Greece plans 10% capital gains tax on cryptocurrencies

Greece’s Ministry of National Economy and Finance unveiled a draft bill that would impose a 10% tax on individuals’ cryptocurrency capital gains while exempting annual gains up to 500 euros. The proposal also exempts crypto-to-crypto swaps from capital gains tax and introduces a flat 10% levy on returns from staking, lending and liquidity provision.

The draft would permit taxpayers to voluntarily disclose previously realised crypto gains without penalty during a 12-month window after the law is published. The ministry framed the measure as filling a legislative gap in Greece’s approach to taxing digital assets. Public consultation on the bill is open until Oct. 22, and the ministry is targeting a parliamentary vote in the first week of November.

The proposal comes as EU-wide reporting rules for crypto transactions are being implemented. Under the bloc’s eighth amendment to the Directive on Administrative Cooperation (DAC8), crypto service providers must start collecting transaction data on EU users from Jan. 1, 2026, with national authorities required to complete their first cross-border exchanges covering 2026 activity by Sept. 30, 2027. DAC8’s reporting obligations follow the OECD’s Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF); Greece joined a multinational commitment in November 2023 to implement CARF and begin information exchanges by 2027.

Other European countries have already adopted their own crypto tax regimes: Austria set a 27.5% tax on crypto gains in March 2022, France adopted a 30% flat tax on individual crypto capital gains in December 2018, and Germany has reportedly floated a draft to tax trading profits at a 25% flat rate from 2028 — a change from current rules under which gains on assets held more than 12 months are typically tax-free.