the interest is taxable at 27.5% when received, valued at that day's euro price. For private loans that are not publicly offered, your personal income tax rate applies.
• Mining. Bitcoin from mining are ongoing income taxed at 27.5% when received. You can't deduct electricity and machines. If you run mining as a business, your personal rate applies and costs are business expenses. Whether mining at home pays off at all is shown in Bitcoin mining explained. How bitcoin in a GmbH (limited company) are accounted for under the UGB (Austrian Commercial Code) and taxed at 23% KöSt (corporate income tax) is explained in Bitcoin accounting in a company.
• Airdrops and hard forks. No tax when received, but an acquisition cost of zero. When you sell later, the entire proceeds are gain.

What you were taxed on when received is also your purchase price. When you sell later, you only pay on the price gain since receipt.

If you need money and don't want to sell, a loan against bitcoin is not a sale and triggers no KESt. But privately, the interest is not deductible, and if the price falls you face margin calls and forced sales. What it costs is shown by the calculator Borrow instead of sell, the risks by the article Bitcoin loans: borrow instead of sell.

Bitcoin in your tax return

If you only bought and sold with Austrian providers, the tax is settled by the KESt deduction. You then don't need to enter anything in your tax return.

You must declare yourself if no one deducted the KESt: for sales via foreign exchanges, when paying with bitcoin from your own wallet, or for mining. That is what the E1kv supplement to the income tax return is for, with its own section for cryptocurrencies.

1. Collect all wallets and accounts. Download the annual report from each provider and note purchases from your own wallet.
2. Separate old and new holdings. Everything bought up to Feb 28, 2021 stays out, as long as you can prove the purchase date.
3. Calculate the average cost per wallet. For each sale: proceeds minus quantity times average cost.
4. Add up ongoing income. Interest and mining income at the euro price on the day received.
5. Fill in the E1kv. Enter gains, losses and ongoing income in the crypto fields, and state KESt already deducted if you offset losses across several providers.
6. Keep the records. You don't have to attach your calculation, but you must be able to present it on request.

If your income is so low that your marginal tax rate is below 27.5%, you can apply for the Regelbesteuerungsoption (option to be taxed at your regular rate). Then your own rate applies, but for all capital income of the year, not just bitcoin.

The tax office sees more: DAC8

Since Jan 1, 2026, crypto providers in the EU record their customers' transactions for the tax authorities. In Austria, the Krypto-Meldepflichtgesetz (Crypto Reporting Act) implements the EU directive DAC8. Providers report to the BMF for the first time by Jul 31, 2027, for the year 2026: name, address, tax number and the totals of your purchases, sales and withdrawals to external wallets.

This way the tax office also learns about accounts at foreign exchanges. What exactly the report contains is shown in DAC8 and CARF explained. Anyone who has not declared earlier sales should sort it out with a tax adviser before the tax office asks.

Giving, inheriting and moving abroad

Austria has had no inheritance or gift tax since 2008. If you give away or bequeath bitcoin, no tax is due on it. The recipient takes over your acquisition cost and your purchase date: old holdings stay old holdings with the recipient.

But larger gifts must be reported to the tax office (§ 121a BAO, the Federal Fiscal Code) within three months:

They are valued at the price on the day of the gift. How gifts differ in Austria, Germany and Switzerland is compared in Giving and inheriting bitcoin: the tax consequences. How your family can actually get to your coins in an emergency is explained in Passing on bitcoin.

If you move away from Austria, that can count as a sale, because Austria loses the right to tax (Wegzugsbesteuerung, exit taxation). So plan a move, for example to Switzerland, with a tax adviser beforehand. How bitcoin is taxed there is explained in Bitcoin taxes in Switzerland.

Austria and Germany compared

As of Nov 13, 2026, tax year 2026.

For long-term holders, Germany is currently more favourable, as long as the one-year period applies. All details on German law are in the guide Bitcoin taxes in Germany.

What this means for long-term holders

Without a holding period, the timing of your sale doesn't matter for tax. The tax depends only on the gain. A few simple rules follow:

1. Touch old holdings last. They are tax-free and can't be bought again. Keep them in a wallet of their own.
2. Think net. Of every euro of gain, you keep 72.5 cents. Plan goals and partial sales with this figure, for example in My Goal.
3. Partial sales by rules, not by feel. Where the price currently stands relative to the long-term trend is shown by the Power Law analysis. On Nov 13, 2026, bitcoin was at around 0.63 times the trend, close to the floor in the accumulation zone. How we calculate is in the methodology.
4. Use losses in the same year. If you have gains from shares or bitcoin in a year, a loss from another position can reduce them. The next year it is gone.
5. Buy back without waiting. Because there is no holding period, a buyback doesn't start a new one either. It only resets your average cost.

Whether "sell high, buy back low" still pays after 27.5% KESt, you can play through yourself. The calculator uses the floor and top band of the Power Law model; deduct your tax from the gain:

How to buy bitcoin cheaply and with good records is in the guide Buying bitcoin. How KESt on dividends from bitcoin preferred stocks works is explained in Taxing dividends from digital credit. All articles on law and taxes are collected in the category Law, taxes and practice.