Greece Proposes 10% Crypto Tax With €500 Exemption
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Greece has published draft legislation proposing a 10% capital gains tax on cryptocurrency profits, with annual gains of up to €500 exempt from the levy, according to Crypto.news. The draft bill was released for public consultation and is expected to reach the Greek parliament in November.
The proposal represents the first dedicated framework for taxing digital asset gains in a country that has operated without comprehensive crypto tax rules. It arrives in the same year the European Union’s crypto reporting regime, DAC8, entered its first reporting cycle.
What the draft does and does not settle
The bill would establish a stated rate and an annual exemption where none previously existed in Greek law. It does not resolve several practical questions. The available summary does not explain how losses would be deducted, whether transfers between wallets would count as taxable events, or how crypto transactions would be valued for tax purposes.
The reasons behind the shift from 15% to 10% are not stated in the draft materials, nor is it clear whether other provisions from the earlier plan were revised.
Cointelegraph reported that the draft bill was published on Wednesday, proposing the 10% rate with an exemption for annual gains up to 500 euros. Crypto.news reported that the draft was released for public consultation late Thursday. The two outlets also describe the timeline slightly differently: Crypto.news frames November as the planned submission date to parliament, while Cointelegraph characterizes the measure as moving Greece toward its first digital asset taxation framework. Both describe the text as a draft that has not become law.
EU member states retain authority over which crypto transactions are taxable and at what rate, even though DAC8 standardizes reporting. Rates cited in the Greek proposal range from 8% to 30% across European countries, generally applied to capital gains.
Why it matters
Greece has until now left crypto gains in a regulatory gap, meaning investors had no specific rule to comply with and no clear basis for declaring profits. A codified rate, even one still in draft, gives residents and exchanges something concrete to plan around.
The timing is not incidental. DAC8 pushes crypto service providers to collect customer identities, tax identification numbers and details of certain transfers involving external wallets. Reporting requirements extend to transactions handled through platforms operating across borders, which speaks directly to Greece’s stated difficulty in measuring domestic activity. Under the earlier regime, the same activity was largely invisible to authorities; now the data begins to flow regardless of where the platform sits.
Elsewhere in Europe, the reporting rules have drawn legal resistance. In September, France’s Council of State rejected an emergency request from Bull Bitcoin and Paymium to suspend the country’s DAC8 implementing decree, citing insufficient urgency, while a separate challenge seeking to annul the decree remained pending. France’s reporting obligations continued regardless.
Countries are diverging on how much of that reported data translates into tax. Spain’s tax authorities clarified in September that self-custodied crypto does not fall under Form 721 when investors retain control of their private keys, though assets held through foreign custodians can still qualify. The United Kingdom has published its own baseline: according to HM Revenue and Customs figures, 17,600 taxpayers reported £1.38 billion in taxable crypto gains in the 2024–2025 tax year, with 240 investors each declaring gains above £1 million, together accounting for £717 million. British authorities expect to start receiving crypto customer information under international reporting rules in 2027.
No comparable figures exist for Greece, which complicates any assessment of what the proposed tax would actually collect.
What to watch
The public consultation will determine whether the draft text changes before it reaches parliament in November. Two details are worth tracking: whether the bill specifies loss treatment and wallet-to-wallet transfers, and whether an application date is set. Separately, the first DAC8 data exchange among tax authorities is scheduled for 2027.
Frequently Asked Questions
What rate would Greece apply to crypto gains?
The draft bill published for public consultation sets a 10% capital gains tax on cryptocurrency profits, down from the 15% rate floated in an earlier Finance Ministry plan. The first €500 in annual gains would be exempt.
When would the Greek crypto tax take effect?
It is not law yet. The draft must pass public consultation and is scheduled to reach the Greek parliament in November. The available details do not state an application date.
How does DAC8 affect Greek crypto investors?
DAC8, the EU’s crypto reporting directive, took effect on January 1, 2026. Service providers must collect customer identities, tax identification numbers and details of certain transfers, with information exchanged between participating tax authorities in 2027. Each member state still sets its own tax rates.
Do Greek officials know how much revenue the tax would raise?
No. Authorities have not published a revenue estimate, largely because many Greek investors trade through platforms based outside the country, which complicates measurement of domestic activity.
Are the details of how the tax would work fully settled?
No. The supplied draft summary does not specify how losses would be deducted, whether transfers between wallets would be taxable, or how transactions would be valued for tax purposes.
Originally published on BitcoinWorld.
Sources: crypto.news, Cointelegraph
