Germany taxes crypto as a private sale transaction: sell within a year and the gain is taxed at your personal income rate; hold beyond a year and the gain is generally tax-free.
| Point | Position |
|---|---|
| Framework | Private disposals of crypto are treated as private sale transactions under §23 EStG (private Veräußerungsgeschäfte), taxed at the individual's personal income tax rate. |
| One-year rule | Gains on assets held longer than one year are generally not taxable for private individuals. |
| Exemption limit | Gains below the annual exemption limit (Freigrenze) are tax-free; exceed it and the entire gain becomes taxable, not just the excess. The limit was raised to €1,000 for 2024 onwards. |
| Other income | Rewards from staking or lending are generally taxed as other income under §22 Nr. 3 EStG, which carries its own small exemption limit of €256. |
| Official guidance | The Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF) published updated guidance on the income-tax treatment of crypto assets, including record-keeping and cooperation duties, in its letter of 6 March 2025. |
| Method | Gains are computed per disposal; FIFO is the customary and administratively accepted ordering for identifying which units were sold. |
The Freigrenze is a threshold, not an allowance. One euro over the limit and the whole gain becomes taxable — which makes the timing of a final disposal in December a genuine decision rather than a detail.
DexLadder's tax ledger models Germany and computes the position from your own ledger entirely on your device. There is no upload, no account and no third party receiving your transaction history — which matters more here than anywhere else on the site, because this is the data set that reveals the most about you.
For private individuals, gains on assets held longer than a year are generally outside §23 EStG. Business activity, and income-type receipts such as staking rewards, are treated separately.
The acquisition date of the specific units disposed of, identified under a consistent ordering method — FIFO in normal practice.
Rewards are generally other income under §22 Nr. 3 EStG at their euro value on receipt, with a €256 exemption limit; a later disposal of those units is assessed separately.
Open the tax ledger — no account, nothing to install