Committee Blocks Repeal of German One-Year Crypto Tax Exemption

The Bundestag finance committee voted down a Green Party bill that would have ended Germany’s tax exemption for crypto assets held longer than one year, leaving the current rule in place.

Under current law, private gains on cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin are exempt from capital gains tax if the assets are held for more than 12 months. The Greens argued the rule was intended for physical items like antiques and does not fit digital assets.

Lawmakers from the CDU/CSU bloc opposed the proposal on fairness grounds, saying taxing crypto differently from comparable stores of value such as precious metals and foreign currencies would create an inconsistency. The AfD rejected the draft on broader fiscal grounds, calling for a smaller tax base and urging the state to focus spending on domestic and foreign security and the justice system. The SPD supports taxing crypto gains in principle but will wait for proposals from Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil before backing specific legislation. Die Linke backed the Greens’ initiative but warned the bill contained major weaknesses, including administrative complexity and the absence of a cap on loss offsets from crypto trades.

The Greens cited research by the Frankfurt School Blockchain Center that estimated up to €11.4 billion in additional annual tax revenue if the exemption were removed. In its own calculations the party used roughly half that figure as a conservative estimate. The study found German crypto investors realized about €47.3 billion in gains in 2024 and estimated nearly two-thirds of those gains were not taxed because of the holding-period rule.

Die Linke flagged that administrative complexity and an uncapped ability to offset losses from crypto trades could reduce net revenue and raise enforcement costs.

With the committee vote, the one-year exemption remains in force. At the same time, the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation (MiCA) is tightening oversight of digital assets, and new reporting requirements for investors will take effect in 2026, increasing tax authorities’ access to transaction data across member states.

The SPD will await proposals from Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil, leaving open the possibility the government could present alternative measures and reopen the debate.