Greece’s parliament has passed a bill setting out how crypto will be taxed, with a 10% rate on gains and a 15% rate on income from staking, lending and decentralised finance (DeFi).
The bill was passed on Thursday, 5 November, and the new rules take effect on 1 January 2027.
How gains will be taxed
Investors will pay 10% tax on their net crypto gains each year. Anyone with net gains of €500, about $557, or less will be exempt.
Above that level, the 10% applies to the whole gain, not just the part above €500. That means an investor with €600 in gains would pay €60 in tax.
Losses above €500 can be carried forward for five years and set against future gains.
Staking and DeFi taxed as interest
Returns from staking, lending and providing liquidity to DeFi platforms will be taxed at 15%. The Finance Ministry says these returns are classed as “interest income.”
Record keeping
Investors will need records of their transactions showing what they paid for their crypto and what it was worth when they disposed of it. Spending crypto on goods or services can count as a disposal for tax purposes.
A window to come clean
The bill gives investors a 12-month window to declare crypto income they have not previously reported, without late filing penalties or interest, as long as they meet the bill’s conditions and pay within 60 days of filing.
Questions over crypto swaps
The government says swapping one cryptocurrency for another should not trigger capital gains tax. But a review by the Greek parliament’s research service warned that the wording of the bill could be read as covering token-to-token trades, and recommended adding a clear exemption.
What happens next
A senior Finance Ministry official told Reuters that guidance on transaction transparency and tax audits would be issued in the coming weeks. The government had not estimated how much tax the new rules are expected to raise at the time of writing.
