Newsletter

• According to Reuters, Greece has proposed in a draft bill open for public comment to impose a 10% capital gains tax on cryptocurrencies.
• Cryptocurrency earnings of up to 500 euros per year will be exempted, and the bill is expected to be submitted to the Greek Parliament in November.
• Greek government officials stated to Reuters in June of this year that the tax rate would be 15%.

According to a report by Reuters on Thursday, Greece proposed in a draft bill open for public comments to impose a 10% capital gains tax on cryptocurrencies.

Cryptocurrency earnings of up to 500 euros (about 560 US dollars) per year will be exempted. Reports indicate that Greece currently does not have a complete legal framework for taxing cryptocurrencies.

The proposed tax rate is lower than the 15% disclosed by two government officials to Reuters in June this year. One of those officials stated at the time that individual crypto-mining activities would not be taxed, while mining activities conducted through registered companies would be subject to taxation.

Greek officials stated that it is difficult to estimate the size of the country's cryptocurrency market, as most investors use platforms outside of Greece. Reuters reports that there are currently no specific forecasts for how much revenue this tax will generate.

European Crypto Taxation

There is no unified crypto taxation system across the European Union (EU) countries, and tax rates vary significantly. According to an analysis by a law firm, Cyprus has imposed a uniform tax rate of 8% on crypto earnings for individuals and businesses since January 1st, while in Ireland, the tax rate is 33%.

Italy raised the tax rate from 26% to 33% at the beginning of this year; Spain taxes crypto earnings as savings income, with progressive tax rates that can reach up to 28%. Germany exempts gains from holding crypto assets for more than one year, while the Netherlands does not tax realized gains but instead taxes the assumed returns on the assets.

According to the European Commission, since January 1st, EU regulations known as DAC8 have required crypto service providers to collect transaction data of users who are residents of the EU, and subsequently, tax authorities will exchange this information with the users' countries of residence. This year marks the first reporting period.

Outside of the EU, the UK plans to defer the imposition of capital gains tax on DeFi loans and liquidity pool deposits. In the UK, 240 cryptocurrency millionaires have declared more than half of the country's taxable crypto earnings.

This Greek bill is expected to be submitted to parliament in November.