How are airdrops taxed in Germany?
In short
Whether an airdrop costs tax depends on whether you had to do something for it. If you did, such as giving your data or promoting the project, the airdrop is income under § 22 Nr. 3 of the Income Tax Act (EStG), at its euro value on the day it reaches you. If your income of this kind stays under €256 in the year, you pay no tax on it. If the token came without you doing anything at all, it isn't income.
Selling it counts on its own. An airdrop you did something for is also an acquisition: if you sell or swap the tokens within a year, the gain since you received them is taxable under § 23 EStG, and after that it's tax-free. If the price falls after the airdrop, the income from the day you received it still stands.
- As of:
- Based on:
- § 22 EStG, § 23 EStG, BMF letter of 6 March 2025
What is an airdrop?
In an airdrop, a project hands out tokens without you buying them. The finance ministry's letter of 6 March 2025 calls it a campaign that is usually meant as marketing and can look very different: with forms, with promotion on social networks, with a draw, or with nothing asked of you at all (paragraph 29).
For tax, what counts isn't what the airdrop is called but what you did for it. That decides whether it's income:
- You did something for itforms with your data, posts on social media, a campaign's tasks
- If you had to do something for the airdrop, it's what you got in return, and so it's income under § 22 Nr. 3 EStG (paragraph 70). Data counts too: if you give more about yourself than the allocation technically needs, that's a service (paragraph 71).
- For earlier useJUP, JTO, UNI
- Many airdrops go to wallets that used a protocol before. The BMF letter doesn't name this case. But it reads a service broadly: it's enough that you accept something given in economic connection with what you did (paragraph 46). TaxMaxi doesn't decide this for you. It asks whether you did something for the airdrop and calculates by your answer.
- With chancedraws among everyone who took part
- If chance decides who gets tokens, beside what you did, the letter says it breaks or overlays the link between the service and what you get for it (paragraph 72).
- Without you doing anythingtokens sent to your address unasked
- If the allocation doesn't depend on a service, the airdrop isn't income. The letter then sees a gift (paragraph 74). TaxMaxi keeps the tokens from the day they arrive, at their price on that day, and at €0 if there is none.
- Spamworthless tokens with a link in their name
- Tokens someone pushes into your wallet unasked that were never worth real money are taken at €0 by TaxMaxi, and it doesn't ask you about them.
So income tax knows only two outcomes: income on the day you receive the tokens, or none. What the token gains or loses after that shows only when you sell.
An example in euros
Take JUP, though the math works the same with any other token. On 31 January 2025 you get 600 JUP from an airdrop you had to do something for. In March an unknown token with no price lands in your wallet unasked. In September you sell the 600 JUP, at a lower price than when you received them. The euro values are assumed. Here's how TaxMaxi calculates it:
- 31 January 2025Airdrop you did something for: 600 JUP, worth €492.00
- 10 March 2025Arrived without you doing anything: 1,000 XYZ, no price yet, so taken at €0.00 and not income
- 15 September 2025Sold 600 JUP for €300.00
- Airdrop 600 JUP from 31 January 2025
- €492.00
- Income 2025 over the exemption limit of €256, fully taxable
- €492.00
Airdrops 2025
- Proceeds what the sale brought in
- €300.00
- Cost basis the airdrop's value on 31 January 2025, already counted as income
- − €492.00
- Loss after 227 days, counts for tax
- −€192.00
Sale on 15 September 2025: 600 JUP
The airdrop income of 2025 is over the exemption limit of €256 for income like this and fully taxable, at your personal tax rate. The sale in 2025 is a loss of €192.00. It's set against gains from private sales in the same year, not against the income from the airdrop: that stays taxable even though the price fell.
Worked out by TaxMaxi's tax engine, on the same principles as for your wallet.
Protocols with an airdrop
Many airdrops come from protocols you used before: JUP from Jupiter, JTO from Jito, KMNO from Kamino, DRIFT from Drift, UNI from Uniswap. How using the protocol itself is taxed, the swap, the staking or the lending, is on the protocol's page.
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JupiterDEX aggregator on Solana
How are Jupiter swaps taxed in Germany?
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JitoLiquid staking on Solana
How is liquid staking with Jito taxed in Germany?
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KaminoLending on Solana
How is lending on Kamino taxed in Germany?
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DriftPerpetuals on Solana
How are perps on Drift taxed in Germany?
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UniswapDEX on Ethereum
How are Uniswap swaps taxed in Germany?
More topics: Bridges, Lending, Liquidity Pools, Perps, Staking, Swaps. All topics at a glance: DeFi taxes in Germany.
The legal basis
The tax on Airdrops is set by the Income Tax Act (§ 22 EStG and § 23 EStG). How tax offices apply this to crypto is set out in the finance ministry's letter of 6 March 2025, which binds them. It applies the same on every chain.
The letter is divided into numbered paragraphs (Randnummern). Each principle below says where to find it; a click opens the letter at that spot.
- 1
-
2
The exemption limit (Freigrenze) for income
Income from other services under § 22 Nr. 3 EStG is tax-free if it stays under €256 in the year.
See the BMF letter, paragraph 45
- 3
-
4
No market price
If a token has no market price when you receive it, it may be valued at €0.
See the BMF letter, paragraph 73
- 5
- 6
-
7
The exemption limit (Freigrenze)
If the sum of all your gains from private sales in the year stays under €1,000 (up to 2023: €600), it's tax-free. Above that, all of it is taxable, not only the part over the limit.
See the BMF letter, paragraph 53
Common questions
Are airdrops taxable?
If you had to do something for it, yes. The airdrop is then income under § 22 Nr. 3 EStG, at its market price when received (paragraph 70). You only pay tax on it once your income of this kind reaches €256 in the year. Without a service from you, the airdrop isn't income (paragraph 74). In both cases, selling it later can be taxable if the sale is within a year of receiving it.
When have I done something for an airdrop?
The BMF letter gives examples: mentioning the project on social media, uploading your own pictures or videos (paragraph 70), or giving personal data beyond what's technically needed. Your wallet address is enough for the allocation, so whoever asks for more is asking for a service (paragraph 71). The letter doesn't say outright how it stands with airdrops for earlier use of a protocol. The tax office can ask to see the airdrop's conditions (paragraph 103).
At what value is an airdrop counted?
At the market price when received. A daily price is enough if you use it consistently (paragraph 73, paragraph 91). If there's no market price yet when you receive it, because the token isn't traded anywhere, it may be taken at €0. Then there's no income on receipt, but if you sell within a year the whole proceeds are gain. TaxMaxi values every airdrop at its market price when received.
Do I pay tax on an airdrop whose price fell afterwards?
Yes, if it was income. What counts is the value on the day you received it, not the later one. If you sell below that value within a year, you have a loss under § 23 EStG. But it only reduces gains from private sales, not the income from the airdrop. The example above shows exactly this case: the €492 of income stands although the sale brings only €300.
What applies when I sell tokens from an airdrop?
An airdrop you did something for is an acquisition, and its cost basis is the value when received (paragraph 75). A sale or swap within a year is taxable, on the gain since you received it. After more than a year it's tax-free. If your gains from private sales stay under €1,000 in the year, you pay no tax on them. For tokens you acquire from 2027 on, a finance ministry draft would drop the holding period: What's set to change from 2027.
And selling an airdrop I did nothing for?
Here the BMF letter is brief: where something is acquired for nothing, the acquisition of whoever it came from counts (paragraph 75). When and at what cost a project acquired its own tokens usually can't be said. So TaxMaxi calculates from the day of arrival: the one-year holding period runs from there, and the cost basis is the price on that day, or €0 with no price. Your answer for each such token is in the report.
What is the exemption limit (Freigrenze) for airdrops?
€256 a year, for all income from other services under § 22 Nr. 3 EStG together: airdrops you did something for, staking rewards, lending interest and the like (paragraph 45). It's an exemption limit, not an allowance (Freibetrag). Stay under it and all of it is tax-free. Reach €256 and the whole amount is taxable. The €1,000 for gains from private sales is a separate limit.
What about tokens that land in my wallet unasked?
They aren't income, because you did nothing for them. Often they're worthless tokens meant to lure you to a scam site. TaxMaxi takes such tokens at €0 and doesn't ask you about them, and the report sums them up. If an unasked token has a real price and changes your tax, TaxMaxi asks where it came from: it could also be from one of your own wallets.
Is there gift tax on an airdrop?
The BMF letter only says that an airdrop without a service may be a gift, and that gift tax law then applies (paragraph 74). Gift tax is a tax of its own with its own allowances, €20,000 between people who aren't related (§ 16 ErbStG). TaxMaxi calculates income tax. It doesn't calculate gift tax.
What do I need to keep for the tax office?
For each airdrop: when it came, how many tokens it was, and the conditions they were allocated on, since those show whether you performed a service (paragraph 103). Also the price on the day you received it and where that price is from. The conditions are usually only on the project's site, so a screenshot or a saved copy helps if the page disappears later. The date, amount, value and your answer are in TaxMaxi's report.
Sources
- § 22 EStG
Other income: income from services and the €256 limit in Nr. 3
- § 23 EStG
Private sales: the one-year holding period and the €1,000 limit
- § 16 ErbStG
The allowances for gift tax
- BMF letter of 6 March 2025
How tax offices tax crypto assets, as a PDF from the finance ministry, with airdrops in paragraphs 29 and 69 to 75
This page explains how TaxMaxi calculates. It is not tax advice and does not replace a tax advisor.