- Crypto service providers need a MiCA license from the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM). The transitional period for firms registered with the Dutch central bank (DNB) ended on 30 June 2025.
- For individuals, crypto belongs in box 3. In 2026 the Belastingdienst applies an assumed return of 6.00% to crypto and taxes it at 36%, after a tax-free allowance of €59,357 per person. If your actual return is lower, you pay tax on that lower amount.
- Companies pay corporate income tax: 19.0% on profit up to €200,000 and 25.8% above that in 2026.
- You must report your wealth in your return if it is above €38,479 on 1 January (€76,958 with a fiscal partner).
- Since 1 January 2026, crypto service providers collect customer and transaction data for the Belastingdienst (DAC8). The first report is due by 31 January 2027.
This page covers private individuals and companies that hold, trade or accept crypto in the Netherlands. It does not cover issuing tokens. It is general information, not legal or tax advice.
Legal status
The Netherlands applies the EU Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA). The AFM is the licensing authority for crypto-asset service providers and is responsible for most of their ongoing supervision. DNB is responsible for prudential supervision and for assessing qualifying holdings in these providers.
Firms that were registered with DNB as exchange or custodian wallet providers could keep operating under a transitional regime. In the Netherlands that regime ended on 30 June 2025, so these firms now need a MiCA license or notification. You can check whether a provider is authorized in the AFM register of crypto-asset service providers.
It helps to know what the AFM does not supervise. The AFM says that crypto-assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum themselves fall outside its supervision, and that a large part of the crypto sector stays outside it even after the new legislation. It warns that large risks remain in the crypto market, and names promotion by social media influencers and pump-and-dump schemes as examples.
Tax for individuals
How box 3 works
The Belastingdienst treats crypto held by a private individual as a box 3 asset (savings and investments). Crypto is valued at its market value on 1 January, using the exchange rate of the platform you used. Box 3 does not tax the gain you actually made. It taxes an assumed return on your wealth, calculated in these steps:
- Total assumed return. Multiply each asset type by its assumed return rate. For crypto and other assets that is 6.00%.
- Yield base. Your assets minus your debts. Debts are only deductible above the debt threshold of €3,800 per person.
- Savings and investments base. The yield base minus the tax-free allowance.
- Your share. The savings and investments base divided by the yield base.
- Box 3 income. Total assumed return multiplied by your share.
- Tax. 36% of the box 3 income.
| Item (2026) | Amount |
|---|---|
| Assumed return on crypto (other assets) | 6.00% |
| Assumed return on bank accounts | 1.28% (provisional) |
| Assumed return on debts | 2.70% (provisional) |
| Box 3 tax rate | 36% |
| Tax-free allowance (heffingsvrij vermogen) | €59,357 per person, €118,714 with a fiscal partner |
| Debt threshold (schuldendrempel) | €3,800 per person, €7,600 with a fiscal partner |
The Belastingdienst says the 6.00% is final for 2026, while the rates for bank accounts and debts are provisional and are set in early 2027.
A worked example
Our own example, following the Belastingdienst’s steps: a single person with €100,000 in crypto on 1 January 2026, no other assets and no debts.
| Step | Calculation | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Total assumed return | €100,000 × 6.00% | €6,000 |
| Yield base | €100,000 − €0 debts | €100,000 |
| Savings and investments base | €100,000 − €59,357 | €40,643 |
| Your share | €40,643 ÷ €100,000 | 40.64% |
| Box 3 income | €6,000 × 40.64% | about €2,439 |
| Tax | €2,439 × 36% | about €878 |
This is an illustration, not a tax calculation for your situation. Other assets, debts and a fiscal partner change the result.
Actual return instead of assumed return
Following Supreme Court rulings on box 3, you never pay tax on more than your actual return. The Belastingdienst calculates both the assumed and the actual return and applies the lower one. From the 2025 return onward you can state your actual return inside the income tax return itself. For 2024 and earlier you use the separate form for actual return.
These are the main rules for the actual return:
- It includes income, such as interest or dividends, and value changes. A rise or fall in the value of your crypto counts, even if you have not sold anything. Value changes can be negative.
- Gains and losses within the same year offset each other.
- If the total is negative, it is set to zero. You cannot carry a loss over to another year.
- Costs you made are generally not deductible. Interest on box 3 debts is deductible.
- To show a lower actual return you give the values on 1 January and 31 December and the total purchases and sales during the year.
For the 2026 provisional assessment the Belastingdienst can only use the assumed return, because the actual return is not known before the year ends. If your actual return later turns out lower, it adjusts your box 3 income in your 2026 return.
Mining, trading and other situations
If you mine crypto and your revenue is higher than your costs, the profit can be taxable as income from other work or as business profit. If you trade, the Belastingdienst compares it to speculating on foreign currency. If you receive salary in crypto, your employer converts it to euros on the day you receive it. Staking and airdrops are not covered by the Belastingdienst pages we used for this guide, so we do not describe them here.
Upcoming changes
The cabinet wants a new box 3 system based on actual returns from 1 January 2028. The House of Representatives passed the bill on 12 February 2026. The Senate debated it on 30 June 2026 and a majority postponed the vote until the cabinet’s announced amendment has been dealt with. At the time of writing (October 2026) the Senate has not yet voted, so the current system still applies.
Tax for companies
Companies and entrepreneurs convert crypto to euros when they report revenue. Gains and losses go through the profit and loss account, and the balance sheet shows crypto at cost or at a lower market value. A company pays corporate income tax (vennootschapsbelasting).
| Taxable profit (2026) | Corporate income tax rate |
|---|---|
| Up to €200,000 | 19.0% |
| Above €200,000 | 25.8% on the part above €200,000 |
The Belastingdienst did not change these rates between 2025 and 2026.
Reporting and filing obligations
Individuals. You do not always have to report crypto, and reporting it does not always mean you pay tax. The steps are:
- Add up all your box 3 assets on 1 January and subtract your box 3 debts.
- Compare the result with the threshold amount: €38,479 without a fiscal partner and €76,958 with one in 2026 (€37,395 and €74,790 in 2025).
- If your wealth is above it, report it in your return. Tick the box for crypto assets and fill in the value on 1 January.
- You pay no tax over the part of your wealth covered by the tax-free allowance. Reporting does not by itself mean you owe tax.
- If your actual return was lower than the assumed return, state it in the return as described above.
Providers (DAC8). From 1 January 2026, crypto service providers must record and verify customer data and transactions and report them every year to the Belastingdienst. This covers MiCA-licensed providers and operators without a license that provide such services professionally.
- Customer data: name, address, tax residence and tax identification number.
- Exchange transactions: the type of crypto, the type of transaction, the number of units, the gross amount and the fair market value.
- Transfers: the type of crypto, the type of transfer, the value and the number of transfers.
- Custody: providers that also hold crypto for customers report account balances as well.
- Timing: the first report is due by 31 January 2027, and then every year by 31 January. Providers also inform their customers by 31 January after the calendar year.
The Belastingdienst shares this information with the tax authorities of the countries where the customer is tax resident, so EU countries (DAC8) and non-EU countries (CARF) see data about their residents. For crypto users the tax treatment does not change, but the Belastingdienst gets better insight into what they hold, including at providers abroad.
Exchanges and KYC
An exchange or custodian that serves customers in the Netherlands needs a MiCA license from the AFM, or a notification where that applies. Before you use a provider, look it up in the AFM register of crypto-asset service providers. A provider that is not in the register is not licensed under MiCA, and the AFM warns that the large part of the crypto market outside its supervision carries real risks.
Expect to be identified. Providers collect your name, address, tax residence and tax identification number for DAC8. They must also send information about the sender and recipient with crypto transfers under the EU Transfer of Funds Regulation (the travel rule), which has applied in full since 30 December 2024.
Self-custody
Crypto in your own wallet is taxed the same way as crypto on an exchange: it is a box 3 asset, valued on 1 January. For this purpose the Belastingdienst uses the rate of the platform you used. In the sources listed below we found no Dutch rule that requires you to register a self-custody wallet.
The rules do reach you when you move crypto between a provider and your own wallet. For transfers above €1,000 to or from a self-hosted wallet, the provider must verify that the wallet is owned or controlled by its customer. Providers may do this for smaller transfers as well, depending on risk.
If you lose access to your wallet
The Belastingdienst’s knowledge group published guidance on inaccessible crypto on 8 May 2026. Crypto you can no longer reach, for example because you lost the private key or seed phrase of a non-custodial wallet, remains your property and stays a box 3 asset.
- The value is the price the most interested market party would pay for the crypto. If no one would pay anything, the value is zero.
- Value is determined on 1 January of each year. If you regain access later, earlier years are not corrected, unless it turns out you had access on the reference date.
- You have to show, with facts and circumstances, that the crypto is inaccessible.
Sources
- Belastingdienst: Cryptobezittingen (zoals bitcoins) (last checked October 2026)
- Belastingdienst: Moet ik aangifte doen en belasting betalen over mijn crypto’s? (last checked October 2026)
- Belastingdienst: Hoe is het box 3-inkomen op mijn voorlopige aanslag 2026 berekend? (last checked October 2026)
- Belastingdienst: Wat is mijn werkelijk rendement? (last checked October 2026)
- Belastingdienst Kennisgroepen: KG:202:2026:5 Niet-toegankelijke cryptovaluta en box 3 (last checked October 2026)
- Belastingdienst: Tarieven voor de vennootschapsbelasting (last checked October 2026)
- Belastingdienst: Europese richtlijn DAC8/CARF voor cryptodienstverleners en -exploitanten (last checked October 2026)
- Belastingdienst: Informatie DAC8 / CARF (last checked October 2026)
- Rijksoverheid: Plannen kabinet voor heffing op werkelijk rendement in box 3 (last checked October 2026)
- Eerste Kamer: Wet werkelijk rendement box 3 (36.748) (last checked October 2026)
- AFM: From 30 December 2024, licence or notification required for crypto services (last checked October 2026)
- AFM: Crypto-asset service providers (register) (last checked October 2026)
- AFM: Crypto’s grotendeels buiten toezicht AFM (last checked October 2026)
- DNB: MiCAR, wat verandert er voor de cryptomarkt en het toezicht van DNB? (last checked October 2026)
- DNB: Transfer of Funds Regulation (TFR) (last checked October 2026)
- EUR-Lex: Regulation (EU) 2023/1113 on information accompanying transfers of funds and certain crypto-assets (last checked October 2026)
This page is general information, not legal or tax advice. Rules and rates change, so check the official sources above before you act.