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TaxMaxi works out crypto taxes under German law today. Leave your email and we'll write once, when it's ready.

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TaxMaxi works out crypto taxes under German law today. Leave your email and we'll write once, when it's ready.

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EthereumBlockchain

Ethereum taxes in Germany

How ETH, swaps, staking, lending and everything else on Ethereum are taxed in Germany, and which protocols TaxMaxi reads for you.

In short

If you sell or swap ETH or another token on Ethereum within a year of buying it, the gain is taxable under § 23 of the Income Tax Act (EStG). It stays tax-free if all such gains for the year together come to under €1,000, and always after more than a year.

Interest from lending and rewards from staking are income under § 22 Nr. 3 EStG, at their euro value on the day they arrive. They stay tax-free as long as they total under €256 for the year. Staking doesn't extend the one-year holding period.

As of:
Based on:
§ 23 EStG, § 22 EStG, BMF letter of 6 March 2025

What is taxed how

What you do on Ethereum and how it counts for tax. The paragraph numbers open the BMF letter at the spot a sentence rests on.

Buying and selling ETH
A sale for euros is a disposal. The gain is the proceeds minus the purchase price and the fees. It's taxable if you didn't hold the ETH for longer than a year (paragraph 53).
Swapping token for token
Every swap sells what you give and buys what you get, whether on Uniswap, through an aggregator or with a memecoin. For the new token the one-year holding period starts again (paragraphs 54 and 55). Uniswap
Gas
You pay the gas of every transaction in ETH, and you give up the ETH for it: a small sale. As deductible expenses (Werbungskosten), the gas reduces the gain on a taxable swap (paragraph 59).
Liquid staking
ETH for stETH is a swap. Your stETH balance grows every day, while your shares in Lido's pool stay the same: on TaxMaxi's reading the growth only shows up as a gain when you swap back. Lido
Staking with your own validator
Staking itself isn't a sale: your ETH stays yours (paragraph 13). Every Beacon Chain payout beyond your stake is a reward, income on its day (paragraphs 45 and 47); the stake comes back at exit without a new acquisition. If you run validators on a sustained basis, it can be a commercial activity (paragraph 39). Ethereum staking
Lending
Lending isn't a sale: the tokens stay yours (paragraph 26). The interest is income when it arrives, and at the latest at the end of the year (paragraph 65). Aave
Liquidity in a pool
On TaxMaxi's reading, putting tokens into a pool is a swap for your position, and pulling them out a swap back. Fees you collect are income, at their value on that day. Uniswap
Wrapping ETH into WETH
On TaxMaxi's reading this isn't a swap: it's the same coin in a different wrapper, with its purchase date and cost basis. It isn't expressly regulated.
Airdrops
An airdrop you didn't have to do anything for isn't income (paragraph 74). If you had to do something for it, it is, at its value on receipt (paragraph 75).
Between your own wallets
That isn't a sale, because nothing goes to anyone else (paragraph 54): the token keeps its purchase date and cost basis.
Over a bridge
If you send a token to your own wallet on another chain and it arrives there as the same token, on TaxMaxi's reading that isn't a sale. It isn't expressly regulated. If a different token arrives, it's a swap. More on this under Crypto bridges and taxes.

What TaxMaxi reads

TaxMaxi reads these protocols itself: every transaction is recognized, valued in euros and placed for tax.

  • LidoLiquid staking

    How is staking with Lido taxed in Germany?

    ETH for stETH or wstETH and back, also through Lido's withdrawal, which counts when the ETH arrives. TaxMaxi counts stETH in Lido's shares, and wrapping into wstETH isn't a swap. TaxMaxi puts a claim without its request in front of you in the review.

  • Ethereum stakingStaking

    How is ETH staking with your own validator taxed in Germany?

    Your own validator: ETH in Ethereum's deposit contract is staked, not sold. TaxMaxi reads the Beacon Chain's payouts separately, each reward at the day's price, and when you exit, your stake comes back without a new acquisition. TaxMaxi puts an exit whose stake came from another wallet in front of you in the review.

  • UniswapDEX

    How are Uniswap swaps taxed in Germany?

    Swaps through Uniswap's router and your liquidity on v2, v3 and v4: tokens going in are a swap into the position, tokens coming out a swap back, and fees are income when you collect them. TaxMaxi puts a position opened before your history, and pools with hooks that change what a position pays, in front of you in the review.

  • PancakeSwapDEX on BNB Chain

    How is PancakeSwap taxed in Germany?

    Your liquidity on v2 and v3 on BNB Chain: tokens going in are a swap into the position, tokens coming out a swap back. Staking in MasterChef isn't a swap; fees and CAKE are income when you collect them. TaxMaxi reads swaps like any other swap.

  • AaveLending

    How is lending on Aave taxed in Germany?

    Deposits and withdrawals on v2 and v3, the interest at the end of each year, loans and their repayment, liquidations and rewards. TaxMaxi puts a step that another app takes with a flash loan from a smart account in front of you in the review.

The same principles apply on every chain: Crypto taxes on Solana. What is the same everywhere and what each chain does differently: Crypto taxes by blockchain.

What TaxMaxi does not read yet

These protocols turn up in real wallets. Until TaxMaxi reads them, it puts their transactions in front of you in the review, and you say what happened. That way nothing gets lost.

  • CurveLiquidity

    TaxMaxi reads swaps on Curve like any other swap. It doesn't read liquidity in Curve's pools separately yet: what it can't explain, it puts in front of you in the review.

    1 contract on the chain

  • Set ProtocolToken sets

    The sets from 2020, where several tokens go in and out at once: TaxMaxi puts them in front of you in the review.

    1 contract on the chain

Missing your protocol? Write to us at [email protected], with a transaction as an example.

Common questions

Is Ethereum tax-free after one year?

Yes. If you hold ETH or another token on Ethereum for more than a year before you sell or swap it, the gain is tax-free, however large. The period runs separately for each purchase and starts again after every swap. Staking doesn't extend it to ten years (paragraph 63).

How is ETH staking taxed?

That depends on the route. Through Lido you swap ETH for stETH, a swap under § 23 EStG; on TaxMaxi's reading the growth only counts when you swap back. If a provider or pool credits you rewards, they're income under § 22 Nr. 3 EStG at their value on the day they're credited (paragraph 48). If you run a validator yourself, its rewards are income when the Beacon Chain pays them out to you (paragraphs 45 and 47), and it can be a commercial activity (paragraph 39).

Are gas fees tax-deductible?

On a taxable swap, yes: the gas counts as deductible expenses (Werbungskosten) and reduces the gain (paragraph 59). On a swap after more than a year it doesn't count, and neither does it on a transfer between your wallets. Because you pay the gas in ETH, it's also a small sale of that ETH.

Is swapping ETH for WETH taxable?

On TaxMaxi's reading, no. WETH is ETH wrapped in a token, and you can swap it back one to one at any time. So TaxMaxi carries your ETH forward with its purchase date and cost basis, as if you had never given it up. Neither the law nor the finance ministry's letter says anything about it expressly.

How does the tax office find out about my Ethereum transactions?

Since 2026, crypto exchanges and other providers in the EU report their customers' transactions to the tax authorities (the EU directive DAC8). Nobody reports what you do in your own wallet. It is public on the blockchain, though, and the exchange you pay euros in and out through knows your addresses. You declare your gains and income yourself in your tax return.

Will crypto tax change in 2027?

Maybe. In September 2026 the finance ministry put forward a draft: crypto assets bought from 2027 would be taxed as capital income at 25%, with no one-year holding period. What was bought by the end of 2026 would stay under the one-year holding period. None of this has been passed yet. For the tax years up to 2026, what's on this page applies.

How do I create a tax report for my Ethereum wallet?

You enter your wallet's public address in TaxMaxi. TaxMaxi reads every transaction on Ethereum and, where you've used the same address, on Base, Arbitrum, Optimism, Polygon and BNB Chain, values it in euros and sorts it by the principles on this page. What the blockchain doesn't reveal, it asks you. At the end there's a report for each tax year as a PDF. The first 25 transactions are free.

Sources

These pages explain how TaxMaxi calculates. They are not tax advice and do not replace a tax advisor.

Bundesministerium der Finanzen

BMF-Schreiben vom 6. März 2025

Eine Abschrift des Schreibens, in dem das Bundesministerium der Finanzen festlegt, wie Finanzämter Kryptowerte besteuern. Die Absätze sind nummeriert; diese Nummern heißen Randnummern. Das Original ist oben verlinkt.

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