9 September. A draft from the Federal Ministry of Finance, Lars Klingbeil (SPD). Handelsblatt has seen it. Die Welt had it first. This is not a law. A Referentenentwurf, still in government coordination. Heise: the text can still move.

Today, in Germany, bitcoin sold after one year of private holding can leave untaxed. The draft: that one-year exemption falls for coins bought from 1 January 2027. Gains = capital income. 25% Abgeltungsteuer, plus the solidarity surcharge. CoinMarketCap Academy puts the effective rate at about 26.375% before church tax. Stock already bought before 1 January 2027 would stay under the current rules, the same reporting says. So this is not “everyone, at once, zero relief”.

Kryptowerte stellen zunehmend eine Form der privaten Kapitalanlage dar und werden auf einem wachsenden Markt erworben, genutzt und veräußert.— Draft rationale, cited by Handelsblatt, 9 September 2026

25%, 2027, 2028

Targeted entry into force: 1 January 2027. Automatic withholding at providers: 1 January 2028. A year, the ministry says, for platforms to wire the plumbing. Heise: lending and staking would also move to capital income. Loss offsetting, as with shares. Revenue: €160 million in 2028. €350 million a year in 2030 per Handelsblatt; Heise writes 2031. We set both down. CryptoBriefing and CMC still hold the €1,000 saver’s allowance. That is not in the Handelsblatt extract we have in front of us. We cite it as reporting, not as a Code article.

Bitcoin is not a vintage car. The ministry, Heise says, wants crypto out of the “other assets” box — paintings, cars — and onto the share. A trader turning inside a year pays up to 42% today. They would pay the flat rate. A holder of a year and a day would go from zero to ~26% — if they buy after 31 December 2026. We do not say buy before. We say what the draft writes.

What 9 September holds

  • Held: BMF Klingbeil draft; 25% + soli; end of the one-year holding exemption for purchases from 1 Jan 2027; earlier stock under the old rules, per the press; auto-withholding 2028; €160m 2028; €350m 2030 (HB) / 2031 (Heise); not voted.
  • Not held: a law. That the one-year exemption dies for everyone, including coins already held. That the €1,000 Sparerpauschbetrag is in the HB extract. Tax advice. Advice to buy or sell.

Sources: Handelsblatt, Heise, CryptoBriefing, CMC Academy. Nothing here is investment or tax advice.