Crypto Tax in Italy 2026: The New 33% Rate and Quadro RW Explained

Photo: Marica Massaro / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

If you live in Italy and own Bitcoin, 2026 brought a big change: crypto tax in Italy in 2026 rose from 26% to 33% on capital gains, and the old €2,000 tax-free allowance is already gone. On top of that, Italy asks you to report your crypto every year in the Quadro RW section of your tax return and to pay a small 0.2% yearly levy on its value, even if you never sold anything. This beginner guide explains what changed, what counts as a taxable event, and what records to keep.

What changed in crypto tax in Italy for 2026?

Italy introduced a dedicated tax regime for crypto-assets with the 2023 Budget Law (Law 197/2022). The Agenzia delle Entrate, Italy's revenue agency, then explained the rules in detail in Circular 30/E of 27 October 2023. Two later changes from the 2025 Budget Law matter most today:

The €2,000 allowance was abolished from 1 January 2025. Until the end of 2024, gains were only taxed above €2,000 per year. Now every euro of realised gain is taxable.
The rate went from 26% to 33% from 1 January 2026. Gains realised in 2025 are still taxed at 26% (and declared in 2026). Gains realised in 2026 are taxed at 33% and declared in the 2027 return.

One exception: qualifying euro-denominated e-money tokens that meet the conditions of the law and the EU MiCA rules stay at 26%.

Which crypto transactions are taxable in Italy?

In Italy, simply holding crypto does not create a taxable gain. Tax is due when you realise a gain. According to the CMS expert guide and Italian tax advisers, these are the main cases:

Selling crypto for euros (or another fiat currency): taxable. The gain is the sale price minus your documented purchase price.
Paying for goods or services with crypto: taxable, treated like a sale at the value at the time of payment.
Swapping crypto for crypto of a different nature (for example a coin for an NFT): taxable.
Swapping crypto with the same characteristics and functions: explicitly excluded from income tax. Swaps involving stablecoins or e-money tokens need a case-by-case check.
Moving coins between your own wallets: not a sale, but keep proof that both wallets are yours.
Staking and mining rewards for private individuals: generally treated as "miscellaneous income" (redditi diversi) at the same 33% rate from 2026. Platform fees on staking rewards cannot be deducted.

A key detail: you must document your purchase price. If you cannot prove what you paid, the cost is treated as zero, which means the whole sale price can be taxed. That is a good reason to keep your exchange statements, even for small amounts.

Quick summary table

Topic	Rule for private investors in Italy
Rate on gains realised in 2025	26%, no €2,000 allowance
Rate on gains realised from 1 Jan 2026	33% (qualifying euro e-money tokens: 26%)
Tax-free allowance	None since 1 January 2025
Crypto-to-crypto swap (same characteristics and functions)	Not taxable
Losses	Offset against crypto gains; excess carried forward 4 years if declared
Where gains are declared	Quadro RT (Modello Redditi PF) or section T (Modello 730)
Where holdings are reported	Quadro RW (Modello Redditi PF) or section W (Modello 730), no minimum threshold
Yearly levy on holdings	0.2% of value (stamp duty or tax on the value of crypto-assets)

Quadro RW: reporting crypto even if you never sold

The Quadro RW is the "tax monitoring" section of the Italian return. The Agenzia delle Entrate says it must be filled in by residents who hold crypto-assets through wallets, digital accounts or any other storage system. For crypto there is no minimum value, unlike the €15,000 threshold for foreign bank accounts.

That includes:

Crypto on foreign exchanges, whatever the amount.
Crypto on Italian exchanges, unless a resident intermediary applies the taxes for you under the administered regime (registration with the OAM register alone is not enough).
Crypto on hardware wallets and self-custody apps. For coins stored on a device in Italy, the foreign country code is left empty.

You report the euro value at the start and end of the period you held the crypto during the year. Tax advisers recommend saving a screenshot of the 31 December price from a recognisable source and using the same source every year. If you recently moved coins to your own device, our guide on moving Bitcoin from an exchange to a hardware wallet covers the safe way to do it, and the records you keep there help here too.

The 0.2% yearly levy on crypto holdings

Since 2023, Italy charges 0.2% per year (2 per mille) on the value of your crypto. How it is paid depends on where the coins sit:

If an Italian provider applies stamp duty (imposta di bollo), it collects it and you owe nothing more.
If not (foreign exchange or self-custody wallet), you pay the tax on the value of crypto-assets yourself through your return, in proportion to how long and how much you held.

This is a separate tax from IVAFE, the levy on foreign financial accounts, even though the rate is the same.

A simple example (example numbers only)

These figures are made up to show the maths, not real prices. Suppose Giulia, resident in Italy, bought Bitcoin for €2,000 in 2024 and sold it for €3,000 in March 2026. Her gain is €1,000. At the 2026 rate of 33%, she owes €330. Had she sold in 2025, the rate would have been 26%, so €260. Before 2025, a gain this small would have stayed under the €2,000 allowance.

Now suppose she also keeps Bitcoin worth €10,000 on a foreign exchange for the whole year. She reports it in the Quadro RW and pays 0.2%, which is €20, even without selling.

How Italy compares with its neighbours

Italy's rules are stricter than Germany's, where private crypto sales held for more than one year are tax-free (see our guide to the German one-year rule). Austria uses a flat 27.5% rate, explained in our post on crypto tax in Austria. Also keep in mind that the EU's DAC8 reporting applies from 1 January 2026, so exchanges collect and share user data with tax authorities, with the first exchanges of 2026 data expected in 2027.

Records to keep

Exchange account statements and annual reports
Purchase dates, prices and fees for every buy
Wallet addresses and transaction IDs for transfers between your own wallets
Records of staking rewards: date, amount and euro value
Year-end price screenshots for the Quadro RW

Be wary of anyone asking you to "pay a tax" in crypto to unlock a withdrawal. Italian income tax is never paid to a wallet address; that is a common scam.

FAQ

Is there still a €2,000 tax-free amount for crypto in Italy?
No. The €2,000 allowance was abolished from 1 January 2025, so all realised gains are taxable.

Do I have to declare crypto in Italy if I didn't sell anything?
Generally yes. Holding crypto does not create a gain, but you still report it in the Quadro RW (or section W of the 730) and the 0.2% yearly levy may apply.

Is swapping Bitcoin for another coin taxable in Italy?
Not always. Swaps between crypto-assets with the same characteristics and functions are excluded from income tax, while swaps for assets of a different nature are taxable. Cases involving stablecoins need a specific assessment.

Important disclaimer

This article is general information for beginners, not tax, legal or financial advice. Italian tax rules and form instructions change, and your situation (for example trading as a business activity, which is taxed differently) may need a different treatment. Check the current Agenzia delle Entrate instructions or speak to a qualified Italian tax adviser (commercialista) before filing.

Bottom line

From 2026, crypto gains in Italy are taxed at 33%, with no tax-free allowance, and every holding must be reported in the Quadro RW with a 0.2% yearly levy. The simplest way to stay safe is to keep clean records of every purchase, because without proof of cost the taxman treats it as zero.

Sources

Advice Me publishes general information only. It is not financial, tax or legal advice. Always do your own research and consider your personal situation before making decisions.

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