Holding period calculator

The rule: more than one year

In Germany, a gain from selling privately held bitcoin is only taxable if purchase and sale are “not more than one year” apart.^[1]The finance ministry classifies bitcoin under this rule and does not extend the period to ten years, even if you lend it out.^[6]Every purchase has its own period – including each savings-plan execution.

Where the prices come from

You only enter date and amount. We take the price on the purchase day from our price history (daily closing prices, mainly from Bitstamp) and the current price live. If a source is unreachable, we use the last known values and say so.

Amounts are shown in US dollars. Tax is calculated in euros because the German tax office works in euros: what counts is what you paid and received. We approximate this with the daily euro price – the finance ministry accepts a daily price from one consistent source for valuation.^[6] In your tax return, use the amounts on your statements, including fees.

How we calculate the end of the period

For periods in tax law, the rules of the German Civil Code apply accordingly.^[2] This means:

• The purchase day does not count. The period starts the day after the purchase.^[3]
• It ends one year later at the end of the day with the same number as the purchase day.^[4] A sale on exactly that day is still taxable.
• Tax-free from the following day.
• Purchase on 29 February: if that day does not exist in the following year, the period ends on the last day of the month – 28 February.^[4]

Weekends and holidays change nothing. The Fiscal Code extends periods ending on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday to the next working day.^[2]According to the prevailing view, this does not apply to the holding period; the Cologne tax court ruled the same way.^[5]A day or two of buffer does no harm – for example because of the time your platform records.

Which bitcoin do you sell? FIFO

If you cannot prove which coins you sold, the first bought are deemed the first sold (“first in, first out”), per wallet or account.^[6]The calculator therefore allocates a sale to your oldest purchases first. If your bitcoin sit in several places, calculate each wallet separately.

The €1,000 exemption limit – not an allowance

Gains from sales within the period remain tax-free if all private disposal gains of a calendar year together are less than €1,000.^[1]Up to and including 2023 the limit was €600.^[6] At €999.99 the gain is tax-free; at €1,000.00 the full €1,000 is taxable. Unlike an allowance, the whole amount becomes taxable once the limit is reached.^[7] Losses within the period can only be offset against such gains.^[1]

What the calculator does not cover

• Swapping bitcoin for other crypto assets: this counts as a sale, and a new period starts for what you receive.^[6]
• Fees (they reduce the gain) and your exact prices – we use daily prices. Also transfers between wallets and the averaging method.
• Planned law changes. A finance ministry draft would tax crypto assets bought after 31 Dec 2026 at a 25% flat rate, without a holding period. Nothing has been decided (as of 28 Sep 2026); the calculator reflects current law.^[7]

Austria and Switzerland – in brief

• Austria: since 1 March 2022, crypto gains are capital income taxed at 27.5% regardless of holding period, for coins bought after 28 February 2021. Older holdings keep the old one-year rule. Crypto-to-crypto swaps are tax-neutral; domestic providers have withheld the tax since 2024.^[8]
• Switzerland: private capital gains are generally tax-free and losses not deductible, except for professional trading. Bitcoin count towards cantonal wealth tax at the year-end value.^[9]