Status: 02/28/2023 12:32 p.m
The Federal Fiscal Court has made this clear. In addition, the court confirmed the speculation period of one year.
Profits from buying and selling cryptocurrencies are subject to income tax. The Federal Fiscal Court (BFH) decided this for the first time in a judgment published on Tuesday. According to the highest German finance court, virtual currencies are economic goods that have a market value and are bought and sold as a means of payment on trading platforms. The profits from this are therefore subject to the Income Tax Act as “private sales transactions”.
The judges did not accept the argument of an unnamed plaintiff that virtual currencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum or Monero are ultimately only algorithms and not real economic goods. The plaintiff had reported a profit of 3.4 million euros from private crypto transactions to the tax office in 2017, but resisted taxation.
apply rules for “other assets”.
According to the IX. According to the Senate of the Federal Fiscal Court, cryptocurrencies are a “different economic good” for tax purposes, such as vintage cars or event tickets. There is a profit tax on these if they are exchanged or sold within 365 days. According to the Munich judges, the concept of an economic good should be interpreted broadly. Technical details of virtual currencies are not important for the property as an economic good. It is sufficient that the goods can be bought and “accessible to a separate independent evaluation”. That is the case with cryptocurrencies.
The BFH also did not accept the argument that transactions with cryptocurrencies are hardly controllable, so that income tax can hardly be levied across the board. The financial administration tried early on to subject such transactions to income tax. In the meantime, there are also far-reaching information obligations and control options.
Az: IX R 3/22