Greece Proposes 10% Crypto Gains Tax as Digital Assets Enter Tax Framework

Greece is moving to introduce a 10% capital gains tax on cryptocurrency profits, as the government seeks to establish a formal tax framework for digital assets that have so far operated without comprehensive rules.

The proposed tax is included in a draft bill released for public consultation by Greece’s Ministry of National Economy and Finance. The legislation would tax capital gains from the transfer of cryptocurrencies at 10%, while exempting annual gains of up to €500.

The bill is expected to be submitted to Parliament in November, although its provisions could still change during the legislative process.

Greece Moves From Planning to Legislation

The proposal marks a step forward from Greece’s earlier efforts to determine how cryptocurrencies should be treated for tax purposes.

In 2024, Unlock reported that Greece was moving toward a tax framework for digital assets and cryptocurrencies. At the time, a government-appointed committee was studying how crypto profits could be incorporated into the tax system, with a 15% capital gains rate among the proposals being considered.

The latest draft sets the proposed rate at 10%, providing a more defined framework for individuals holding and transferring cryptocurrencies.

The bill would generally calculate taxable gains as the difference between the acquisition price and the value at which the cryptocurrency is transferred.

Crypto-to-Crypto Swaps Would Remain Untaxed

Under the proposed rules, exchanging one cryptocurrency for another would not, by itself, trigger a capital gains tax liability.

Tax would instead arise when a cryptocurrency is transferred for money, goods, services or another form of taxable consideration.

The legislation also provides for transaction costs directly linked to acquiring or transferring the cryptocurrency to be taken into account when calculating the gain.

For investors who accumulated the same cryptocurrency through multiple purchases, the proposed framework would use an average acquisition price based on the total amount paid and the quantity acquired.

Annual capital gains of up to €500 would be exempt. Losses exceeding €500 could also be carried forward for up to five years and offset against future cryptocurrency capital gains.

Earlier Crypto Profits Could Be Declared

One of the more significant elements of the proposal concerns cryptocurrency gains from previous years.

The draft would give individuals a 12-month period after the law is published to voluntarily declare capital gains from earlier cryptocurrency transfers.

Subject to the conditions set out in the legislation, taxpayers using the voluntary disclosure mechanism would not face penalties or interest on those previously undeclared gains.

The provision would give investors a formal route to establish a tax record for historical cryptocurrency transactions as Greece introduces its first comprehensive framework for taxing crypto gains.

Staking and Lending Also Enter the Framework

The proposed rules extend beyond conventional buying and selling.

Returns generated through cryptocurrency lending, liquidity provision and staking or participation in transaction-validation mechanisms would be treated as interest income and taxed at 10%.

Where cryptocurrency is received through these activities, its acquisition value would generally correspond to the amount on which the relevant interest tax was calculated.

The framework also addresses cryptocurrency received through inheritance, gifts and parental transfers, establishing valuation rules for those transactions.

Greece's Crypto Rules Expand as EU Tax Reporting Tightens

The proposed tax framework comes as European countries continue to build mechanisms for greater visibility over digital-asset activity.

At the EU level, DAC8 requires crypto-asset service providers to report information on transactions involving their clients to tax authorities. Unlock previously covered the EU's approval of DAC8, which is designed to improve authorities' ability to monitor cryptocurrency transactions and reduce tax evasion.

The OECD's Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework is also expanding international information sharing. Unlock's coverage of CARF noted that the framework is designed to require crypto-asset service providers to collect and report standardized transaction data, with automatic cross-border exchanges of information beginning across participating jurisdictions.

Greece's proposed tax therefore adds a national taxation layer to a broader European and international push to bring crypto activity into established financial reporting and compliance systems.

Greece's Role in Europe's Crypto Market Evolves

The tax proposal also adds another dimension to Greece's growing role in Europe's digital-asset regulatory landscape.

In June, Unlock examined Greece's role in Binance's delayed MiCA authorization, noting that Greece was being used as the exchange's proposed MiCA licensing jurisdiction despite the country having no CASPs listed in the relevant ESMA register at the time.

The proposed tax framework moves the focus from licensing and market access to the treatment of crypto-related income itself.

For Greece, the 10% proposal would establish a defined tax treatment for cryptocurrency gains while bringing digital assets further into the country's formal financial system.

For investors and service providers, it also signals that the period of limited visibility around crypto taxation is giving way to clearer reporting, documentation and compliance requirements.