How do I declare my winnings to the tax office?

At the latest since it became known in July that bitcoin.de had passed on large amounts of data to the tax office or the responsible tax authorities, crypto taxes have also come into focus among intrepid traders. How do I declare my crypto taxes to the tax office?

You want to know more about crypto? Then drop by our academy!

What are crypto taxes?

Crypto taxes refer to the tax obligations that result from profits made from trading cryptocurrencies like Ethereum, Bitcoin and other coins. As a rule, they are treated as so-called private sale transactions for ordinary traders.

When are my winnings from Bitcoin and Co. tax-free?

There are two ways in which your cryptocurrency trading profits are tax free:

• More than a year elapses between the purchase and sale of the cryptocurrency. This will exceed the “speculation period”. But beware: If you switch to another cryptocurrency in the meantime, this is also considered a sale and the period begins again. You have to declare every purchase and sale at the tax office.
• You fall below the exemption limit for your profits with cryptocurrencies. This is 600 euros. But be careful: If you trade stocks, precious metals, derivatives or similar in addition to cryptocurrencies, your profits also count in this amount. The tax office does not differentiate here. However, you can also offset your losses if you realize them.

How do I declare my crypto taxes to the German tax office?

If none of these cases apply to you, you must carefully document your trades. You must be able to prove each individual transaction to the tax authorities upon request, as a rule they will ask for corresponding proof.

For private sales transactions, there is the attachment “SO” in the tax return, which you should find at Elster. To determine your profit (in tax German “excess”), you subtract the acquisition costs from the sale price. You then have to pay tax on the excess. The amount of tax depends on your personal income tax rate.

Tip: If you use crypto control software, you can import your data from almost all exchanges and wallets and have automatic reports created for submission to Elster or other common control tools.

How high is the crypto tax in Austria and Switzerland?

In Switzerland, crypto profits are generally tax-free. However, they count towards total assets that may be taxed.

In Austria, on the other hand, things are not looking so rosy. Here, the Treasury has a capital gains tax of 27.5 percent.

Disclaimer: This article does not replace tax advice. All information has been thoroughly researched, but cannot claim to be complete.