How is Crypto Taxed Around The World in the 2020-2021 Tax Year?

Crypto investor? Wondering how Crypto is taxed in your country? Join us on a trip around the world as we explore crypto taxes for individuals in the US, UK, Australia, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Switzerland, France, Austria, Spain and The Netherlands. This guide looks at the taxes that apply to individual investors, and not to commercial traders or businesses. The rules apply to the 2020-2021 tax year, but we're regularly updating it.

United States

Cryptocurrency is viewed as property and is taxed in the United States as either Capital Gains Tax or Income Tax. You won't pay tax when you buy crypto, hold crypto, or move your crypto between wallets. Gifting crypto is tax-free, but you may need to file Form 709 if your crypto exceeds $15,000 in value (increasing to $16,000 in value for 2022). Similarly, donations are not subject to Capital Gains Tax, provided the donation is made to a qualified charitable organization. If the donation is more than $500, donors may need to submit Form 8283 signed by their chosen recipient.

How much will you pay?

In the United States, the amount of tax you pay on crypto gains depends on how long you’ve held your assets for, and your personal Federal Capital Gains Tax rate, and the Federal Income Tax bracket you're in. 

• Tax-breaks: If your total annual income is under $40,400 a year, you'll pay no Capital Gains Tax. For married couples filing jointly, the limit is $80,000 a year. For the head of household, this limit is $53,600 a year. These brackets have increased slightly for the 2022 tax year.
• Short-term capital gains: Any gain made from a crypto asset held less than a year is taxed at the same rate as your Federal Income Tax bracket, so between 10% and 37% in tax.
• Long-term capital gains: Any gains or losses made from a crypto asset held for longer than a year incurs a much lower 0%, 15% or 20% tax depending on individual or combined marital income.
• Losses: You can offset capital losses against capital gains. If your capital losses exceed your capital gains, you can offset your capital losses against your income for the year - up to a maximum of $3,000. If your net capital loss is more than this limit, you can carry the loss forward indefinitely to future tax years.

Cost basis

The default cost basis method used in the States is Spec ID. If investors cannot provide detailed records to utilize the Spec ID cost basis method, the default is FIFO. Investors may also be able to use HIFO and LIFO, as long as they provide records showing they followed that cost basis method.

Capital Gains Tax

• Profits from selling crypto for fiat.
• Profits from crypto trades.
• Spending crypto on goods and services.

Income Tax

Cryptocurrency transactions that are classified as income are taxed at your Federal Income Tax bracket. Many of these transactions are also subject to Capital Gains Tax upon disposal. Income can come from:

• Getting paid in crypto - like a salary.
• Staking rewards and liquidity pools - like dividends.
• Forks - excluding soft forks when no new coin is received.
• Mining tokens - like income.
• Airdrops - like bonuses.
• Referral bonus - like commission.
• A variety of DeFi activities - if you're earning new coins as a result.
• Selling NFTs you created.

Stolen crypto

The IRS does not consider theft or loss to be a disposal and therefore you cannot claim lost or stolen crypto as a capital loss. You can write off any lost or stolen crypto, but you cannot deduct it as a loss (unless it occurred during a federally declared disaster - unlikely!)

How to report crypto tax in the USA

The IRS takes crypto tax very seriously and has stepped up its watch on undeclared profits. Crypto investors in the USA need to declare capital gains, losses and income from crypto in their Individual Income Tax Return. Crypto can be declared to the IRS from 1 January 2022 to 15 April 2022. As this falls on a weekend - the official tax deadline for 2022 is Monday the 18th of April 2022.

How to report Capital Gains Tax

Fill in Form 8949 and add it to Form Schedule D: Form 8949 is the specific tax form for reporting crypto capital gains and losses. The Schedule D form is the main tax form for reporting overall capital gains and losses.

How to report Income Tax

Fill in Schedule 1 Form 1040: Any crypto earned as an income needs to be added to Schedule 1 Form 1040.

Australia

In Australia, cryptocurrency is viewed a property and is taxed under Capital Gains Tax or Income Tax. You won't pay tax when you buy crypto, hold crypto, or move it between wallets. Donations may also be tax-free provided the recipient is a deductible gift recipient.

How much will you pay?

In Australia, the amount of Capital Gains Tax owed on crypto depends on how long you’ve held your assets and in which Income Tax bracket you are. 

• Tax-breaks: There are no specific allowances for Capital Gains Tax in Australia. However, if your total income is less than $18,200 a year, you won't pay any Income Tax or Capital Gains Tax.
• Short-term capital gains: Any gains or losses made from a crypto asset held less than a year are taxed at the same rate as whatever Income Tax bracket you’re in.
• Long-term capital gains: Any gains from a crypto asset held for more than a year receives a 50% Capital Gains Tax discount.
• Losses: Losses can be carried forward and deducted from capital gains in later years. There is no time limit on how long you can carry forward a net capital loss.

Cost basis

The default cost basis method used in Australia is FIFO, however, LIFO can also be used.

Capital Gains Tax

• Profits from selling crypto for fiat.
• Profits from trading crypto.
• Perceived profits made from gifting crypto.
• Using cryptocurrency to purchase goods and services (unless as a Personal Use Asset).

Income Tax

Cryptocurrency transactions that are classified as income are taxed at your regular Income Tax bracket rate. Income can come from:

• Getting paid in crypto - like a salary.
• Staking rewards and liquidity pools - like dividends.
• Mining tokens - like income, only at trader level. Hobby miners do not pay income tax.
• Airdrops - like bonuses.
• DeFi interest - like bank account interest.
• Referral bonus - like commission.

Stolen Crypto

You may be able to claim lost or stolen crypto as a capital loss. But to claim a capital loss, the ATO will require evidence. See here.

How to report crypto tax in Australia

The ATO has gotten very serious about crypto tax of late, with numerous letters, press releases and measures taken to communicate their position. Crypto investors in Australia need to declare their profits, losses and income in their Individual Tax Return form. The Australian financial year runs from the 1st of July until the 30th of June the following year. The deadline for filing your taxes for the preceding financial year is the 31st of October 2022.

How to report Capital Gains and Income Tax

File a Tax Return for Individuals Form: Capital Gains Tax and Income Tax are both reported under the same Individual Tax Return Form. You can do this online with MyTax. You can also watch our how to guide on filing your Australian crypto taxes here.

United Kingdom

Like most countries around the world, the UK does not treat cryptocurrency as currency or money. Instead, the HMRC views cryptocurrency as property and is taxed as either Capital Gains Tax or Income Tax. You won't pay tax when you buy crypto, hold crypto, or move it between wallets. Cryptocurrency gifts to your spouse are also non-taxed and can effectively allow you to double your tax-free allowance in a given tax year. Donations to registered charity are also tax-free.

How much will you pay?

In the United Kingdom, the amount of capital gains tax owed on crypto depends on how long you’ve held your assets, and on your Income Tax rate.  

• Tax-breaks: As a UK resident you only have to pay Capital Gains Tax on your overall gains above your tax-free allowance of £12,300 (called the Annual Exempt Amount) In addition, the standard Personal Allowance is £12,570, which is the amount of income you do not have to pay tax on.
• Short-term capital gains: Your CGT tax rate will depend on your Income Tax band. The basic Capital Gains Tax rate for those earning less than £50,270 is 10%, while the higher rate for those earning more than £50,271 is 20%.
• Long-term capital gains: Your long-term capital gains are taxed at the same rate as short-term.
• Losses: Carry forward registered losses indefinitely until fully utilised, but you must register capital losses with HMRC by reporting them within 4 years.

Cost basis

To avoid investors selling assets at a loss and repurchasing them shortly after to reduce tax liability, the HRMC requires share pool accounting when calculating the cost basis. These can be broken down into three simple rules:

• Same Day Rule: If you buy and sell coins on the same day, use the cost basis on this day to calculate your gains or losses.
• Bed and Breakfasting Rule: If you buy and sell/trade coins within 30 days, use the cost basis of the coins bought this month to calculate your gains or losses.
• Section 104 Pool: Use the average cost basis method to calculate an average cost for a given pool of assets. Add up the total amount paid for a pool of assets and divide it by the total amount of coins/tokens in the pool.

You can work through these rules one by one, as they apply to your assets.

Capital Gains Tax

• Profits from selling crypto for fiat like GBP.
• Profits from trading crypto for crypto.
• Perceived profits made from gifting crypto (excluding to spouse).
• Using cryptocurrency to purchase goods and services.
• Adding and removing liquidity from liquidity and lending pools.

Income Tax

Cryptocurrency transactions that are classified as income are taxed at your regular Income Tax bracket. Income can come from:

• Getting paid in crypto - known as 'money's worth' and is subject to National Insurance too.
• Staking rewards and liquidity pools - like dividends.
• Mining tokens - like income, only at trader level. Hobby miners do not pay income tax.
• Airdrops - like a bonus in most instances.
• A variety of DeFI activities where you earn new tokens/coins.
• Referral bonus - like commission.

Stolen crypto

In general, HMRC does not consider loss or theft to be a disposal and therefore you cannot claim a capital loss. However, if you have no prospect of recovery and can prove this, a negligible value claim could be made with the HMRC.

How to report crypto tax in UK

You need to report any gains from the previous year in your Self Assessment Tax Return by the 31st of January 2023.

How to report Capital Gains and Income Tax

All taxable assets are included in the same Self Assessment Tax Return form in the UK.

Alternatively, if you'd rather report real time Capital Gains Tax, you can use the Government Gateway service. Once you've reported your gains, HMRC will contact you with payment options.

Canada

In Canada, cryptocurrency is viewed as a commodity by The Canada Revenue Agency and is taxed as either Capital Gains Tax or Income Tax. You won't pay tax when you buy crypto, hold crypto, or move it between wallets.

It's important to establish whether you are trading as an individual or as a business - the lines get blurry.

How much will you pay?

In Canada, the amount of capital gains tax owed on crypto depends on your personal Income Tax rate.  

• Tax-breaks: Only half of your capital gain is actually subject to tax.
• Short-term gains: Any gains or losses made from a crypto asset are taxed at the same rate as the Income Tax bracket you’re in.
• Long-term gains: Your long-term capital gains are taxed at the same rate as short-term.
• Losses: Capital losses can be used to offset capital gains for the year. If you have more capital losses than capital gains, it can be carried forward to reduce your tax liability in the future. The same 50% rule that applies to capital gains also applies to losses. You can only offset 50% of your losses.

Cost basis

Canada's CRA requires the use of the Adjusted Cost Basis method when calculating crypto gains. The Superficial Loss Rule is a wash-sale rule that prevents Canadian taxpayers from taking advantage of wash-sale style capital losses.

Capital Gains Tax

• Profits from selling crypto for fiat.
• Profits from swapping crypto with crypto.
• Using cryptocurrency to purchase goods and services.
• Any capital gain from gifting crypto.

Income Tax

Cryptocurrency transactions that are classified as income are taxed at your regular Income Tax bracket. Income can come from:

• Getting paid in crypto - like a salary.
• Staking rewards and liquidity pools - like dividends.
• Mining tokens - like income, only at business level. Hobby miners do not pay income tax.
• Airdrops - like bonuses.
• Earning crypto through DeFi protocols.
• Referral bonus - like commission.
• Creating and selling NFTs.

How to report crypto tax in Canada

Any cryptocurrency transactions subject Income Tax or Capital Gains Tax should be reported on your Income Tax Return T1 General or a Schedule 3 Form by the 30th April 2022.

How to report Capital Gains and Income Tax

Any cryptocurrency transactions subject to Capital Gains Tax can be reported in a Schedule 3 Form. Any cryptocurrency transactions subject to Income Tax should be included in your Income Tax Return T1. You can file your taxes online using the CRA's My Account.

Germany

Cryptocurrency is viewed as a private asset in Germany by Bundeszentralamt für Steuern (BZSt), which means it attracts an individual Income Tax, rather than a Capital Gains Tax. You won't pay tax when you buy crypto, hold crypto, or move your crypto between wallets.

How much will you pay?

In Germany, the amount of tax you pay depends on how long you’ve held your assets and your personal Income Tax rate and solidarity surcharge.

• Tax-breaks: Profits up to €600 per year are tax-free.
• Short-term capital gains: Any gains or losses made from a crypto asset held less than a year are taxed at the same rate as your personal Income Tax rate.
• Long-term capital gains: As a 'private asset' in Germany, crypto gains are completely tax-exempt after a holding period of one year. When it comes to cashing in on staked crypto, that tax-free holding period is a minimum of 10 years.
• Losses: The German Tax Act allows investors to offset gains with past years’ losses and/or carry losses forward to offset gains in future tax years.

Cost basis

The default cost basis method used in Germany is FIFO.

Income Tax

Provided you're seen to be trading as an individual as opposed to as a business, you'll pay Income Tax on a variety of crypto transactions in Germany. Remember, you'll only pay tax at the point of disposal, if that disposal is made within 1 year of acquiring the asset. Income can come from:

• Profits from selling crypto for fiat.
• Profits from swapping crypto with crypto.
• Using cryptocurrency to purchase goods and services.
• Getting paid in crypto - other income.
• Staking rewards and liquidity pools - other income.
• Mining tokens - other income.
• Airdrops - other income.
• DeFi interest - other income.
• Referral bonus - other income.

How to report crypto tax in Germany

The BZSt wants to know about your crypto activity in terms of income and profits made from crypto trades, swaps and sales. You'll need to declare this in your annual tax return (Einkommensteuererklärung) between January 1 and July 31.

How to report Income Tax

Fill in Hauptformular and Anlage SO: To file your German cryptocurrency tax, you'll need 2 forms, one for general income, Hauptformular ESt 1 A, and one for your crypto income, Anlage SO.

Ireland

Cryptocurrency is viewed as property and is taxed in Ireland as either Capital Gains Tax or Income Tax. You won't pay tax when you buy crypto, hold crypto, or move your crypto between wallets. Gifting crypto in Ireland is subject to Capital Acquisitions Tax at 33%.

How much will you pay?

• Tax-breaks: As per Ireland's Capital Gains Tax rules, an annual exemption of €1,270 applies.
• Short-term gains: Any gains are taxed at a 33% Capital Gains Tax rate.
• Long-term gains: Long-term gains are taxed at the same rate as short-term.
• Losses: If you make a loss when you dispose of an asset, this may be classified as an allowable loss if you made a gain on the same transaction. You can deduct allowable losses from any chargeable gains made in the same tax year. You can also carry forward losses to use against future gains.

Cost Basis

The default cost basis method used in Ireland in FIFO. An exception to the FIFO rule is where shares are sold within four weeks of purchase. In this case, the shares sold are deemed to be the most recently acquired shares, even though there may be an older holding of the same class of shares.

Capital Gains Tax

• Profits from selling crypto for fiat.
• Profits from swapping crypto with crypto.
• Using cryptocurrency to purchase goods and services.
• Capital Acquisitions Tax on any gifts.

Income Tax

Cryptocurrency transactions that are classified as income are taxed at your regular Income Tax bracket. Income can come from:

• Getting paid in crypto - like a salary.
• Staking rewards and liquidity pools - like dividends.
• Mining tokens - like income.
• Airdrops - like bonuses.
• DeFi interest - like bank account interest.
• Referral bonus - like commission.

How to report crypto tax in Ireland

Ireland Revenue wants to know about your crypto activity in terms of income and capital gains in your annual Income Tax Return, as well as a Form 12 or Form CG1 for Capital Gains Tax. The deadline is the 31st of October 2022.

How to report Income and Capital Gains Tax

You can report both Capital Gains Tax and Income Tax online using the Revenue Online Service. If you need to register, you'll need your tax registration number.

Switzerland

Cryptocurrency is viewed as a private wealth asset in Switzerland by the Federal Tax Administration (FTA), which means it attracts a Wealth Tax rather than a Capital Gains Tax. This is only the case for private investors and not for sole traders or businesses, for whom different tax rules apply.

You won't pay tax when you buy crypto, hold crypto, or move your crypto between wallets.

How much will you pay?

In Switzerland, the amount of tax you pay depends on whether you are a private investor, or a commercial trader. As a private investor, your crypto gains will be taxed as private wealth, under the Wealth Tax. Each canton in Switzerland sets its own Wealth Tax rate, and has the freedom to determine whether or not your cryptocurrency transactions should be considered as investment, or self-employed activity.

• Tax-breaks: Crypto proceeds from disposals are not taxed under capital gains tax.
• Wealth tax: Two factors to consider are that each Swiss Canton sets it's own Wealth Tax rate. And, the Swiss FTA defines the taxation value of the most commonly used cryptocurrencies on the 31 December each year. The rates are based on the average of different exchanges. Swiss taxpayers must refer to this taxation value when declaring their crypto assets. If the FTA has not provided a value for a cryptocurrency you hold, you must declare the value as of 31 December using the value defined by the platform on which the assets are held.
• Losses: Capital losses cannot be claimed as private wealth assets are not subject to Capital Gains Tax.

Cost basis

Swiss taxpayers can use HIFO, LIFO, FIFO or average cost method.

Income Tax

If an employee receives cryptocurrency as a salary, this is part of their taxable income. In addition, income can come from:

• Getting paid in crypto
• Staking rewards and liquidity pools
• Mining tokens
• Airdrops
• DeFi interest
• Referral bonus

How to report crypto tax in Switzerland

Swiss taxpayers need to file an annual tax return. Individual cantons administer their own tax returns – the Swiss government’s website provides links for each canton.

The tax year in Switzerland corresponds with the calendar year. In most cantons, you need to file your tax return three months later, by 31 March.

France

Cryptocurrency is viewed as a moveable asset in France by the General Directorate of Public Finances (DGFiP). Capital gains from the disposal of movable assets (e.g. securities, bonds) are taxed as ordinary income from cryptocurrency sales, and income from mining are all taxable under Income Tax.

You won't pay tax when you buy crypto, swap crypto for crypto, hold crypto, or move your crypto between wallets.

How much will you pay?

In France, the amount of tax you pay depends on whether you're an occasional investor, or a miner, or a professional trader.

• Occasional traders: Pay a 'Flat Tax' of 30%. Formally known as a Single Fixed Levy (PFU), individuals who buy crypto as investment pay a flat tax of 12.8% + 17.2 for social security contributions. This gives an overall tax rate of 30% in 2021. The PFU applies to interest, income and dividends.
• Professional traders: Pay a BIC tax of 45%.
• Crypto miners: Pay a BNC Tax of 45%. In France, crypto mining falls under the regime of non-commercial profits (BNC), within the framework of article 92 of the general tax code.
• Tax-breaks: Total capital gains up to €305 per year are tax-free.
• Losses: Crypto capital losses can be applied to gains made in the same financial year. They cannot be carried forward.

Cost basis

The default cost basis in France is the Weighted Average Acquisition Price (PMPA)

Income Tax

Provided you're seen to be trading as an occasional trader, and not a business trader, you'll pay the PFU 'Flat Tax' of 30% on a variety of crypto transactions in France. Income can come from:

• Profits from selling crypto for fiat.
• Staking rewards and liquidity pools.
• Airdrops.
• Interest.

How to report crypto tax in France

The French tax year runs from 1 January to 31 December. The DGFiP wants to know about your crypto activity in terms of income and profits made from crypto gains and income. You'll need to declare this in your annual income tax return between April 08 and June 08, according to your department.

How to report Income Tax

Fill in Form 2042: Income Tax Return. Married persons file a joint tax return, with no option to file separately after the year of marriage or before the year of divorce. 

Attach to Form 2042:

1. Form 2086 to declare capital gains.
2. Form 2042 C to declare mining income.
3. Form 3916-bis to declare cryptocurrency accounts opened outside of France.

Spain

The Spanish Tax Office - Agencia Tributaria - views cryptocurrencies as a commodity and there's a few different taxes that may apply to your crypto. This is because Spain has no specific tax laws for crypto - instead the tax that applies depends on the specific transaction you're making.

When you swap or sell crypto - this is seen as a capital gain. Profits from these transactions are taxed under Renta del Ahorro - Income Savings Tax. You'll pay anywhere between 19% to 26% tax on these gains, depending on how much you earn.

When you mine, stake or otherwise 'earn' crypto - this would be viewed as ordinary income and be taxed under Income Tax - Renta General. Like the above, this is taxed at a progressive rate depending on how much you earn - you'll pay anywhere between 19% - 47% in tax.

As well as this, Spain also has a wealth tax. This isn't crypto specific, but rather applied based on the total value of all your assets - including cryptocurrencies. How much you'll pay in wealth tax depends on where you live and the value of your assets. You'll pay anywhere between 0.2% to 4%. 

Finally, if you receive crypto as a gift (or as an inheritance) - your crypto will be subject to the Gift and Inheritance Tax.

How much will you pay?

The amount of tax you’ll pay on your crypto in Spain depends on the specific transactions you’re making, the total value of your assets, how much you earn and where you live.

• Tax-breaks: You'll pay no wealth tax on the first €700,000 of your assets in most regions.
• Short-term capital gains: Short-term capital gains are taxed at 19% - 26% depending on your income.
• Long-term capital gains: Your long-term capital gains are taxed at the same rate as short-term.
• Losses: You can offset losses against gains, as well as carry losses forward for a maximum of 4 years.

Cost basis

Spain uses the FIFO cost basis method, so the first crypto asset you bought is the first one you sell. 

Savings Income Tax (Capital Gains)

• Selling crypto for fiat currency.
• Swapping crypto for crypto.

Income Tax

• Getting paid in crypto.
• Mining crypto.
• Earning crypto through staking, liquidity mining or lending.

How to report crypto tax in Spain

The financial year in Spain follows the calendar year - so the current financial year runs from the 1st of January 2021 to the 31st of December 2021. The deadline to file your tax return for the 2021 financial year is the 30th of June 2022.

You'll declare both your crypto income and crypto capital gains in your Personal Income Tax Return - Form 100. You'll also need to file the Model 720 Declaration if the total value of your crypto assets is more than €50,000.

The Netherlands

Crypto is seen as an asset by the Dutch Tax and Customs Administration - Belastingdienst. But the Dutch do things a little differently to the rest of the world. They don’t have a Capital Gains Tax that only applies when you sell, swap, spend or gift assets. Instead, Dutch taxpayers are taxed on an assumed fictitious gain based on the value of their asset from the start to the end of the financial year - so HODLing crypto is taxed. You'll pay 31% tax on an assumed fictitious gain of between 0.03% and 5.69% - depending on the total value of your assets.

However, if you’re making considerable additional profit from trading crypto - whether that’s selling, swapping or spending - throughout the year, you’ll declare this as Income and it’ll be subject to Income Tax. If you report crypto income in this box, you cannot be taxed on the fictitious gain of your asset as well.

Similarly, crypto activities like staking, mining, liquidity mining and yield farming should all be reported as income to the Belastingdienst.

Please note - the fictitious gains tax is due to change to a realized gains tax (like other countries) by 2025 at the latest. We'll update this guide as soon as there is clear information from the Dutch tax office as to when the changes will be.

How much will you pay

The amount of tax you pay on crypto depends on how many assets you hold, how much their value changes throughout  the year and how much you earn.

• Tax breaks: You'll pay no tax if the total value of your assets is less than €50,000.
• Short-term capital gains: There is no short-term capital gains tax in the Netherlands. You'll pay 31% tax on an assumed fictitious gain of between 0.03% to 5.69%.
• Long term-capital gains: There is no long-term capital gains tax in the Netherlands. You'll pay 31% tax on an assumed fictitious gain of between 0.03% to 5.69%.
• Losses: You're taxed on the total value of your assets in the Netherlands, so your losses will be considered in this figure. There are however many tax deductions available to reduce your overall tax bill. 

Cost basis

Your cost basis for each held asset is set at the start of the financial year on January 1st.

Fictitious Gains Tax

You'll pay 31% tax on an assumed fictitious gain for the crypto assets you HODL throughout the financial year. You won't pay tax on losses.

Income Tax

• Getting paid in crypto - like a salary.
• Staking rewards and liquidity pools - like dividends.
• Forks - excluding soft forks when no new coin is received.
• Mining tokens - like income.
• Airdrops - like bonuses.
• DeFi interest - like bank account interest.
• Referral bonus - like commission.

How to report crypto tax in the Netherlands

The Belastingdienst take tax evasion very seriously and impose a penalty of up to 300% on unpaid tax - which they can recover from up to 5 years prior. All this to say, Dutch crypto investors need to report their crypto taxes accurately.

You report your crypto assets in your Income Tax Return each year. You’ll report on the previous financial year - so 1st of January 2021 to the 31st of December 2021. You can file your Income Tax Return from the 1st of March and the deadline to file is the 30th of April 2022. As this falls on a weekend, you’ll actually have until the 2nd of May 2022.

Both your crypto income and fictitious gains from crypto assets are reported in your Income Tax Return.

How to report crypto income

In the first box of your Income Tax Return - you report worldwide income. This is where you would report profits from trading crypto, mining crypto, staking crypto and so on.

How to report fictitious gains from crypto

In the third box of your Income Tax Return - you report your assumed fictitious gain.

Austria

The Austrian Ministry of Finance (BMF) views cryptocurrencies as intangible assets. The BMF has also recently released a draft bill on tax treatment of crypto assets. Once this passes, it means you'll pay different tax depending on when you acquired your cryptocurrency. This doesn't come into effect until March 2022, but we’ll cover both.

Austria doesn’t have a specific Capital Gains Tax. Instead, your crypto will be taxed according to your Income Tax rate - between 0% - 55%, depending on the activity, and on how much you earn.

When it comes to selling, swapping and spending crypto, you’ll only pay tax on it when you acquire and dispose of your crypto within the same financial year. Gains made will be taxed at your current Income Tax rate.

If you’ve held the asset for more than a year, you’ll pay no tax.

Mining is almost always taxed as income from commercial operations which is a separate tax of up to 55%.

In instances where you earn interest from your crypto assets, like from staking, liquidity mining, lending and yield farming, you’ll pay a special 27.5% tax on all gains made.

If the draft bill passes - in March 2022 - you’ll pay the 27.5% tax on all crypto transactions, including on long-term gains. Other changes include:

• No tax on crypto to crypto trades.
• Legacy holdings (acquired before the 28th of February 2021 still tax free on sale).
• You can now offset crypto losses against capital gains.
• Direct rewards from staking as part of a consensus mechanism is now tax free (not through third parties).

Learn more in our Austrian crypto tax reform blog.

How much will you pay

The amount of tax you pay on crypto depends on when you bought your assets, how much you earn and the specific transactions you’re making.

• Tax breaks: You’ll pay no tax on Income under €11,000 euros. If your net capital gain is under €440, this is tax free and you don’t need to declare it.
• Short-term capital gains: Short-term capital gains from crypto you’ve held less than a year is taxed at your Income Tax rate - between 0% to 55% depending on your income.
• Long term-capital gains: From the 1st of March 2022, you'll pay the same amount of tax regardless of how long you've held your crypto as part of the crypto tax reform. However, this rule isn’t retroactive to so-called legacy holdings - so any crypto you acquired before the 28th of February 2021 will be tax free when you sell or spend.
• Losses: You can offset losses against gains, but the rules on this are very stringent - you can only offset losses of a similar kind. So you can’t offset speculative losses against your income, only speculative gains.

Cost Basis

Provided you have good records at the time of purchase and sale, you can specifically identify each crypto asset you sold and use that cost basis to calculate your crypto gains and losses. If you’re unable or don’t want to do this, First In First Out is also allowed.

Income Tax

A standard income tax rate applies to the following activities:

• Selling crypto for fiat currency (held for less than a year)
• Swapping crypto for crypto (held for less than a year)
• Spending crypto on goods or services (held for less than a year)
• ICO and airdrops - plus VAT in some instances

Interest-Bearing Investment Tax

Interest-bearing activities are taxed at 27.5%:

• Staking crypto
• Lending crypto
• Liquidity mining
• Yield farming

How to report crypto tax in Austria

The BMF’s draft bill on crypto shows that they’re taking crypto taxes seriously. Austrian investors need to report their crypto income and gains for the financial year. The Austrian financial year runs from the 1st of January 2021 to the 31st of December 2021. The deadline to file your taxes is:

Paper forms: April 30th 2022.

Online: 30th June 2022.

Through a certified tax advisor: 31st March 2023.

How to report crypto income and gains in Austria

You report all your crypto income and capital gains in your Income Tax Return - E1. You may also need records showing your crypto transactions as part of this. You can submit this online through FinanzOnline.

Learn more in our Austria Crypto Tax Guide.