Greece’s parliament passed a bill on November 5 that taxes individuals’ gains from crypto-assets at 10%. Net gains of up to €500 a year go untaxed.
The main rules apply from the 2027 tax year. They form one part of a larger bill from the Ministry of National Economy and Finance, which also tightens the supervision of loan servicers.
New Democracy, the governing party, voted for the bill in principle. Every opposition party voted against it.
It becomes law once the president signs it and the Government Gazette publishes it.
Most of the crypto provisions follow the draft that the ministry put to public consultation in October. One change widens the window for declaring past income to cover staking and lending as well as sales.
In its statement on that draft, the ministry gave a 10% rate for income from staking. It has since changed the figure to 15%, the rate the law sets.
Taxable events
The tax applies when a person exchanges crypto-assets for money, pays for goods or services with them, or puts them into a company’s capital. It also covers any other disposal of crypto-assets in exchange for something of value.
Swapping one crypto-asset for another creates no taxable gain.
A gain is the transfer price minus the acquisition price. For crypto-assets bought at different times, the law uses the average acquisition price.
When nobody can establish the acquisition price, the law treats it as zero.
No tax applies when the net gain for the year, after losses, is €500 or less. Above that amount, the tax applies to the whole gain.
Anyone who loses more than €500 in a tax year can deduct that loss from gains on crypto-assets over the following five years. That loss cannot reduce the tax on any other income.
Greek tax law presumes that a taxpayer earns at least enough to fund his living costs and asset purchases. From 2027, buying crypto-assets counts as an asset purchase, as buying shares already does.
If that presumed income exceeds declared income, and the taxpayer cannot cover the gap with other funds the law recognizes, Greece taxes the difference as income.
Staking
The law counts income from lending crypto-assets, providing liquidity, and staking as interest. Staking means locking crypto-assets in a mechanism that validates transactions.
Greece taxes interest at 15% under Article 40 of its Income Tax Code.
Past gains
People who sold crypto-assets before the new rules apply have 12 months to declare those gains. That window also covers earlier income from lending and staking.
Declared gains pay 10%, and declared lending and staking income pays 15%.
Those 12 months start when the law appears in the Government Gazette. Taxpayers pay the tax within 60 days of the declaration, and Greece charges no fines or interest on tax paid on time.
Inheritance and non-doms
For inheritance and gift tax, the law treats crypto-assets as intangible movable property located abroad. Their value is the price on the day before the tax becomes due.
Greece also has a non-dom regime for investors who move their tax residence to the country. It charges €100,000 a year on income that arises abroad, whatever its amount.
Income that arises in Greece falls under the general rules. Non-doms pay no Greek inheritance or gift tax on movable property located abroad, which, under the new law, would include their crypto-assets.
Elsewhere in Europe
Cyprus taxes gains from cryptocurrency transactions at a flat 8%. In Italy, the rate on gains from crypto-assets rose to 33% from fiscal year 2026, with 26% for euro-denominated e-money tokens, a regulated type of stablecoin.
Portugal grants relief from tax on gains from crypto-assets that are not securities, when a person owned them for 365 days or more. Crypto gains can go untaxed in 20 livable countries.
Predictable rules
Christina Georgaki, Founder and Managing Partner at Georgaki Law Firm, believes that “for international investors, predictable and consistent rules are fundamental to confidence.”
In her view, the new crypto framework “is an opportunity for Greece to show it is keen to facilitate international investment while providing the certainty that responsible investors expect.”
“Greece must continue to welcome Europeans with the ambition to build businesses, invest, and establish lasting roots,” Georgaki argues.
For that reason, she is “pleased these changes keep Greece’s crypto tax rate below many other European countries.”
“Greece also boasts transparent rules, effective administration, and a national commitment to assist foreign investors in delivering on their ambition,” she adds.
Purchase records
Joseph Boll, Founder and CEO at Frederick Capital, thinks “Greece has been quite sensible here.” In his view, “10% isn’t going to scare anyone off, and next to Italy at 33% it’s a fair deal.”
One issue Boll sees is “people who haven’t kept proper records of their crypto and end up guessing what they paid.”
“That’s where they come unstuck, because you need to be able to show exactly what you paid for each coin, and if you can’t, Greece treats it as zero,” he warns.
“That can turn a small tax bill into a big one very quickly,” Boll adds. His advice is “to make sure your crypto accounting is fully in order before you submit any documents, that way you at least have some control.”
Implementation
A senior finance ministry official told Reuters that “further implementation directives will be published in the coming weeks” and will define transparency and audit rules.
The official said there was no way to project the revenue from the tax, because the vast majority of investors use platforms abroad.
