Overview
- Germany’s finance ministry outlined a plan to change crypto taxation to raise about €2 billion by 2027, with the long‑standing rule that private gains become tax‑free after 12 months flagged for possible removal.
- The outline heads into Bundestag and Bundesrat debate next, and no draft law or transition rules for existing holders have been published.
- Party positions diverge: the SPD and the finance ministry signal a flat capital‑income tax near 25 percent, the Greens seek to scrap the holding period, the Left backs capital‑income tax, the AfD wants tax‑free status kept, and the CDU/CSU point to the coalition deal opposing changes now.
- New EU rules require crypto platforms to report user and transaction data to tax authorities, and German tax offices are already tightening audits of trades made within one year.
- Advisers urge investors to keep full transaction records or file voluntary corrections, noting that blockchain trails can be tied to people with tools like Chainalysis, TaxBit, and BlockPit and that authorities can look back for many years.