This article describes a new tax law. It is not tax advice.

At a glance

  • Greece’s parliament on Thursday, 5 Nov, passed a finance ministry bill that taxes individuals’ gains from transferring crypto-assets at 10%, with no tax when a year’s net gain is €500 (about $561) or less, Reuters reported.
  • As tabled on 26 Oct, the bill taxes yields from staking, lending and DeFi liquidity at 15% as interest, not at 10% as in the October consultation draft, and applies the main income-tax rules from tax year 2027, according to two Greek outlets’ readings of the text.

The crypto rules sit inside a larger bill on loan servicers, debtor protection and capital markets, which the plenary approved by majority, Proson reported. The governing New Democracy party voted for it in principle and the opposition parties voted against, according to the same report.

“Further implementation directives will be published in the coming weeks, which will also define transparency and audit rules,” a senior finance ministry official told Reuters.

The official said revenue from the tax could not be projected, because most Greek investors use platforms based abroad, according to Reuters.

What the bill says

The 10% applies to the difference between what a person paid for a crypto-asset and what they received for it, SKAI reported from the tabled text (our translation from Greek). Selling for euros counts, and so does paying for goods or services with crypto. Swapping one crypto-asset for another does not.

The €500 is a threshold, not an allowance. If a year’s net gain is €500 or less, no tax is due; above that, the whole gain is taxed, tax adviser Giorgos Dalianis wrote in Euro2day. On his worked figures, a €480 gain owes nothing and a €520 gain owes €52.

Losses above €500 in a year can be carried forward for five years, but only against future crypto gains, both outlets reported. Under the same text, a purchase price that cannot be documented counts as zero.

Yields are taxed separately. Income from staking, lending and providing liquidity is treated as interest at 15%, valued when received, according to both outlets. The €500 threshold does not cover these yields, Dalianis wrote.

The change since October

The consultation draft the ministry published on 7 Oct taxed those yields at 10%, as CryptoWatchDesk reported when it covered the consultation draft. The tabled bill raised that rate to 15%, according to both Greek outlets.

Past gains get a separate route. People can file a voluntary declaration within 12 months of the law’s publication, paying 10% on gains and 15% on yields within 60 days, with no fines or interest if paid on time, according to Euro2day. Dalianis noted that the treatment of trades between publication and 1 Jan 2027 still needs clarifying.

Elsewhere in Europe, France’s Assembly voted to make self-custody wallets above €100,000 declarable on 3 Nov.

What happens next

The law has to be published in the Government Gazette, Greece’s official journal, before it takes effect; most of its crypto income-tax rules then apply from 1 Jan 2027. The finance ministry also plans implementation directives on transparency and audit rules “in the coming weeks”, its official told Reuters.

CryptoWatchDesk will check the final text against the tabled bill when it is published.

This article is for information only and is not investment advice.