Greece approves a 10% tax rate on earnings from crypto assets, with exemption for amounts up to 500 euros per year

On November 5th, the Greek Parliament approved a 10% tax on earnings from cryptocurrencies, marking the official establishment of the country's first comprehensive crypto taxation framework. At the same time, earnings not exceeding 500 euros per year are exempt from tax.

• The parliament approved a capital gains tax rate of 10%, which is lower than the initial 15% rate discussed in June of this year.
• Cryptocurrency earnings of up to 500 euros per year will be exempt from this tax, which is approximately equivalent to 563 US dollars.
• The Ministry of Finance's advisory framework excludes the exchange of crypto assets from the scope of taxation and provides a window period for declaring past earnings.
• Implementation guidelines covering transparency and tax audit rules are expected to be issued in the coming weeks.

According to Reuters, after months of preparation, this legislation will incorporate tax regulations specifically for cryptocurrencies into Greek law. A senior official from the Ministry of Finance stated that further guidelines, including those regarding transparency and tax audits, will also be issued in the future.

The government has not yet estimated how much tax revenue this measure will generate. The aforementioned official stated that most Greek investors use platforms based overseas, therefore the authorities are unable to reliably measure the scale of the domestic cryptocurrency market.

Greece's crypto tax rate is lower than the initial proposal

The ultimately approved tax rate is lower than the level discussed by officials earlier this year. crypto.news Previously, in June, it was reported that the government was preparing a 15% tax proposal at that time, with exemptions for earnings up to 500 euros.

By October, the draft consultation had set the tax rate at 10%, while retaining the annual tax exemption amount. Reuters reported on October 8th that the bill is expected to be submitted to parliament in November.

In June, the proposal made a distinction between individual mining and mining conducted through registered companies. Officials stated at the time that individual mining would not be subject to the proposed capital gains tax, while company mining would still be taxed.

Approved this Thursday, following the consultation process set to end on October 22 by the Ministry of Finance. The announced schedule indicates that parliamentary voting is scheduled to take place in the first week of November.

Encrypted swaps and past earnings are treated separately.

The Ministry of Finance stated in its consultation announcement that converting one cryptocurrency into another does not generate taxable capital gains.

This framework typically calculates earnings by taking the difference between the purchase price and the transfer price; if an investor acquires assets through multiple consecutive purchases, the average purchase price is used.

According to this framework, there is a 12-month window period from the date of the law's publication during which taxpayers may voluntarily declare profits generated from previous transfers under specified conditions, without the need to pay fines or interest. The sale of crypto assets is also exempt from digital transaction fees.

A Greek tax publication Forin stated when introducing the bill submitted to parliament in October that voluntary disclosure alone does not prove the legality of the source of funds initially used to purchase these assets.

According to Forin, the bill excludes the transfer of crypto assets from the presumption that "repeated transactions constitute business activities." In terms of source of funds verification, the act of purchasing will be counted as an expense for acquiring the asset.

Forin also states that the bill stipulates that encrypted asset benefits paid to employees, partners, or shareholders should be valued at their market value at the time of receipt. For inheritance tax and gift tax, the price on the recognized platform from the previous day will be used.

Pledge income and transaction earnings are handled separately.

The explanation published by the Ministry of Finance classifies returns from lending, liquidity provision, and pledging as interest, subject to a tax rate of 15%.

Therefore, the tax treatment of investment income is different from the income generated by investing crypto assets in lending arrangements or transaction verification mechanisms.

For comparison, the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) considers digital assets to be property in the context of federal taxation. Its guidelines list the exchange of one digital asset for another as one of the transactions that taxpayers are required to report.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) states that assets held for personal possession or investment purposes will generate capital gains or losses when sold or disposed of; whereas assets acquired in a business context through the provision of goods or services are considered ordinary income or ordinary losses.

U.S. taxpayers are required to keep transaction records, including details of acquisitions and dispositions, the value in U.S. dollars, as well as the cost basis used for calculating gains or losses.

EU reporting rules cover cross-border crypto activities

At the time of this legislation in Greece, the EU's DAC8 rules already required reporting-based crypto service providers to collect information on crypto transactions of EU residents, and these requirements came into effect on January 1, 2026.

The European Commission stated that service providers are required to report relevant information to the tax authorities of each country, and these authorities will exchange relevant data with the countries where the investors' tax residents are located.

These requirements cover both domestic and cross-border activities. The scope of application includes decentralized cryptographic assets, stablecoins, electronic currency tokens, as well as certain non-fungible tokens.

According to the European Commission, the relevant information includes taxpayer identification details, as well as the aggregated amounts of transactions acquired, disposed of, and transferred. This rule complies with the OECD's 'Framework for the Reporting of Crypto-Assets'.

The first exchange of information between tax authorities of EU countries will cover transactions during 2026 and must be completed by September 30, 2027.