Greece Drafts 10% Bitcoin (BTC) Tax With €500 Gains Exemption

10% Levy Published for Consultation

Greece moved to close one of the last gaps in its tax code on Thursday, October 8, when the Ministry of National Economy and Finance published a draft bill that would tax capital gains from personal cryptocurrency transfers at a flat 10%. The text entered public consultation the same day, and the government intends to table it in parliament in November, with a vote targeted for the first week of that month. The draft does not single out any asset: gains on Bitcoin (BTC), the largest digital asset by market value, would fall under the same regime as any other token, with taxable profit measured against the Bitcoin price in euros at the moment each position is sold. The levy applies only to realized gains, so merely holding assets, whether on a platform or in a hardware wallet, creates no taxable event. One broad relief is built in. Net gains within the same tax year that do not exceed 500 euros would be exempt, which keeps small retail activity outside the tax net entirely. The step matters because Greece has no comprehensive framework for taxing digital assets today, and the European Union offers no harmonized rules either. Member states set their own terms, and national rates on cryptocurrency gains across Europe range from 8% to as much as 30%. Greek officials state openly that they cannot estimate the size of the domestic market, because most investors trade through venues operating outside the country rather than a locally licensed crypto exchange. For the same reason, the ministry has attached no revenue forecast to the bill. The consultation runs until Thursday, October 22, after which the draft goes to parliament for the November vote.

Euro Valuation, Swaps and a 12-Month Amnesty

The mechanics set out in the draft are more detailed than the headline rate suggests. Capital gains are calculated in euros at the moment of each transaction: the sale price minus the acquisition cost, with fees directly connected to the trade deductible from the gain. If net gains across the same tax year stay at or below the 500-euro threshold, no tax is due. The bill states explicitly that exchanging one cryptocurrency for another does not generate taxable income. That choice matters for active traders, since every rotation between tokens under a disposal-based system would otherwise trigger a taxable calculation, and it means the tax falls due when a position is converted into euros or another fiat currency. Losses can be carried forward for five years, though only against future cryptocurrency gains and not against other income; there is no provision for applying them to prior years. Income from staking, lending digital assets and providing liquidity is classified as interest income and taxed under those rules. The draft also opens a one-time compliance window: taxpayers get 12 months to declare gains already realized in past years, and those who come forward on time pay the tax without penalties or interest. Declared amounts receive formal tax recognition, which carries practical weight because they can later be used to document the source of funds when purchasing real estate. Rules on inheritance and gift taxation of digital assets are scheduled to take effect from January 1, 2027. Measured against its peers, the 10% rate sits at the low end of the EU: Germany, France and Italy have set or plan rates above 25%, and a German finance ministry draft circulated in September would impose 25% from 2027 while abolishing the exemption for holdings kept longer than 12 months.

A Low Rate With an Enforcement Gap

The design reads less like a revenue play than an attempt to move offshore activity onshore: a 10% rate, a 500-euro floor, deferral on token swaps and a penalty-free declaration window all lower the cost of entering the system. The weak point is enforcement. Officials themselves say they cannot size a market built almost entirely on venues outside Greece, and the bill attaches no revenue estimate. If the vote holds in the first week of November, Greece would enter 2027 with one of the lowest cryptocurrency gains rates in the union, a position that could attract mobile capital even as larger economies settle on rates three times higher.