Jupiter LendLending
How is lending on Jupiter Lend taxed in Germany?
In short
When you lend tokens on Jupiter Lend, you aren't selling them, even though you get a jl token like jlUSDC in return: it's only your claim to those same tokens. They keep their acquisition date and their cost basis, and the one-year holding period keeps running. The interest is income from other services under § 22 Nr. 3 of the Income Tax Act (EStG). It builds up in the jl token's price, so it counts on 31 December of each year at the latest, at that day's price, and the rest counts when you withdraw. If your income of this kind stays under €256 in a year, you pay no tax on it.
When you borrow tokens against your collateral in a Jupiter Lend vault, that isn't income: the borrowed tokens count as acquired at their market value, and repaying disposes of the tokens you repay with. If your collateral is liquidated, that's a sale under § 23 EStG, at the value of the debt it paid off.
- As of:
- 17 October 2026
- Based on:
- § 23 EStG, § 22 EStG, BMF letter of 6 March 2025
What is Jupiter Lend?
Jupiter Lend is Jupiter's lending, in the same app as the swaps on jup.ag. It has two parts. In Earn you lend a token like USDC and get a jl token for it, jlUSDC for example, whose price rises with the interest. In the vaults you put up a token as collateral, which earns interest too, and borrow a different one against it.
Both parts put their tokens into the same pot, Jupiter Lend's liquidity layer. The vaults borrow from it what you and others have lent in Earn.
- The app jup.ag/lend You choose what to lend or borrow and confirm in your wallet.
- The program jup3Ye…ndc9 Jupiter Lend Earn takes your tokens and gives you the jl token for them.
- The liquidity layer jupeiU…3wZC This is where the lent tokens sit, for Earn and the vaults together.
For tax, the only thing that counts is what happens to your tokens. Lent tokens aren't sold, and getting the jl token isn't a swap. The interest is income. A loan is an acquisition, and repaying it is a disposal. For how this works for lending in general, on other chains too, see How lending is taxed in Germany.
Jupiter Lend at a glance
- Type
- Lending on Solana
- App
- jup.ag/lend
A Jupiter Lend deposit on the blockchain
This is a real deposit into Jupiter Lend Earn from a public wallet, the way TaxMaxi reads it. Beside each item the wallet gives up is what it means for tax.
- −2,060.560186 USDC Lentnot a disposal, acquisition date and cost stay
- −0.00203928 SOL Rent depositedfor a new token account of your wallet, not a swap
- −0.000005 SOL Network feethe SOL paid count as disposed of, and the fee isn't deducted anywhere
Programs called
- Jupiter Lend Earnjup3Ye…ndc9takes the tokens and gives you the jl token for them
- Jupiter Lend LiquidityjupeiU…3wZCthe vault that holds the lent tokens
The 2,060.56 USDC brought just under 1,977 jlUSDC into the wallet. They aren't listed here because for tax they're only the receipt for those same USDC: on that day one jlUSDC was worth a little over 1.04 USDC, and that price rises with the interest. The deposit looks like a swap, but it isn't a sale.
An example in euros
You buy USDC in January 2025, lend them on Jupiter Lend Earn in March, withdraw them with the interest in December and sell everything in March 2026. The dollar fell against the euro over that time, so the USDC are worth fewer euros when you sell than when you bought. Here's how TaxMaxi works out the interest and the sale:
- 10 January 2025Bought 1,000 USDC for €960.00
- 1 March 2025Lent: 1,000 USDC, not a disposal
- 20 December 2025Withdrawn: 1,030 USDC, of which 1,000 USDC back, not a new acquisition
- 20 December 2025Interest on withdrawal: 30 USDC, worth €25.50
- 15 March 2026Sold 1,030 USDC for €880.00
- Interest 30 USDC on withdrawal on 20 December 2025
- €25.50
- Income 2025 under the exemption limit of €256
- €25.50
Interest 2025
- 1,000 USDC from 10 January 2025 after 429 days, tax-free
- −€105.63
- 30 USDC interest from 20 December 2025 after 85 days, taxable
- +€0.13
- Gain taxable
- +€0.13
Sale on 15 March 2026: 1,030 USDC
The interest of 2025 stays under the exemption limit of €256 for income like this. If, together with staking rewards and other income under § 22 Nr. 3 EStG, it's your only income of this kind in the year, you pay no tax on it. From €256 the whole amount is taxable, at your personal tax rate. The taxable gain of €0.13 in 2026 is under the exemption limit of €1,000 for private sales: if it's your only one in the year, you pay no tax on it. The loss of €105.63 on the tokens held for more than a year doesn't count, just as a gain on them would be tax-free.
Worked out by TaxMaxi's tax engine, on the same principles as for your wallet.
The legal basis
Whether lending costs tax is set in two places in the Income Tax Act (EStG): interest is income from other services under § 22 Nr. 3 EStG, and a sale, a repayment or a liquidation is a private sale under § 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.
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
Lent tokens
If you lend tokens to a lending protocol, you let it use them and don't dispose of them. They keep their acquisition date and cost basis. The receipt token you get for them is only your claim on those same tokens, not a second token, and what comes back of the lent tokens isn't a new acquisition.
-
2
Interest from lending
Interest from lending is income under § 22 Nr. 3 EStG at its market value when received, and each interest token gets its own acquisition date. If the interest grows only in the price of your receipt token, it counts at the latest at the end of each year, at the price of 31 December, and the rest when you withdraw the tokens.
-
3
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
-
4
One-year holding period
The year runs from the day of acquisition to the swap, and each swap starts it again for the token you receive. There's no extension to ten years. For tokens you acquire from 2027, a finance ministry draft would drop the holding period: What is set to change from 2027.
- 5
- 6
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7
Repaying a loan
When you repay a loan, you dispose of the repaid tokens at their market value. With a stablecoin loan that gives hardly any gain or loss; with a volatile token there can be one. What you repay beyond the amount you borrowed is the interest: it's disposed of the same way and is a private cost that isn't deducted anywhere.
-
8
Liquidation
If a liquidator takes your collateral because your loan has grown too large, you dispose of it. The proceeds are the value of the debt the liquidator paid off with it, and the liquidator's premium is your loss. If the acquisition was less than a year ago, the gain or loss counts.
Common questions
Is depositing in Earn a swap into jlUSDC?
No. You give up USDC and get jlUSDC, but the jl token is only your claim to the same USDC you lent, plus interest. When you lend, you let others use your tokens in return for payment (the finance ministry's letter of 6 March 2025, paragraph 26). The USDC keep their acquisition date, and the one-year holding period keeps running. Selling or sending the jlUSDC themselves is a different matter; then TaxMaxi asks you what happened.
Do I have to pay tax on interest I haven't withdrawn?
Yes, at the end of the year at the latest. Instead of paying out interest, Jupiter Lend lets the price of the jl token rise. The BMF letter counts income from lending when you receive it (paragraph 65), and tokens you haven't collected yet by the end of the year at the latest (paragraph 48a). TaxMaxi reads the price every 31 December and counts what your balance has grown by up to then as that year's income. When you withdraw, only what has been added since then counts. The same goes for collateral in a vault.
What happens for tax when I take out a loan in a vault?
The borrowed tokens are yours to use: you can spend or swap them. When you take the loan, they count as acquired at their market value, and they aren't income. When you repay, you dispose of the tokens you repay with. On a USDC loan that gives hardly any gain or loss; with a volatile token there can be one. Whatever you repay beyond the loan is interest: a private cost that isn't deducted anywhere. The BMF letter says nothing explicit about loans; TaxMaxi follows what it says about acquisitions and swaps.
What applies in a liquidation?
If your loan grows too big for your collateral, a liquidator takes part of the collateral and pays off part of your debt in return. For tax, you sell the tokens taken, and the proceeds are the value of the debt paid off; the liquidator's premium is your loss. On Jupiter Lend a liquidation shows up in none of your wallet's transactions. You only see it when your position holds less. TaxMaxi can't read yet how much was taken; it puts the withdrawals from such a position in front of you in the review.
When does TaxMaxi ask me about Jupiter Lend?
For a loop, meaning one transaction that puts up collateral, borrows and swaps, and for a transaction that changes collateral and loan at the same time. It also asks when you withdraw something whose deposit TaxMaxi hasn't seen, because it came before your wallet's start or from another wallet. Then the date and amount of what you lent are missing, and only you know them. That's why TaxMaxi puts the transaction in front of you in the review.
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This page explains how TaxMaxi calculates. It is not tax advice and does not replace a tax advisor.