- Crypto held as business assets is business income: gains are taxed whatever the holding period, and staking, lending and airdrop rewards count at their market value when received.
- Corporations pay 15% corporate income tax up to 2027, falling by one point a year to 10% from 2032, plus a 5.5% solidarity surcharge on the tax and municipal trade tax.
- For VAT, the tax authority treats crypto used purely as a means of payment like legal tender, so exchanging it for euros is VAT-exempt, following the EU Court of Justice ruling in Hedqvist (C-264/14).
- Crypto service providers need a MiCA authorization and report customer data to the Federal Central Tax Office from 2026.
This page covers sole traders, partnerships and companies that hold, accept or trade crypto in Germany. Private holdings are on personal tax, deadlines and record-keeping on filing and deadlines. It is general information, not tax advice.
Accounting for crypto
The BMF letter of 6 March 2025 sets out how businesses account for crypto. The main points:
- Balance sheet. Crypto-assets are non-depreciable assets. They are fixed assets (long-term financial assets) or current assets (other assets) under the general accounting rules, shown under section 266(2) of the Commercial Code (HGB) (paragraph 41).
- Valuation. The acquisition cost is the market price when acquired. The price on an exchange or a web-based price listing can be used (paragraph 43), and daily prices are accepted if applied consistently (paragraph 91).
- Cash-basis accounting. Businesses that use the simplified cash-basis method (Einnahmenüberschussrechnung) deduct the acquisition cost only when the crypto is sold or withdrawn, and must list the coins in their asset register (paragraph 44).
- Rewards. Coins from mining, staking, lending or business-related airdrops are business income at their market value when received (paragraphs 49, 64 and 69). Airdropped coins without a market price yet may be valued at €0.
Corporate income tax and trade tax
Corporations such as a GmbH pay corporate income tax (Körperschaftsteuer). Section 23 of the Corporate Income Tax Act sets a stepped reduction:
| Assessment year | Corporate income tax rate |
|---|---|
| Up to 2027 | 15% |
| 2028 | 14% |
| 2029 | 13% |
| 2030 | 12% |
| 2031 | 11% |
| From 2032 | 10% |
The solidarity surcharge is 5.5% of the corporate income tax, so 15% plus the surcharge is 15.825%. Trade tax (Gewerbesteuer) comes on top: the base rate (Steuermesszahl) is 3.5% of trade income, multiplied by a factor (Hebesatz) that each municipality sets. Sole traders and partnerships get a €24,500 trade tax allowance; corporations do not. Sole traders pay income tax at the rates on personal tax on their business profit.
The one-year holding period and the €1,000 limit apply only to private assets. For crypto held as business assets, every gain is taxable when realized.
VAT
In the Hedqvist case (C-264/14, 22 October 2015) the EU Court of Justice ruled that exchanging traditional currency for bitcoin and back is a VAT-exempt financial service. Germany’s VAT application decree (Umsatzsteuer-Anwendungserlass, section 4.8.3(3a)) follows this: so-called virtual currencies such as bitcoin are treated like legal tender if the parties accept them as an alternative means of payment and they serve no other purpose. This does not apply to in-game currencies. In practice:
- Exchanging crypto for euros (or the other way round) is exempt from VAT.
- Accepting crypto as payment. Because such crypto is treated like legal tender, what you sell is taxed as usual: you charge VAT on the goods or services, based on the payment you receive. Handing over the crypto is not a separate taxable supply.
- Mining and staking. The decree section we checked does not address them. The decree refers to a BMF letter of 27 February 2018 on bitcoin and VAT, but that letter was no longer available on the BMF website when we checked (October 2026), so we do not describe its content here.
Crypto service providers
A business that exchanges, holds or transfers crypto for customers provides crypto-asset services under the EU MiCA Regulation and needs authorization from BaFin or another EU regulator; see regulation. Such providers must identify customers under the Money Laundering Act (GwG) and, under the Kryptowerte-Steuertransparenz-Gesetz (KStTG), report customer and transaction data to the Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt) every year by 31 July, first for calendar year 2026; see filing. Under the draft reform described on personal tax, German providers would also withhold tax from 2028.
Sources
- BMF: Einzelfragen zur ertragsteuerrechtlichen Behandlung bestimmter Kryptowerte (6 March 2025) (last checked October 2026)
- BMF: Same letter, official English courtesy translation (last checked October 2026)
- Gesetze im Internet: Körperschaftsteuergesetz, § 23 (last checked October 2026)
- Gesetze im Internet: Solidaritätszuschlaggesetz, § 4 (last checked October 2026)
- Gesetze im Internet: Gewerbesteuergesetz, § 11 (last checked October 2026)
- Gesetze im Internet: Gewerbesteuergesetz, § 16 (last checked October 2026)
- BMF: Amtliche Umsatzsteuer-Handausgabe 2024, UStAE 4.8.3 Gesetzliche Zahlungsmittel (last checked October 2026)
- EUR-Lex: Judgment of the Court of Justice, case C-264/14 (Hedqvist) (last checked October 2026)
- Gesetze im Internet: Kryptowerte-Steuertransparenz-Gesetz (last checked October 2026)
- Gesetze im Internet: Kryptomärkteaufsichtsgesetz, § 3 (last checked October 2026)
This page is general information, not tax advice. Rules and rates change, so check the official sources above before you act.