Draft bill on a flat tax for crypto
WELT and Der Spiegel independently report on a Finance Ministry draft: a 25% flat tax on newly acquired crypto from 2027, with existing holdings protected. Not officially published.
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As at 08/2026
Articles with sources and legal position
German crypto tax law, explained in English
Written for people who are taxable in Germany without speaking the language: what the rules actually say, where they rest on the statute and where merely on administrative practice, and what that means for a decision you have to take.
The Bitcoin.de data requests
Two rounds of data requests, roughly 4,000 cases each, and a deadline that reaches, through DAC 8, far beyond former Bitcoin.de customers. With our experience from the first round — often without penalty, surcharge or evasion interest.
Read the article →EU sanctions against 14 crypto exchanges
The 21st sanctions package bans transactions with 14 crypto and payment platforms. What the ban means, why liability runs through the Foreign Trade and Payments Act — not the Foreign Tax Act — and why self-disclosure with immunity has not existed since February 2026.
Read the article →DeFi and income tax
For part of the market, asking whether section 20 or section 22 no 3 applies is the wrong question — vaults and index tokens may be funds. Then the holding period disappears, the partial exemption is zero, and an advance lump sum is taxed on income that never arrived.
Read the article →The ministry circular on crypto assets
What the 2025 recast provides, what binds the tax offices and what does not, the four points on which we take a different view — and the three tiers for airdrops. With the circular in full, in English and in German.
Read the article →Airdrops and income tax
Three tiers, and only the highest is uncontroversially taxable. What counts as a supply, why the date the terms were published decides, the zero entry and its flip side — and the ENS case we are litigating.
Read the article →Wallet-by-wallet computation
One sentence in the circular moves results by five-figure amounts, and it is not in the statute. What the split does, when it works in your favour, and where our case before the Lower Saxony Tax Court stands.
Read the article →Offsetting crypto losses
Three closed pools, a carry-back that reopens even final assessments — and the trap: it removes neither the evasion, nor the surcharge, nor the interest. Plus the waiver question after the March 2026 judgment.
Read the article →Which costs are deductible
The same invoice can be fully deductible against one category of income and worthless against another. The three regimes, the apportionment that audits fasten on, conference travel — and an A to Z of some sixty items.
Read the article →Inheriting and gifting crypto
One date fixes the tax, and a later collapse does not move it. Valuation and price source, exempt amounts every ten years, the holding period that carries over — and what happens when nobody can reach the wallet.
Read the article →Limitation and the surcharge
There is no remedy against the surcharge — only against the tax it attaches to. Why a reasoned appeal holds it back, how the base falls, and why the same argument shortens the assessment period.
Read the article →A model notice of appeal
One month, one letter, and no fee at the tax office. Deadlines and form, the four parts of an appeal, wording for each point in dispute — and why the letter has to be written in German.
Read the article →The one-year holding period
When the twelve months start, what resets them, and why every swap is a disposal. Plus the ten-year question that matters for anyone staking or lending — and rests on an administrative concession rather than the statute.
Read the article →DAC 8 and the closing window
Which providers report, what data is transmitted and by which route. What bars a voluntary disclosure is arrival at your local tax office — and a valid disclosure takes weeks to prepare, not days.
Read the article →Anlage SO explained
Which German form takes which transaction, what belongs in the disposals section and what in the services section, the two different exemption limits — and why losses must be declared even when no tax is due.
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The German originals govern
Every article in this section is now available in English. Where an English text and its German counterpart differ, the German version governs — each page carries a link to it. To the German articles
We advise in English throughout, including correspondence with the tax office and representation before the fiscal courts. Submissions to the tax authorities are made in German — not because a foreign-language filing would be invalid, but because it spares an avoidable step under section 87 of the Fiscal Code.
Where these questions come from
Three situations account for most of the enquiries we receive in English.
01
Living in Germany, trading abroad
Residence, not citizenship, creates unlimited tax liability on worldwide income. Holdings on exchanges outside Germany are covered, and DAC 8 now delivers the data. What gets reported
02
Moving to or from Germany
Arriving sets the starting position for everything you already hold. Leaving does not close the years in which you were resident. In both cases the sequence of steps decides the outcome. Leaving Germany
03
Earlier years left undeclared
Voluntary disclosure remains possible until the data has arrived — but only if it is complete, and completeness takes preparation. Voluntary disclosure