Portugal: crypto taxes when leaving Germany

• Disposals: Under 365 days 28 %. From 365 days tax-free; on an exchange outside the EU, the EEA, and states with a tax information agreement, the exemption is lost even after more than a year. In addition, 4 % stamp duty on commissions and fees charged or brokered by crypto service providers.
• Method and exchanges: FIFO is mandatory, separately per exchange or custodian. Crypto-to-crypto exchanges are tax-neutral; the holding period carries over to the new asset.
• Staking: Less clear-cut. Rewards paid in crypto assets count, in the prevailing view, as an addition to Category G and are taxed only on later sale; on-chain staking not delegated to a third party, by contrast, is taxed as commercial and professional income.
• Mining and regular, seemingly commercial trading: Category B, progressive taxation with considerably higher coefficients (simplified regime: 0.95 mining, 0.15 trading).
• Lending and airdrops: Tends to follow staking. Paid in crypto assets: tax-free on receipt, acquisition value of zero euros, Category G. Paid in fiat: immediately 28 % (Category E).
• Hard forks: Expressly unresolved: Category B at market value on the day of the split (more cautious practice) or Category G with an acquisition value of zero on sale (opposing view).
• Declaration: Modelo 3 with Annex G (under 365 days) or G1 (365 days or longer, subject to declaration but tax-free); deadline generally between April and June of the following year.

Year of departure

• German unlimited tax liability ends only when residence and habitual abode are actually given up. Portugal: unlimited tax liability above 183 days within a twelve-month period or with accommodation indicating permanent use as a habitual residence.
• If the German home is already given up at the time of sale, the gain is not domestic income under § 49 EStG, regardless of the tie-breaker.
• A sale before emigrating is hardly worthwhile: the 365-day period is practically the German one-year period. For an exchange outside the EU, the EEA, and states with a tax information agreement, a sale in Germany before emigrating may be preferable.
• The NHR regime has been closed to newcomers since 1 January 2024; IFICI offers no general benefit for passive crypto gains.

First year after leaving

• The holding period since the original acquisition counts, even in Germany: tax-free from 365 days (EU/EEA requirement), otherwise 28 %.
• Old mining tokens held as German business assets: Germany discloses the hidden reserves at the time of emigration (§ 16(3a) EStG); Portugal exempts holdings held longer, provided the counterparty is in the EU, the EEA, or a state with a tax information agreement.

More than ten years

• Unchanged on the current position. No general wealth tax; AIMI affects only high-value real estate.
• Inheritances and gifts: tax-free for spouses, civil partners, and direct-line relatives, otherwise 10 % stamp duty. Crypto assets are covered if held with an institution having its seat, actual place of management, or a permanent establishment in Portugal; for self-custody or a foreign exchange, unresolved.
• No inheritance tax treaty. For German nationals, German extended unlimited inheritance tax liability applies if the deceased or donor was fully taxable in Germany within the last five years before the inheritance; after more than ten years in Portugal, this window is closed.

Moving on to a third country

• Since 2023, loss of Portuguese tax residency counts as a deemed disposal of all crypto assets at market value; the difference to acquisition cost is generally taxed at 28 %.
• The wording of the law and practitioner commentary suggest this mainly applies on moves to states outside the EU/EEA without a tax information agreement with Portugal; practice on deferral models within the EU is still developing. Clarify beforehand with a Portuguese tax advisor.

Returning to Germany

• From Portugal's perspective, a move back is an emigration and generally falls under the exit taxation; Germany, as an EU member state with information exchange (DAC8, CARF), is likely less problematic. In Germany, the original acquisition date counts; after more than a year in total, a sale is tax-free under § 23 EStG, regardless of the Portuguese tax.
• The 1980 treaty contains no value-linkage clause for these gains; there is no German step-up in acquisition cost on relocation for crypto assets under § 23 EStG. If a position that triggered the Portuguese exit tax is sold within the German one-year period from the purchase date, economic double taxation should generally be a risk. Example (purchase for €20,000, market value €40,000 on return, sale for €60,000 within the one-year period, no credit): €5,600 Portugal (generally 28 % on €20,000) plus €16,800 Germany (42 % marginal rate on €40,000) = €22,400, which is 56 % of the total gain of €40,000. When the Portuguese tax falls due is not conclusively settled.