Bitcoin tax around Europe: where to look

Bitcoin is taxed very differently across Europe. Below you’ll find, for every EU and EEA country plus Switzerland and the UK, the official tax authority and its approach in brief (as of September 2026). The summaries leave out exceptions: before you rely on one, open the official page and check its date – a browser translation is enough for pages in other languages. General information, not tax advice.

Which country’s rules apply

There are no EU-wide rules on how individuals’ income is taxed. As a rule, the country where you are tax-resident can tax your worldwide income, including capital gains, and each country defines tax residence its own way.^[1] Where your exchangeTermExchange (crypto exchange)A trading platform where buyers and sellers trade bitcoin with each other via an order book.On the learning path: Stage 4 · Step 2 – Choosing a provider →In the glossary →AdLicensed providers with a paid linkProviders from our comparisonKrakenExchange · MiCA (Central Bank of Ireland)Visit Kraken* (paid link, opens in a new window)BitvavoExchange · MiCA (AFM, Netherlands)Visit Bitvavo* (paid link, opens in a new window)CoinbaseExchange · MiCA (CSSF, Luxembourg)Visit Coinbase* (paid link, opens in a new window)All 7 compared – including non-partners →*Paid link: if you sign up or buy through it, we earn a commission. Your price stays the same. How we make money →18+ · Crypto assets are highly volatile; you could lose all your money. No deposit protection.× is based does not matter. If you split your time between countries or have recently moved, clarify your residence first.

Only reporting is harmonised: under DAC8, EU crypto providers have been collecting customer and transaction data since 1 January 2026, and member states exchange it.^[2] Details: DAC8 & reporting obligations; provider licensing: MiCA & regulation.

Common patterns

Many countries combine several of these elements.

Approach	What it means	Examples (as of September 2026)
Tax-free after a holding period	Gains are only taxed if you sell within a certain period	Germany: more than one year[3]; Portugal: 365 days[30]; Czechia: more than three years[36]; Croatia: two years[23]; Luxembourg: more than six months[12]
Flat rate on gains	A fixed percentage, regardless of your other income	France[9], Italy[28], Poland[38], Hungary[37], Cyprus[25]
Gains taxed as ordinary income	Gains are added to your other income	Denmark[15]
Wealth instead of (or as well as) gains	Your holdings are taxed each year, sometimes via a deemed return	Netherlands[13], Switzerland[6], Norway (in addition to gains)[21]
Crypto-to-crypto swaps not taxed	Only exchanges into money (and often goods) count	Austria[5], Poland[38], Hungary[37], Croatia[23]; deferred in France[9] and Portugal[30]

Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein

• Germany – Federal Ministry of Finance (2025, in German). Gains on privately held bitcoin are tax-free after more than one year. Sold earlier, they stay tax-free if all private disposal gains in the year total less than €1,000.^[3] A Finance Ministry draft bill would tax gains on crypto bought after 31 December 2026 at 25% plus solidarity surcharge, however long you hold it; it is not law.^[4] Details: Bitcoin & tax in Germany and the reform tracker.
• Austria – Federal Ministry of Finance (in German). Gains on crypto bought after 28 February 2021 are taxed at 27.5%, however long you held it; swapping one crypto asset for another is not taxed.^[5] Details: Austria and Switzerland.
• Switzerland – Federal Tax Administration (in English; working paper in German, French and Italian). Gains on privately held bitcoin are generally tax-free capital gains; your holdings are subject to cantonal wealth tax every year.^[6] Details: Austria and Switzerland.
• Liechtenstein – Tax Act (SteG) (in German). We found no crypto-specific guidance for private investors. Under the general rules, wealth is taxed via a standardised 4% return (Sollertrag), and capital gains on movable private assets are exempt from income tax.^[7] Ask the Steuerverwaltung how this applies to crypto.

Western Europe

• Belgium – FPS Finance (in French and Dutch). Since 1 January 2026, gains on financial assets – expressly including cryptocurrencies – are generally taxed at 10%. The first €10,000 of gains each year is exempt (assessment year 2027).^[8]
• France – impots.gouv.fr (in French). Gains from managing your private assets are taxed at a flat 31.4%, or at the progressive scale if you opt for it. Crypto-to-crypto swaps are deferred, and you owe nothing if your total sales in the year do not exceed €305. Accounts on foreign platforms must be declared.^[9]
• Ireland – Revenue (in English). There are no special rules for crypto; the general rules apply.^[10] Selling, gifting or exchanging an asset falls under capital gains tax, currently 33% for most gains.^[11]
• Luxembourg – Direct tax administration (2018 circular, in French). A gain is a taxable speculative gain only if you dispose of the crypto within six months of acquiring it. Speculative gains are tax-free if the year’s total stays below €500.^[12]
• Netherlands – Belastingdienst (in Dutch). Crypto counts as wealth in ‘box 3’, valued on 1 January. Above the tax-free allowance, you pay 36% on a deemed return of 6.00% for crypto (2026); if your actual return was lower, you can report that instead.^[13]
• United Kingdom – HMRC (in English). Capital gains tax may be due when you sell, swap, spend or give away cryptoassets. If your total gains in the tax year (6 April to 5 April) exceed the tax-free allowance, you must report and pay.^[14] The UK is outside the EU, so DAC8 and MiCA don’t apply.

Northern Europe and the Baltics

• Denmark – Danish Tax Agency (in English). Gains are personal income, taxed at up to 53%; losses are deductible at a rate equivalent to 26%. FIFO applies across all your holdings.^[15]
• Estonia – Tax and Customs Board (in English). Gains from selling, swapping or paying with crypto must be declared and are taxed like other income. Losses count only on crypto bought through a MiCA-licensed provider.^[16]
• Finland – Vero (in English). Gains are capital income – also when you swap for other crypto or pay with it. Capital income is taxed at 30%, and at 34% above €30,000.^[17]
• Iceland – Skatturinn (in Icelandic). There are no crypto-specific rules. Gains on selling are typically taxed as capital income, and holdings go in the tax return at their year-end market value.^[18]
• Latvia – State Revenue Service (in Latvian). Gains are capital gains, taxed at 25.5% since 2025 (previously 20%). If you cannot prove the acquisition value, it is set at zero.^[19]
• Lithuania – State Tax Inspectorate (September 2025, in Lithuanian). Selling crypto, swapping it for another crypto or paying with it counts as sale income, declared in the annual return. Net gains from crypto and other private property of up to €2,500 a year are tax-free.^[20]
• Norway – Skatteetaten (in English). Income from virtual assets is capital income taxed at 22%, and every realisation counts. Holdings are also subject to wealth tax at their market value on 1 January of the following year.^[21]
• Sweden – Skatteverket (in Swedish). Gains are taxed at 30%, calculated with the average cost method; losses are deductible at 70%.^[22]

Southern Europe

• Croatia – Tax Administration (2018 opinion, in Croatian). Crypto gains are capital income, taxed only if you sell within two years of buying; swapping one cryptocurrency for another is not a disposal.^[23] The rate on capital gains has been 12% since 2024.^[24]
• Cyprus – Ministry of Finance (2026, in English and Greek). Since the 2026 tax reform, crypto gains are taxed at a flat 8%. Crypto losses can only be offset against crypto gains of the same year.^[25]
• Greece – Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE) (in Greek and English). We found no AADE guidance for private investors on crypto gains (as of September 2026).^[26] Check with AADE or a Greek tax adviser.
• Italy – Agenzia delle Entrate (2023 circular, in Italian).^[27] Gains realised from 1 January 2026 are subject to a 33% substitute tax (previously 26%), with no exemption threshold.^[28]
• Malta – Tax and Customs Administration (in English). According to its guidelines on DLT assets, ‘coins’ such as bitcoin fall outside capital gains tax; profits from trading them as a business are taxed as income.^[29]
• Portugal – Tax and Customs Authority (in Portuguese). Gains on crypto held for less than 365 days are taxed at 28%, or at the progressive rates if you opt for it; after 365 days or more they are generally exempt. Crypto-to-crypto swaps are only taxed on a later sale.^[30]
• Slovenia – Financial Administration (in Slovenian). According to the page (updated April 2025), individuals pay no income tax on gains from selling virtual currencies unless this is a business activity.^[33] In July 2025 the government proposed a 25% tax on crypto gains from 2026;^[34] check whether it has become law.
• Spain – Agencia Tributaria (in Spanish). Gains and losses from selling crypto for money or swapping between cryptocurrencies are savings income (base del ahorro); FIFO applies to partial sales.^[31] Crypto held abroad may have to be reported on form 721.^[32]

Central and Eastern Europe

• Bulgaria – National Revenue Agency (in Bulgarian). The year’s gains from selling or swapping crypto, minus the year’s losses and a flat 10% for costs, are declared in an annex to the annual return. No advance tax is due.^[35]
• Czechia – Financial Administration (in Czech). Since 2025, income from selling crypto is tax-exempt if more than three years pass between purchase and sale, or if your total sale proceeds stay within CZK 100,000 a year.^[36]
• Hungary – NAV (in Hungarian). Tax is due only when you convert crypto into money or goods. The year’s net gain is taxed at 15%; losses from the current and two preceding years can reduce the tax (‘tax equalisation’).^[37]
• Poland – podatki.gov.pl (in Polish). Selling crypto for money, goods or services is taxed at 19% (form PIT-38); swaps between cryptocurrencies are not taxed. Costs above revenue are carried forward to the next year rather than deducted as a loss.^[38]
• Romania – Fiscal Code on the ANAF website (Art. 116, in Romanian). Crypto gains are taxed at 16% (previously 10%) and declared in the annual single return (Declarația unică). Gains under 200 lei per transaction stay untaxed as long as the year’s total does not exceed 600 lei.^[39]
• Slovakia – Financial Administration (in Slovak). Income from selling crypto – including swaps for other crypto, goods or services – is taxable ‘other income’. Health insurance contributions may also be due on it.^[40]

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