Crypto Taxes Explained for Germany

How crypto assets are taxed in Germany

In Germany, cryptocurrencies are classified as “other assets” under § 23 of the German Income Tax Act (EStG). Profits from trading coins and tokens – for example on LBank – are therefore treated as private sales transactions and taxed at your personal income tax rate (0–45% plus, if applicable, solidarity surcharge). What matters is always your total taxable income.

When crypto transactions are subject to tax

Tax is generally due on disposals within one year. This includes selling crypto for euros, exchanging one coin for another (e.g. BTC → ETH), and paying for goods and services with crypto.

If your total profits from such private sales transactions exceed the annual allowance of €1,000, the entire profit becomes taxable – not just the portion above the threshold. By contrast, simply buying cryptocurrencies with euros and transferring assets between your own wallets or exchange accounts is generally tax-free.

Holding period, staking & FIFO rule

If you hold your cryptocurrencies for more than one year, capital gains from the subsequent sale are entirely tax-free. Income from staking or lending, however, is treated as “income from other services” under § 22 EStG and taxed at your personal income tax rate.

These staking and lending earnings remain tax-free only if all such income stays below €256 per year; once this limit is exceeded, the entire amount becomes taxable. To calculate gains, the tax authorities generally apply the FIFO method (“First In – First Out”). Since FIFO is applied separately to each wallet, you should carefully document all deposits and withdrawals between LBank and your private wallets, or use a crypto tax tool to clearly substantiate which coins were disposed of.

Declaring crypto in your German tax return

In Germany, you must actively declare your crypto activities in your annual income tax return (Einkommensteuererklärung), usually via ELSTER or tax software. Private gains from buying and selling coins or tokens are reported in Anlage SO under „Einheiten virtueller Währungen und / oder sonstige Token“. Here you enter the total sales proceeds from all disposals in the tax year and the total acquisition costs of the corresponding units; the tax office then determines your taxable gain or loss. If you follow the detailed German guidance, the entries are mainly made in the section for private disposals (private Veräußerungsgeschäfte, § 23 EStG), where you can also indicate the relevant period if you had many trades, rather than listing every single transaction.

Declaring staking, lending, and other income

Income from staking, lending, mining, or airdrops is generally treated as other income (sonstige Einkünfte, § 22 EStG) and is also entered in Anlage SO, in the section „Angaben zu Tätigkeiten im Zusammenhang mit Einheiten virtueller Währungen und / oder sonstigen Token“. You must use the market value at the time of receipt of each reward as the taxable amount.

Typical steps include:

• Indicating that you had such income in the relevant checkbox/field
• Entering the total euro value of all rewards for the year

Declaring futures and derivatives

If you trade crypto futures or similar derivatives, gains and losses are not declared in Anlage SO but in Anlage KAP. There, you report profits and losses from futures separately, in the specific lines for derivative financial instruments, so the tax office can apply the special rules for capital income.

How to track LBank transactions for taxes

Accurate tax reporting starts with having a complete record of your crypto activity. On LBank, this means exporting both trading data and funding-related transactions across spot, margin, and futures. If any of these are missing, your calculations may be wrong and you could run into compliance issues later.

Step 1: Download your spot trade history (Order Center)

This includes your actual buy and sell trades.

1. Sign in to your LBank account.
2. Go to Trade, then click Spot.
3. In the Spot interface, click the Order Center (clock icon).
4. Open Transaction History and click Export trade record.
5. Set the date range to cover all your trading activity.
6. Make sure all trading pairs are selected.
7. Click Generate Now.
8. When the status changes to Generated, click Download.

You’ll use this file to calculate capital gains and losses from spot trading.

Step 2: Download your funding-related history

Trading data alone is not enough. You also need to export deposits, withdrawals, transfers, and similar transactions.

1. While still logged in to LBank, stay in the same top navigation you used to access Order Center.
2. Click Funding History.
3. Open the Spot History tab.
4. Set the date range to include all transactions.
5. For Type / Bill Type, select All.
6. Click Download.
7. Repeat the process for Margin History and Futures History if you use those products.

Exporting both your trade history and your funding history ensures your tax calculations capture your full activity on LBank.

Using your transaction data to file taxes

Once you’ve downloaded your files, you can use them to determine your tax obligations with a special crypto tax calculator for Germany.

A crypto tax software helps you to:

• easily import your data from LBank,
• calculate your taxable profits, losses, income, and expenses,
• and generate a tax report that includes all the information you need to declare your crypto assets in Anlage SO and Anlage KAP.

This allows you to manage all your transactions efficiently and save time when declaring taxes on the cryptocurrencies you traded via LBank.