Greece’s parliament passed legislation imposing a 10% capital-gains tax on cryptocurrency profits and a 15% tax on staking, crypto lending and decentralized finance income, according to Decrypt’s report published November 7, 2026, at 04:36:03 UTC+8.
Lawmakers approved the bill on Thursday, with the new crypto income-tax rules scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2027. The provisions form part of a broader Finance Ministry package covering debt servicing, financial oversight and government accounting.
How the gains tax works
Individual investors with annual net crypto gains of €500 ($557) or less will be exempt. Above that threshold, the 10% rate applies to the entire gain—not just the portion exceeding €500.
An investor with €600 ($669) in net gains, for example, would owe €60 ($67), rather than €10 ($11).
Gains are generally calculated by subtracting an asset’s acquisition cost from the value received upon disposal. Selling Bitcoin for euros is a taxable event, but spending cryptocurrency on goods or services can also qualify as a disposal. Transaction records will therefore be needed to establish acquisition costs and values when assets are sold or spent.
According to the Finance Ministry, returns from staking, lending and providing liquidity to DeFi protocols will instead be classified as interest income and taxed at 15%.
Qualifying crypto losses exceeding €500 ($557) can be carried forward for five years to offset future crypto gains. The legislation also provides a 12-month window for voluntarily declaring previously unreported crypto income without late-filing penalties or interest, subject to its conditions and payment within 60 days of filing.
Uncertainty over crypto-to-crypto swaps
The government says exchanging one cryptocurrency for another should not itself trigger capital-gains tax. However, parliament’s Scientific Service warned that the approved wording may not clearly deliver that exclusion.
Its review flagged the broad phrase disposals made “for consideration,” which could encompass token-to-token trades despite the accompanying explanation stating that such swaps should not generate taxable gains. The reviewers recommended an explicit exemption, alongside clearer treatment of exchanges involving stablecoins and electronic-money tokens.
That leaves an unresolved question for investors who move between crypto assets without converting to fiat currency.
Implementation guidance still pending
The legislation followed an October public consultation. The proposed 10% gains rate was below the 15% levy Greek officials had discussed in June.
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 the tax’s expected revenue, with officials saying the market is difficult to measure because many Greek crypto investors use overseas trading platforms.
Original source: Decrypt, published November 7, 2026, at 04:36:03 UTC+8.