Fake Ministry Letter: 19% VAT on Crypto Purchases

If a letter reaches you demanding, in the name of the Federal Ministry of Finance, 19 percent VAT on your purchase of cryptocurrency, the answer is short: no such claim exists in German tax law, and the ministry does not send it. The Federal Ministry of Finance has listed this exact letter as a forgery on its warning page since September 1, 2026. Pay nothing, do not reply, click no link.

The case still deserves more than three sentences, because this wave is better built than the usual bulk emails. The perpetrators cite real transactions, they use official terminology, and they hit a nerve: since the start of 2026, trading platforms have been reporting user data to the tax authorities, and many investors are expecting mail from the authorities anyway. That expectation is exactly what the scam exploits.

Fake finance ministry letters on crypto VAT: what the ministry reported on September 1

On the page warnings from the Federal Ministry of Finance, as of September 1, 2026, the case is set out in spare words. In a forged letter, the ministry supposedly confirms that a company selling cryptocurrency, meaning a crypto exchange or a crypto broker, is authorised to collect 19 percent VAT on the acquisition of cryptocurrency. The letter refers to transactions that actually took place, and the accompanying email urges the recipient to get in touch as quickly as possible.