How to Declare Crypto on Your German Tax Return (Anlage SO Guide 2026)

Photo: Marco Loch / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

You sold or swapped some crypto last year and now you need to declare crypto on your German tax return. For beginners and expats, the hard part is usually the form: which annex, which lines, which documents? Privately held crypto goes on Anlage SO (sonstige Einkünfte, "other income"), part of your income tax return, usually filed online through ELSTER.

This guide focuses on how to fill it in. If you first want the rules explained (one-year holding period, the €1,000 limit, swaps and staking), read our deeper explainer on Bitcoin taxes in Germany: the one-year rule and €1,000 limit.

The rules in 60 seconds

• Private sales (§ 23 EStG): selling crypto for euros, swapping it or paying with it is a sale. It is only taxable if you held the coins one year or less.
• €1,000 Freigrenze: since 2024, gains are tax-free if your total private-sale gain for the year is below €1,000. At €1,000 or more, the whole gain is taxable.
• Staking and lending (§ 22 Nr. 3 EStG): per the BMF, passive staking and lending rewards are income from services, tax-free if below €256 a year in total; at €256 or more, all of it is taxable.
• Losses from private sales only offset private-sale gains (same year, previous year or later years), not your salary.

Where crypto goes on Anlage SO: the 2025 form, line by line

The Anlage SO 2025 form has its own crypto section (Kryptowerte). Line numbers below are from that form; they can change between years, so check the form for your year.

What happened	Where on Anlage SO 2025	What to enter
Sold or swapped crypto held one year or less	Lines 45 to 51 (section "Kryptowerte")	Line 45: "1 = Ja", then coin, purchase and sale time, sale price, cost, fees, gain or loss; line 51 is carried to line 58
More than one such sale	Line 59	Total gain or loss from further sales, with a separate statement (gesonderte Aufstellung)
Passive staking, lending, mining, airdrops (not business income)	Lines 14 and 15 (section "Leistungen")	Line 14: "1 = Ja". Line 15: income in euros, valued at the market price when received
Costs linked to that income	Line 19	Werbungskosten for the service income
Crypto sold after more than one year	Not in lines 45 to 51	Not a taxable private sale, but keep your records as proof of the holding period

Line 51 asks you to explain your gain or loss calculation in a separate statement, for example a clear table or a crypto tax software report.

Step by step: how to declare crypto on your German tax return in ELSTER

1. Get access to Mein ELSTER, the free official online tax office. You register with your tax ID (Steuer-ID); with the standard registration an activation code comes by post, which can take a few days.
2. Download your full transaction history from every exchange and wallet, including older years that prove when you bought.
3. Work out which coins you sold. Per the BMF letter (margin no. 61 and 62), exact tracking counts first. Otherwise the first coins bought count as sold first for the holding period (FIFO); for the gain, the average cost method applies, though FIFO is allowed for simplicity. This applies per wallet and per coin.
4. Calculate each gain or loss: sale price minus purchase cost minus fees. For a swap, the sale price is the market value of the coin received.
5. Add Anlage SO to your 2025 return: one sale in lines 46 to 51, further sales in line 59, staking or lending in lines 14 and 15.
6. Attach your separate statement and keep all files; the Finanzamt can ask for them later.

What records the BMF letter of 6 March 2025 expects

Tax offices follow the BMF letter on crypto-assets of 6 March 2025, which replaced the letter of 10 May 2022. Its chapter on filing, cooperation and record-keeping duties starts at margin no. 87. Key points:

• Foreign exchanges and DEXs mean extra duties, including regularly downloading your complete transaction history. Missing data, for example after an exchange's insolvency or a hack, counts against you.
• Tax reports are accepted if plausible: complete and consistent, normally with the report settings (prices used, method such as FIFO) and explained manual corrections.
• The Finanzamt may ask for more: the CSV files behind a report, or screenshots from your wallet or exchange account.
• Each sale must be traceable: coin, amount, cost and proceeds (or dates and prices), gain and holding period.
• No proof means an estimate. If the office cannot work out your income, it estimates it (§ 162 AO).

Good records also help when an exchange asks where your money came from; see our guide on why a crypto exchange asks for source of funds.

Filing deadlines for the 2025 tax year

• Filing yourself: the deadline for 2025 returns was 31 July 2026.
• With a Steuerberater or Lohnsteuerhilfeverein: the deadline is 1 March 2027 (28 February 2027 is a Sunday). The tax office can request a return earlier in individual cases.

Do you have to file? If you are an employee, you generally must file when your income not taxed through payroll, such as taxable crypto gains or staking income, is more than €410 (§ 46 EStG). Missed it? File as soon as possible: the tax office can set a late-filing surcharge (Verspätungszuschlag) of 0.25% of the remaining tax due per month started, at least €25 per month.

DAC8: why declaring correctly matters more from 2026

Under the German DAC8 law (Kryptowerte-Steuertransparenzgesetz, KStTG), crypto service providers collect customer data for calendar year 2026 and must report it to the Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt) by 31 July 2027. DAC8 does not change the tax rules, but it lets the Finanzamt compare your Anlage SO with what your exchange reported. Our guide DAC8 explained: what EU crypto tax reporting means for you covers the details.

FAQ

I only sold Bitcoin I held for more than a year. Do I need Anlage SO?
Those sales are not taxable private sales, so they do not go in the crypto lines. Keep your purchase records in case the tax office asks about the holding period.

My short-term gains were €700. Do I pay tax?
No, as long as your total gains from all private sales that year stay below €1,000. A short-term gain on gold, for example, counts toward the same limit.

Can I just upload my crypto tax software report?
A plausible, complete report can be used, but you still enter the totals on Anlage SO, and the Finanzamt may ask for the underlying CSV files and report settings.

Important disclaimer

This article is general information, not tax, legal or financial advice. It describes German rules for private persons as of October 2026, based on the 2025 forms. Your case may differ, for example if your trading counts as a business or you use DeFi or NFTs. For anything beyond simple trades, consult a tax adviser (Steuerberater) or Lohnsteuerhilfeverein.

Bottom line

To declare crypto on your German tax return, use Anlage SO: short-term sales and swaps go in the "Kryptowerte" lines (45 to 51 and 58 to 59 on the 2025 form), staking and lending in the "Leistungen" lines (14 and 15). Apply FIFO when you cannot track coins, attach a clear statement of your gains, and keep full exports from every platform. The 2025 deadline without an adviser has passed; with an adviser you have until 1 March 2027.

Sources

• BMF: Einzelfragen zur ertragsteuerrechtlichen Behandlung bestimmter Kryptowerte (6 March 2025)
• Gesetze im Internet: § 23 EStG Private Veräußerungsgeschäfte
• Haufe: Anlage SO 2025, Kryptowerte (lines 45 to 51)
• Finanzämter Sachsen-Anhalt: Abgabefristen (filing deadlines)
• Gesetze im Internet: § 9 KStTG Meldepflicht (DAC8 reporting duty)

Advice Me publishes general information only. We are not financial advisers. Always do your own research and check the latest rules in your country before buying, selling or storing crypto.