Crypto tax for EU residents — what changed in 2026
DAC8 reporting kicks in 1 Jan 2026: every EU-registered crypto-asset service provider now reports user balances and transactions to home-state tax authorities. The compliance picture, country by country.
On 1 January 2026 the DAC8 directive (Council Directive 2023/2226) became operative across all 27 EU member states. From that date every authorised crypto-asset service provider — every MiCA-CASP, every EMI issuing a stablecoin, every centralised exchange offering services to EU residents — must collect, retain and annually transmit to the home-state tax authority a defined dataset on every user: identifying information, residence, full transaction history, fiat ramps and end-of-year balances per asset. The data is then exchanged across member states under the existing DAC infrastructure. The first reporting cycle closes 31 January 2027 for activity in calendar year 2026.
What is at stake is the end of practical privacy for crypto holdings inside the EU. Until DAC8, tax authorities relied on voluntary declarations and the occasional Coinbase or Kraken information request. From 2026 the data arrives automatically, at scale, in a structured format that can be cross-referenced against income tax filings. In practice that means a user who has not declared crypto gains in prior years should expect a discrepancy notice within 6-12 months of the first DAC8 cycle landing. This piece sets out the headline tax treatment in the major jurisdictions, the DAC8 reporting mechanics, the timeline of MiCA-related changes, and the practical compliance steps for 2026.
DAC8: what gets reported, and to whom
DAC8 is the EU’s transposition of the OECD Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF). The reporting entity is the Reporting Crypto-Asset Service Provider (RCASP) — defined to include CASPs authorised under MiCA, plus any non-EU entity that solicits EU resident customers. The reportable user is any EU-resident individual or controlling person of an entity. The reportable data covers: name, address, tax identification number, date of birth, gross proceeds and number of units for every reportable transaction, the cost basis where the RCASP knows it, and the aggregate end-of-year balance per asset.
Reportable transactions include crypto-to-fiat trades, crypto-to-crypto trades, payments to merchants, and transfers to or from wallets the RCASP does not control. That last category is significant: the regulation requires the platform to report the destination address (where known) and a categorisation of the transfer when a user withdraws to self-custody. The home-state tax authority then forwards the data to other EU member states where the user has tax presence under the existing DAC framework. The first exchange happens by 30 September 2027 for 2026 data.
Country-by-country headline treatment
The DAC8 data flow is uniform; the tax treatment it feeds into is not. Each member state retains national competence on crypto taxation. The four largest economies (Germany, France, Italy, Spain) and three commonly cited low-tax jurisdictions (Portugal, Malta, Cyprus) have all updated their rules between 2023 and 2026. The table below captures the headline position as of 1 January 2026.
| Country | Headline rate (capital gains on disposal) | Holding-period exemption | Authority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | Marginal income rate (0-45%) if held < 1 year; 0% if held > 1 year | Yes — 1 year (no tax) | Bundesfinanzministerium |
| France | 30% flat (PFU/flat tax), or progressive on opt-in | No | DGFiP |
| Italy | 26% on capital gains (2026); €2,000 annual exemption | No | Agenzia delle Entrate |
| Spain | Progressive 19%-30% (savings income rates, >€300k = 30%) | No | Agencia Tributaria (Modelo 721) |
| Portugal | 28% if held < 365 days; 0% if held > 365 days (capital gains) | Yes — 1 year | Autoridade Tributária |
| Netherlands | Box 3 — deemed return 6.04% × 36% effective wealth tax | No, but wealth-tax basis | Belastingdienst |
| Malta | 0% on long-term holdings (investment); 35% if trading activity | Activity-test rather than time-test | Commissioner for Tax and Customs |
Germany: the one-year rule survives
Germany’s §23 EStG private sale rule remains the most favourable major-economy regime for long-term holders. Crypto held for more than one year is sold tax-free; sold within one year, the gain is taxed at the holder’s marginal income rate (0-45%, plus solidarity surcharge and church tax where applicable). The 2022 BMF circular, reaffirmed by the BMF in February 2025, confirmed that staking and lending do not extend the holding period to ten years (a position previously argued in the 2018 draft). The annual exemption (Freigrenze) for private sales is €1,000 from 2024 onward.
In practice that means a German resident holding bitcoin from January 2025 can sell it tax-free from January 2026 onward, regardless of size, provided the activity does not rise to “commercial trading” under §15 EStG. The BMF’s view of commercial trading is fact-specific but typically requires frequent trades, leverage, professional set-up and significant capital — a buy-and-hold investor is almost never caught. The DAC8 data will still be reported; the German tax authority will see the disposal but will apply the 1-year rule when processing the return.
France: PFU regime and the Modèle 2086 form
France applies the 30% Prélèvement Forfaitaire Unique (12.8% income tax + 17.2% social contributions) to crypto disposals by individuals who qualify as “occasional” investors. The 2023 finance law extended the option to elect progressive income tax instead, which is favourable only for low-bracket filers. Every taxable disposal must be reported on Form 2086 with the gain calculated using a portfolio-weighted average cost basis rule — French tax law mandates a specific formula treating the entire portfolio as a single book.
Habitual trading — defined by frequency, complexity and the use of leverage — is taxed as commercial activity (BIC) at progressive rates plus social contributions, with full deduction of trading losses against other BIC income. The 2025 ruling by the Conseil d’État in Aff. n° 481.105 clarified that staking rewards are taxed at the moment of receipt at market value, as non-commercial profits (BNC), and then the cost basis for the staked tokens is reset. Crypto-to-crypto trades are taxable disposals.
Italy and Spain: the new reporting obligations
Italy’s 2023 budget law introduced a 26% rate on crypto capital gains effective from 2023 with a €2,000 annual exemption. The 2025 budget law (Law 207/2024) confirmed the 26% rate but eliminated a proposed increase to 33% that had been floated during the draft phase. Holders may also opt into a one-off step-up basis: pay 14% on the 1 January value and reset the basis going forward. The election is made on the annual return.
Spain has the most rigorous reporting overlay. Beyond income tax, residents must file Modelo 721 — the crypto-specific declaration of foreign-held crypto assets above €50,000 — by 31 March each year. Modelo 720 covers traditional foreign assets; Modelo 721 was added specifically for crypto. The penalty for non-filing can reach €5,000 per missing data point, capped per filing. Capital gains themselves are taxed at the savings-income rates of 19% up to €6,000, scaling to 30% above €300,000. The Agencia Tributaria has signalled it will cross-check DAC8 inbound data against Modelo 721 from 2027 onward.
Portugal: the 1-year cliff
Portugal’s regime changed twice — first when the 2023 budget law introduced any taxation at all (until then crypto gains had been outside the scope of capital gains for individuals), then refined in subsequent years. The current treatment: gains on crypto held for less than 365 days are taxed at 28% as capital gains; gains on crypto held for 365 days or more are exempt unless the issuer is in a blacklisted jurisdiction. Staking, mining and validation rewards are taxed as Category B income at progressive rates regardless of holding period. The non-habitual resident (NHR) regime that drew many crypto investors to Portugal closed to new entrants in 2024; existing NHRs retain their status for the original ten-year period.
What changed on 1 January 2026, in practice
Three operational changes affect every EU resident with crypto exposure. First, every regulated exchange used during 2026 will report your transactions and end-of-year balances to your home-state tax authority. Second, every transfer from an exchange to a self-custody wallet is logged with the destination address; the regulation does not (yet) require tracking onward movement, but it does require the exchange to flag the withdrawal. Third, where you have residence in multiple member states or have moved residence during the year, the data will be cross-shared via the existing DAC infrastructure.
- If you held crypto on a non-EU exchange that solicits EU customers, it is still reportable — the regulation’s scope is service to EU residents, not establishment.
- Stablecoin balances are reportable, including non-MiCA-compliant ones held during the wind-down period at exchanges.
- DeFi activity through a centralised front-end (a CEX-operated wallet, e.g.) is captured; pure non-custodial DeFi is not (yet), though the OECD CARF roadmap envisages this for a later phase.
- The Travel Rule already applies separately to crypto transfers under MiCA Article 76: amounts above €1,000 between CASPs require originator/beneficiary information.
What to do in 2026
Three concrete steps are worth taking before the first reporting cycle closes in January 2027. First, reconcile your historical cost basis — DAC8 will report disposals at sale value, but the cost basis attached depends on what the exchange knows; if you transferred coins onto the exchange the exchange will report zero basis and the burden of proof is on you. Second, file any back-year amendments needed; tax authorities will treat omissions much more harshly once DAC8 data lands. Third, if you have moved residence during the prior five years, document the exit and entry tax positions clearly — Germany, the Netherlands and Spain all have exit-tax regimes that can be triggered on crypto.
Our crypto tax calculator applies the country-specific rules to a transaction CSV and produces a draft figure for each member-state form. The regulatory calendar tracks the DAC8, MiCA Phase 2 and national tax law deadlines through end-2026, and the cost-basis tool generates FIFO, average and HIFO ledgers for the major exchanges. None of these substitute for advice on a specific position; they get a user from a folder of CSVs to a defendable starting point for the conversation with a tax adviser.