Germany is ending tax-free bitcoin, and cutting the rate for traders

Everyone is reporting a tax rise. Do the arithmetic and Germany is cutting the top rate for active traders by nineteen points, from 45% to 26.375%. The people getting hit are the ones who buy and sit on it, which until now was the whole point of holding crypto in Germany. Summary Germany’s Federal Ministry of Finance circulated a draft bill on September 9 that would end the country’s one-year tax-free holding period for cryptocurrency, replacing it with the flat capital income tax. The rate is 25% plus the 5.5% solidarity surcharge, an effective 26.375% before any church tax, applied regardless of how long an asset is held. The cutoff is December 31, 2026: assets bought on or after January 1, 2027 fall under the new regime, while earlier purchases would remain under existing rules. Short-term traders would pay less. Gains realised inside twelve months are currently taxed at personal income rates reaching 45%, so moving them to a flat 26.375% is a reduction. This is the fourth attempt in roughly eighteen months, and the first to sit inside the budget bill, which is considerably harder to strip out than a standalone motion. Hold a coin in Germany for twelve months and one day and the...