Germany Crypto Tax: 160 Million for a 555bn Budget

Germany's Federal Ministry of Finance has sent its draft bill on the taxation of crypto assets into interdepartmental consultation. For the first time the paper states what the plan is meant to raise: 160 million euros from 2028, rising to around 350 million euros a year by 2031. On the morning of the same day, Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil presented a budget to the Bundestag with 555.4 billion euros in spending and 118.7 billion euros in new borrowing. Put the two figures side by side and you have the real news in this draft.

We covered the substance of the draft when the cutoff date became known: as the draft stands, crypto assets acquired up to December 31, 2026 stay under today's rules with a one-year holding period. The details are in our article on the cutoff date and grandfathering. This piece takes on the number that has been added since, and places it in the budget it is meant to serve.

What the crypto tax draft bill says

The explanatory memorandum says crypto assets “increasingly represent a possible form of private capital investment and are acquired and disposed of on a growing market”. Ministry sources describe the intention like this: it is unfair for earned income and capital income to be taxed while gains on crypto assets remain largely untaxed.