A petition to keep Germany’s tax-free holding period for cryptocurrency gains reached the required 30,000 signatures within a day of going live on August 4, 2026.
That guarantees a public hearing before the Bundestag’s Petitions Committee (Petitionsausschuss).
Germany Plans to End the One-Year Crypto Tax Exemption
Germany currently taxes crypto gains under Section 23 of the Income Tax Act (§ 23 EStG). It is the same rule that covers private sales of gold, art, and foreign currency.
Gains from selling Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies are completely tax-free once you have held them for more than a year.
Selling within that first year taxes the profit at your personal income tax rate, up to 45%.
Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil (SPD) wants to scrap the one-year exemption entirely.
The Finance Ministry is drafting a reform that would reclassify crypto gains as capital income (Kapitaleinkünfte).That is the same category Germany already uses for stocks and bonds.
The reform would change two things for anyone holding crypto in Germany:
- Gains would be taxable regardless of how long you held the coins. The one-year exemption would end entirely.
- A flat 25% capital gains tax (Abgeltungsteuer) would replace your personal income tax rate. With the solidarity surcharge added, that comes to about 26.4% for most taxpayers, and church members pay more on top.
NOTE: This is still a proposal, not law. The cabinet has approved a budget draft that assumes the extra revenue.
However, the actual tax law change still needs a referral draft (Referentenentwurf), cabinet approval, and votes in the Bundestag and likely the Bundesrat.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s CDU/CSU, the larger of the two coalition partners, has already pushed back.
Party lawmakers say raising crypto taxes was not part of the coalition agreement.
What Does the ProHaltefrist Petition Demand?
The Bitcoin Bundesverband, Germany’s Bitcoin industry association, filed the petition on May 30, 2026. It is under the campaign name ProHaltefrist.
Petitioners argue that singling out cryptocurrency for less favorable tax treatment than comparable assets like gold, art, or foreign currency is inconsistent.
Petitioners also argue the reform would push long-term investors and crypto businesses out of Germany.
Reaching the 30,000-signature quorum is not just symbolic.
Bundestag rules make a public hearing mandatory once a petition collects that many signatures within its six-week signing window.
At that hearing, a petitioner representative can make the case directly to lawmakers on the Petitions Committee.
That gives the issue a formal parliamentary stage months before any bill has even been drafted.
What Germany’s Crypto Tax Reform Means for Bitcoin Holders
If you hold Bitcoin, Ethereum, or other cryptocurrencies as a private investment, nothing changes today.
The current one-year exemption still applies.
No effective date for the reform has been confirmed.
Several open questions matter if you’re planning around the reform:
- Grandfathering: It is not yet clear whether coins you already hold, or gains already accrued past the one-year mark, would be protected from the new rule.
- Loss offsetting: Whether crypto losses could offset stock market gains under the new “capital income” category has not been settled.
- Scope: How staking rewards, DeFi income, and NFTs would be treated under the reform is also undecided.
WARNING: If you plan to sell crypto once it crosses the one-year mark to lock in a tax-free gain, do not assume that rule will still apply in 2027.
Watch for the Referentenentwurf. It is the formal draft bill where transition rules typically appear.
