Bitcoin and Taxes in Germany: Holding Period, Savings Plan, ETP and Mining
Bitcoin gains are tax-free after twelve months. What that means for a savings plan with twelve deadlines, why ETPs are taxed differently, and what applies to mining, gifts and losses.
Gains from selling Bitcoin are tax-free in Germany when more than twelve months lie between purchase and sale. Sell earlier and you tax the gain at your personal income tax rate of up to 45 percent plus the solidarity surcharge. An exemption threshold of 1,000 euros a year stays tax-free.
So much for the rule. In practice most people come unstuck not on the rule itself but on the cases it does not cover: a savings plan with twelve different deadlines, a Bitcoin ETP taxed under different rules, or the transfer from an exchange into your own wallet. This article works through the Bitcoin-specific cases. The general basics covering all cryptocurrencies are in our guide to crypto tax in Germany.
The Basic Rule for Bitcoin in Two Sentences
For tax purposes Bitcoin is not a security but an "other economic good". Its sale out of private assets is a private disposal under Section 23 of the German Income Tax Act, and there the holding period decides the tax. The Federal Fiscal Court confirmed this by ruling of February 14, 2023 (case number IX R 3/22).
From that follows the difference from a share: anyone selling shares always pays 25 percent flat withholding tax, no matter how long they have held them. Anyone selling Bitcoin after thirteen months pays nothing, and that holds for a gain of 500,000 euros as well.
Bitcoin Savings Plan: Twelve Purchases, Twelve Deadlines
The most common misconception concerns the savings plan. The twelve-month period applies neither to your portfolio nor to the calendar year, but to each individual acquisition.
Anyone investing 200 euros a month from January 2026 holds twelve positions with twelve different cut-off dates at the end of the year. The January instalment is tax-free in January 2027, the December instalment only in December 2027.
If you sell part of your holding in June 2027, tax-free and taxable shares sit side by side within it. Which ones count as sold is settled by the consumption order: under the Federal Ministry of Finance circular of March 6, 2025, individual allocation applies first, and where that is not possible the coins acquired first count as the ones disposed of first. That order works in your favour, because it uses up the oldest and therefore tax-free positions first.
In practice that means: keep a record of the date, amount and price for every savings plan instalment. Most brokers supply this listing, but not all of them in a form the tax office accepts. How to automate it is shown by our comparison of Bitcoin savings plans.
What Counts as a Sale With Bitcoin
For tax purposes it is not only a sale for euros that is a disposal. These three events trigger the tax as well where the position is younger than twelve months:
- Swapping into another cryptocurrency. Anyone swapping Bitcoin for Ether realises the Bitcoin gain even though no euro moves. For the Ether a new period starts at the same moment.
- Paying with Bitcoin. The purchase is a disposal at the day's price for tax purposes.
- Swapping into a stablecoin. USDT and USDC are crypto assets too, so the swap is a disposal.
Not taxable, by contrast, is the transfer between your own addresses. Anyone sending Bitcoin from an exchange to a hardware wallet disposes of nothing, interrupts no period and triggers no tax. You do have to carry the acquisition data across, though; otherwise nobody can prove later when the coins were bought.
Bitcoin ETP, ETN and ETC: The Second Tax World
Anyone buying Bitcoin not directly but through an exchange-traded product may land somewhere else for tax purposes. This concerns products such as the physically backed ETPs from CoinShares, Invesco or 21Shares, which many investors buy through their ordinary securities account.
The decisive point is the delivery claim. Where the product grants you the right to demand delivery of the Bitcoin deposited, there is much to be said for treating it like direct ownership: Section 23 EStG with the twelve-month period. This line rests on the case law on Xetra-Gold, where the Federal Fiscal Court ruled the same way.
Where the delivery claim is absent, an other capital claim suggests itself. Section 20 EStG then applies with 25 percent flat withholding tax, regardless of the holding period, but with loss offsetting inside the investment income pot.
This classification is not conclusively settled. There is no supreme court decision on crypto ETPs, and the custodian banks do not treat the products uniformly. Some withhold the flat tax even though the investor claims the twelve-month period. Anyone needing certainty here cannot avoid advice on their individual case. Before buying, a look at the product terms is worth it: the delivery claim is expressly set out there, or it is not.
Bitcoin Mining and the Question of Commercial Activity
With mining the scale is what matters. Anyone mining occasionally earns income from other services under Section 22 number 3 EStG, with an exemption threshold of 256 euros per year. Anyone mining on a sustained basis with the intention of making a profit is engaged in a commercial activity, and then trade tax, bookkeeping obligations and the delineation of business assets come along with it.
For block rewards from running your own hardware the tax administration regularly assumes a commercial activity. The value of the coins mined at the moment they accrue is the business income, and at the same time it is the acquisition cost for a later sale.
Important for miners holding coins as business assets: there is no twelve-month period there. The tax exemption after a year has passed applies to private assets only.
Giving Bitcoin Away and Passing It On
A gift is not a disposal, so it triggers no income tax. Gift tax applies instead, with its allowances: 500,000 euros between spouses, 400,000 euros per child, 20,000 euros between people who are not related, in each case every ten years.
The recipient steps into the giver's shoes: they take over the giver's date of acquisition and the giver's acquisition cost. Where the giver bought the coins more than twelve months ago, the recipient can sell them tax-free straight away. The same principle applies on inheritance.
For that to work the origin has to be documented. Without evidence of the date of acquisition and the cost, the tax office will in case of doubt assume the variant less favourable to you.
Losses With Bitcoin
Losses from Bitcoin sales within the one-year period can only be offset against gains from other private disposals of the same year. Offsetting against employment income or share gains is ruled out. What remains goes back one year or forward without limit.
One point is often overlooked: you have to declare losses, otherwise they do not exist for tax purposes. The tax office only determines them where they appear in Annex SO. Anyone not declaring a loss-making year gives away the offset against future gains.
A total loss, through an insolvent exchange or a lost key for instance, is harder to handle for tax purposes. It is not a disposal, and the tax administration recognises it only under narrow conditions.
Bitcoin Through Brokers and Neobrokers
Anyone buying Bitcoin through a neobroker should check what they are actually acquiring. Some providers deliver real coins into a wallet, others track the price through a derivative or an ETP. For tax that makes the difference between Section 23 and Section 20.
A second point concerns withdrawability. If you can move your Bitcoin out to an address of your own, the better arguments point to genuine ownership. Where that is not possible, the classification is trickier. What this means for one specific provider is something we worked through in the case of Trade Republic.
What Is Set to Change in 2027
On September 8, 2026 the Federal Ministry of Finance sent a draft bill into interdepartmental coordination. It would treat Bitcoin in future as investment income: 25 percent flat withholding tax plus the solidarity surcharge, regardless of the holding period.
Two points are decisive for Bitcoin investors. First, the cut-off date is meant to lie in the future: only coins acquired after December 31, 2026 would be covered. What you buy up to then would remain under today's rules as the draft stands. Second, nothing has been adopted. Ahead of the draft lie the hearing of the associations, the cabinet, three readings in the Bundestag and the Bundesrat.
The details on the cut-off date are in our article on grandfathering and the cut-off date, and the two models under discussion in our comparison of the tax models.
Frequently Asked Questions on Bitcoin Tax
How much tax do I pay on Bitcoin gains?
After a holding period of more than twelve months, nothing. Within the period your personal income tax rate of 14 to 45 percent applies, plus the solidarity surcharge.
When are Bitcoin gains tax-free?
When more than one year lies between acquisition and sale, or when your total gain from private disposals in the year stays below 1,000 euros.
Do I have to declare Bitcoin in my tax return?
Taxable sales belong in Annex SO. Sales after the one-year period has expired do not have to be declared; losses should be.
Does the holding period apply to a savings plan too?
Yes, but to each instalment separately. Every monthly execution is an acquisition of its own with a cut-off date of its own.
How are Bitcoin ETPs taxed?
That depends on the structure. With a delivery claim there is much to be said for treatment like direct ownership with the twelve-month period, without one for the flat withholding tax. The question is not conclusively settled.
Is the transfer to a hardware wallet taxable?
No. A transfer between your own addresses is not a disposal and does not interrupt the holding period.
What happens if I give Bitcoin away?
The gift triggers no income tax, though it may trigger gift tax. The recipient takes over the date of acquisition and the acquisition cost.
Sources
- Federal Fiscal Court, ruling of February 14, 2023, case number IX R 3/22
- Federal Ministry of Finance circular of March 6, 2025, individual questions on the income tax treatment of certain crypto assets, reference IV C 1 - S 2256/00042/064/043
- Section 23 and Section 22 number 3 of the German Income Tax Act, Section 20 EStG for investment income
- Inheritance and Gift Tax Act, Section 16 on the allowances
- German Bundestag, introduction of the 2027 federal budget: bundestag.de
- Details of the draft bill following the reporting of September 8, 2026. The full text has not been officially published so far.
On exchange-traded products there is a separate guide with the details of their structure: ETP Bitcoin tax.
(As of September 9, 2026. This article is not tax advice and not investment advice. It does not replace advice on your individual case, and the legal position can change.)
Transparency note: This article was produced with the assistance of artificial intelligence and reviewed by our editorial team before publication. All figures and claims were checked against the primary sources linked in the text.
