Greece proposes 10% tax on crypto gains, exempts first 500 euros

Greece plans to tax crypto gains for the first time. The country's finance ministry has opened a draft law for public comment that would charge individuals 10% on profits from selling or spending crypto, exempting the first 500 euros of gains each year.

The Ministry of National Economy and Finance published the text inside a wider tax bill, now in public consultation. Reuters reported the plan on October 8, and Greek outlets including Oikonomikos Tachydromos and Taxheaven set out the draft article by article. It still has to clear consultation and a vote in parliament. Not yet law.

What the draft bill proposes

A flat 10% hits the gain whenever a holder sells crypto for money, spends it on goods or services, or passes it on in another paid transfer. The gain is the sale price minus the purchase cost, and repeated buys are averaged out. Net gains under 500 euros in a tax year, about $560, stay untaxed. Small holders pay nothing.

Losses get some relief, though only inside crypto. Anything above the 500 euro line can be carried forward for five years and set only against future crypto gains, never against salary or other income.

How staking, swaps and past gains are treated

Swapping one token for another does not trigger the tax. A crypto-to-crypto trade sits outside the draft's list of taxable transfers, so moving from Bitcoin (BTC) into Ether (ETH) creates no bill by itself. Spending crypto is different. Using Bitcoin to buy a coffee counts as a disposal, taxed on any gain since the purchase.

Returns from lending, liquidity provision and staking are taxed as interest, at the same 10%. That reaches common DeFi activity as well as plain buying and selling.

There is a window for people who never declared old profits. Anyone can report gains from past transfers within 12 months of the law taking effect, pay the tax within 60 days, and face no penalties or interest. Only the declared gain counts toward Greece's wealth checks, not the sum first put in.

Where Greece stands in Europe

At 10%, the headline rate undercuts several European neighbors. CoinDesk, citing Reuters, said France and Italy set or plan rates above 25%. It still sits above zero-tax jurisdictions such as the UAE, where individuals pay no tax on crypto gains. A low rate is not the same as a light touch.

Reporting is the reason. Greece has to roll out DAC8, the EU rule that pulls crypto into automatic tax information-sharing. Providers have collected user transaction data since January 1, 2026, and national tax offices must finish their first cross-border exchange covering 2026 activity by September 30, 2027. This tax plan sits on top of the EU's licensing regime under MiCA, so the tax office sees the trades whatever the rate.

What to watch

Public comments close at 10:00 Athens time on October 22, which is 07:00 UTC. After that the ministry wants a parliamentary vote in the first week of November. A separate clause scraps the Digital Transaction Fee on crypto sales from December 1, 2026.

Gaps remain in the draft. It does not say how wallet-to-wallet transfers are valued, and the ministry has published no revenue estimate. Reuters said the size of Greece's crypto market is hard to gauge, since most locals trade on platforms based abroad. Expect edits before any final vote.