Are my crypto gains really tax-free after one year?

Yes. Coins held privately are private disposals under §23 EStG. If you sell them after more than one year of holding, the gain is tax-free – regardless of amount. Within the year it is only tax-free as long as all your private disposal gains together stay below the €1,000 allowance per year; once that is exceeded, the entire amount is taxable.

Does a coin-for-coin swap already count as a sale?

Yes. If you swap, say, Bitcoin for Ethereum, for tax purposes that is a disposal of one coin and an acquisition of the other. The gain accrued up to that point is realised and can be taxable – even if no euros move. It is precisely these events that are often overlooked.

How are staking and lending taxed?

The rewards are taxable at the moment they accrue, at their market value, as income from other services (§22 no. 3 EStG); an allowance of €256 per year applies. If you later sell the coins received, the one-year holding period of §23 EStG applies again. There is no extension to ten years under the current administrative view.

When do I trade commercially?

There is no fixed threshold. What matters is the overall picture: trading frequency, capital deployed, automation via bots, and the degree of organisation. Pure buy-and-hold stays private, while a bank- or dealer-like operation can become commercial – with Gewerbesteuer (trade tax) and bookkeeping duties. We assess your specific case.

What if I have not declared crypto so far?

With the EU-wide reporting duties (DAC8, from 2026) the tax offices increasingly receive data from crypto service providers automatically – undeclared gains are then more likely to surface. The clean route is a subsequent declaration, or in more serious cases a penalty-free voluntary disclosure. We reconstruct the affected years and bring you quietly back into compliance.

Service · Lifecycle & Digital

Crypto that stays clean for tax.

Whether trading, staking or NFTs: crypto gains are no lawless zone for tax purposes – but they are no autopilot either. We calculate your gains FiFo-accurate under §23 EStG, separate private from commercial, and document every transaction so that any query from the tax office comes to nothing.

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See what's included→

FiFo-accurate gain calculation
Gap-free transaction reporting
Private & GmbH considered

1 yearHolding period until a tax-free sale (§23 EStG)

€1,000Tax-free allowance for private disposals per year

Sound familiar?

Many coins, many wallets – no reliable numbers.

This is what we keep hearing from crypto investors and traders:

You do not know what is taxable – and what is not.
A sale, a coin-for-coin swap, a staking reward: every action can trigger a tax consequence. Without clear rules you either pay too much or risk a later correction.
Your transaction history is a data mess.
Dozens of wallets, several exchanges, DeFi protocols: the data is scattered across different formats and sometimes no longer retrievable at all. A clean gain calculation seems impossible.
The tax office asks – and you can prove nothing.
More and more offices specifically request crypto records. Anyone who cannot document the origin and holding period of their coins gets estimated – usually to their disadvantage.
Staking and lending raise questions no one answers.
When did the rewards accrue, at what value, does the holding period extend? Handled wrongly, a small gain turns into a big problem.
You are unsure whether you already trade commercially.
High frequency, bots, mining rigs: past a certain point the tax office sees a commercial business – with Gewerbesteuer (trade tax) and bookkeeping duties. Hardly anyone knows where the line is.
You are thinking of holding crypto in your GmbH – without knowing the consequences.
In a GmbH the one-year tax exemption does not apply. Contributing without a plan may give away exactly the advantage that private ownership offers.

What we take off your plate

From your first wallet to a finished tax return.

Concretely, we deliver for your crypto taxation:

FiFo-accurate gain calculation under §23 EStG
We calculate your private disposals on a first-in-first-out basis, check the one-year holding period for each position, and apply the €1,000 tax-free allowance correctly.
Transaction reporting with specialised tools
We consolidate your exchanges, wallets and DeFi activity using tools such as CoinTracking, reconcile balances, and produce an audit-proof tax report – retroactively for past years too.
Staking, lending and mining classified correctly
We treat rewards as income from other services (§22 no. 3 EStG) or – for large-scale mining – as commercial, value the moment of accrual, and use the €256 allowance where it applies.
Private vs. commercial trading, delineated
Based on frequency, volume and organisation, we assess whether your trading is still private or already constitutes a commercial business – and show the tax consequences of each classification.
Crypto in the GmbH – structure over gut feel
We work out whether holding privately or in a GmbH pays off, structure the contribution cleanly, and account for digital assets correctly.
Communication with the tax office
If a query or correction arises, we take over the correspondence, evidence the origin and holding periods of your coins, and fend off excessive estimates.

What changes for you

From data mess to quiet certainty.

With cleanly prepared crypto numbers, several things shift:

You pay only what is genuinely due.
Tax-free sales after the holding period stay tax-free, and the allowance is used. Not a euro too much – but no risk either.
Queries from the tax office lose their sting.
The evidence for every position is ready. Instead of an estimate we present reliable numbers – that removes the office's angle of attack.
A report that holds up in any audit.
Your entire history is consolidated, traceable and documented. You could present it at any time without breaking a sweat.
Clarity on private or commercial.
You know which category you fall into – and what that means for trade tax, the balance sheet and allowances. No nasty surprises.
The right structure for your wealth.
Held privately or in the GmbH: you hold your assets in the form that fits your horizon and your tax burden.
Time for what matters.
You trade, we handle the tax side. The tedious data upkeep is taken over by tools and by us – not by you.

A personal note from Karsten Guhr

For the tax office, crypto has long stopped being uncharted territory – the queries are getting more specific, the data matching sharper. My conviction: those who clean up their transactions once save not only tax, but above all nerves. That is exactly the foundation we build with you.

Karsten GuhrManaging Director & Tax Advisor

Clients in every federal state

Head office Berlin · clients from Sylt to Garmisch

Nationwide · 100 % digital

One firm. Available anywhere in Germany.

Whether Berlin, Munich or somewhere in between: we run every mandate fully digital – DATEV-connected, signed PDFs, video meetings. No commuting, no postal delays, no 90s-style bookkeeping.

100 %digital, paperless, DATEV-connected

16/16federal states served

< 48 hresponse time, wherever you are

01
DATEV Unternehmen online
Receipts, banking, payroll, reports – you work in the standard interface every German tax advisor speaks. No vendor lock-in.
02
Video meetings instead of on-site visits
Quarterly review, tax strategy, holding check – via video with screen sharing. You save half a day every time.
03
Signed PDFs & digital powers of attorney
Tax filings, annual accounts, contracts – signed via qualified e-signature. Accepted by the tax office, done in minutes.

How we work

From wallet export to a finished report.

Four steps – fully digital, no ring binders:

Taking stock

We capture every exchange, wallet and protocol you use and clarify your profile: investor, active trader, staker or miner. That tells us what matters for tax.

Data import & reconciliation

We import your transactions via API and exports into a specialised tool, reconcile balances, and close gaps in the history – for past years too.

Gain calculation & classification

We calculate your gains FiFo-accurate, separate private from commercial, and classify staking, lending and mining correctly. The result is a traceable tax report.

Return & safeguarding

We carry the crypto figures into your tax return and stand ready should the tax office ask. For the following years we set up ongoing reporting.

Book your intro call

030 555 721 370