Bitcoin and the German Exit Tax: What Applies When You Move Abroad

The short answer first: if you hold Bitcoin privately and move away from Germany, the move itself triggers no tax on your capital gains. There is no deemed sale on the day you deregister and no taxation of unrealised gains on your wallet balance. The exit tax that so many emigrants warn about catches something other than crypto assets. The move can still become expensive if you overlook the four places where German tax law reaches you even after departure: the moment your tax residence genuinely ends, the one-year holding period that keeps running when you sell, the legal form of your crypto investment, and the question of what your tax office will learn automatically from the 2026 reporting year onwards. This article works through those points in order, under German law, with the statutory references you can put in front of your tax adviser if in doubt. Does the exit tax under Section 6 AStG apply to Bitcoin held privately? Exit taxation means the state treats an asset as if you had sold it on the day you left and taxes the increase in value, although not a single euro has reached you. That is a hard intervention, and it is precisely why the legislator drew the scope narrowly. Sec...