Austria Crypto Tax Guide 2026

Crypto in Austria is taxed as capital assets (Kapitalvermoegen) at a flat special tax rate of 27.5%, the Sondersteuersatz, collected as Kapitalertragsteuer (KESt). The rate is the simple part. What actually decides your bill is three dates: when you acquired each coin, when you disposed of it, and which cost basis method applied that year. This guide explains how crypto is taxed in Austria for the 2025 tax year, filed in 2026, including the moving average rule, the Altbestand exemption, KESt at source, and the new DAC8 and CARF reporting that began on 1 January 2026.

This is general information, not tax advice. Austrian crypto tax has real grey areas. For anything material, confirm your position with a Steuerberater.

Crypto tax in Austria at a glance

Here is the short version before the detail.

• Tax rate: a flat 27.5% (Sondersteuersatz, KESt) on gains and most crypto income.
• Tax authority: the BMF (Bundesministerium fuer Finanzen) and your local Finanzamt.
• Cost basis: moving average per coin per wallet from 2023, and FIFO for disposals up to 2022.
• Legacy exemption: crypto acquired before 1 March 2021 (Altbestand) is tax free if held longer than one year.
• Crypto to crypto: not taxable from 1 March 2022, and the cost basis carries to the new coin.
• Filing: report on Beilage E1kv through FinanzOnline.
• Deadlines for tax year 2025: paper by 30 April 2026, online by 30 June 2026, later if you file through a Steuerberater.
• New from 2026: under DAC8 and CARF, platforms report your data to the tax authorities.

The three dates that decide your crypto tax

Austria's rules did not change on a single day. Three separate dates interact, and most confusion comes from mixing them up.

1. 1 March 2021, the acquisition line. Crypto acquired before this date is Altbestand (old regime, often tax free). From this date it is Neubestand (new regime).
2. 1 March 2022, the tax treatment switch. Disposals from this date fall under the flat 27.5% regime, and crypto to crypto becomes tax neutral. Disposals in January and February 2022 could opt in early.
3. 1 January 2023, the cost basis switch. From this date the moving average price (gleitender Durchschnittspreis) is mandatory for Neubestand. Before it, FIFO applied.

So there is a real window, March to December 2022, where the 27.5% rate already applies but cost basis is still FIFO.

How is crypto taxed in Austria?

Since the Eco Social Tax Reform (Oekosoziale Steuerreform 2022), crypto is treated like other capital assets, similar to stocks. Under Paragraph 27b EStG, two kinds of crypto income are taxed at 27.5%. The BMF guidance sets out the detail.

• Realised gains: selling crypto for euros or any fiat, or spending it on goods and services.
• Current income: for example lending interest and mining rewards. See the income section for the exceptions.

Austria has no separate capital gains tax. The progressive income tax rates, up to 55%, apply only to specific cases: old regime short term disposals, NFTs, and certain commercial or derivative income.

Altbestand vs Neubestand: the 1 March 2021 line

This classification is the most valuable thing to get right for each coin, and it is decided by the acquisition date, not the disposal date.

• Altbestand (old assets): acquired before 1 March 2021. Tax free if held longer than one year, which by now covers essentially all of it. Keep acquisition records, because from 2026 the claim is cross checked against reported data.
• Neubestand (new assets): acquired from 1 March 2021. Flat 27.5%, with no holding period relief. A gain is taxed whether you held it a day or a decade.

Crypto cost basis method in Austria: the moving average

This is where older guides go wrong.

• Disposals up to 31 December 2022: FIFO (first in, first out).
• Disposals from 1 January 2023: the moving average cost (gleitender Durchschnittspreis) per coin, per wallet, is mandatory under Paragraph 27a Abs 4 Z 3a EStG and the Kryptowaehrungs Verordnung (BGBl II 455/2022). FIFO is no longer allowed for new assets.

Two details trip people up. The average is per wallet, not portfolio wide, so the same coin on two exchanges is two separate pools. And Altbestand stays out of the average pool, tracked lot by lot, because its acquisition date drives the exemption.

This method is the gleitender Durchschnittspreis. Crypto tax tools also call it the Adjusted Cost Base (ACB) or moving average cost, so you will see all three terms for the same thing. It is a quantity weighted average that is recalculated on every new purchase, per coin and per wallet. A disposal does not change the average, only a new acquisition does. A one off or year end weighted average is not the same, and can give a different cost basis when buys and sells are interleaved.

Example: moving average (2024 disposal)

Wallet A, all ETH, all Neubestand:

Buy 2 ETH at 1,800 EUR = 3,600 EUR

Buy 1 ETH at 2,600 EUR = 2,600 EUR

Pool: 3 ETH, 6,200 EUR, average 2,066.67 EUR per ETH

Sell 1 ETH for 3,000 EUR. Gain = 3,000 - 2,066.67 = 933.33 EUR. Tax at 27.5% = 256.67 EUR

The pool keeps the same average, 2 ETH at 2,066.67 EUR, for the next disposal.

Example: Altbestand (tax free)

Buy 0.5 BTC in January 2020, before 1 March 2021, so it is Altbestand. Sell in 2025 after holding more than one year. Tax is zero, whatever the gain. This lot never enters an average pool.

Tax free vs taxable transactions

Tax free

• Buying crypto with euros and holding it
• Holding (HODL)
• Transferring between your own wallets
• Crypto to crypto swaps (from 1 March 2022)
• Disposing of Altbestand held longer than one year
• Gifting crypto (reporting thresholds apply)

Taxable

• Selling crypto for fiat
• Spending crypto on goods or services
• Mining and lending income, on receipt
• Disposing of staking and airdrop rewards
• Short term Altbestand disposals, under one year, at the progressive rate
• NFT disposals, under the old Paragraph 31 regime

Crypto to crypto swaps

From 1 March 2022, trading one crypto for another is not a taxable event (Paragraph 27b Abs 3 Z 2 EStG). The cost basis of the coin you gave up carries to the coin you received (Fussstapfentheorie), and tax is deferred until you sell to fiat or spend it. Swaps into stablecoins such as USDT and USDC count as crypto to crypto and are also tax free. Swaps into NFTs, security tokens, or fiat are taxable disposals.

Staking, mining, lending, airdrops and DeFi

Austria splits crypto income into two camps. The difference is whether you are taxed on receipt or only on a later disposal.

• Mining: taxed on receipt at 27.5%, valued at receipt, then any gain at disposal.
• Lending interest: taxed on receipt at 27.5%, then any gain at disposal.
• DeFi liquidity mining and yield: taxed on receipt at 27.5%.
• Native staking, proof of stake consensus: not taxed on receipt. The reward enters at a zero cost basis, and the full proceeds are taxed at 27.5% on disposal.
• Airdrops, hard forks and bounties: not taxed on receipt. Zero cost basis, taxed on disposal.
• Adding or removing liquidity is generally not a disposal, and borrowing crypto is tax free.

The staking nuance matters. Rewards from taking part directly in consensus are not taxed when received, while interest like yield (custodial staking, lending, liquidity mining) is taxed at receipt.

NFT taxes in Austria

NFTs are not covered by the Paragraph 27b crypto rules. They stay under the old Paragraph 31 speculation regime: tax free if held longer than one year, otherwise the progressive income tax rate with the 440 EUR Freigrenze. Creating and selling NFTs as a business can trigger 20% VAT.

Margin, futures and CFDs

This is a genuine grey area. The 27.5% rate applies to gains from many financial assets, but profits from some crypto margin and futures products can instead be classed as income from unlisted derivatives and taxed at the progressive rate, up to 55%. The treatment depends on the instrument and venue, so get product specific advice and keep derivatives results separate from spot in your records.

Losses and the small thresholds

• 27.5% basket: crypto losses offset gains from other capital assets taxed at 27.5%, such as stocks, bonds, dividends and other crypto, in the same calendar year, with no private carry forward.
• Old regime speculation (Paragraph 31): short term Altbestand and NFT gains use the 440 EUR Freigrenze. If total speculative gains in the year exceed 440 EUR, the whole amount is taxable. At or below 440 EUR they are tax free.

There is no separate allowance for capital income. Only if your total capital income for the year does not exceed 22 EUR can the entry be omitted. This is separate from the 440 EUR speculation Freigrenze, which applies to short term Altbestand disposals and to NFTs.

KESt at source: domestic vs foreign platforms

Since 1 January 2024, Austrian based providers, for example Bitpanda and Coinfinity, withhold the 27.5% KESt at source for resident customers, much like a domestic bank. If you only use domestic providers and your data is complete, much of your tax may already be deducted.

Foreign exchanges such as Binance, Kraken, Coinbase, Revolut and Bybit do not withhold Austrian KESt. Those gains and income must be self assessed on Beilage E1kv. A missing withholding does not make a gain tax free.

DAC8, CARF and the Krypto Meldepflichtgesetz

From 1 January 2026, Austria's crypto asset reporting, the Krypto Meldepflichtgesetz, implements the EU's DAC8 directive and the OECD's CARF framework. It requires crypto asset service providers inside and outside Austria to collect and report data on Austrian residents, including identity, tax ID and transaction values. The first automatic exchange between authorities is due by 30 September 2027. The practical effect is simple: the Finanzamt increasingly receives your foreign exchange history directly, so accurate, reconciled records and a documented Altbestand position matter more than ever.

How to report crypto in your Austrian tax return

• Form: report crypto capital income on Beilage E1kv, the annex for Einkuenfte aus Kapitalvermoegen, with your income tax return through FinanzOnline. Old regime speculative gains and NFTs go under sonstige Einkuenfte.
• Key fields in E1kv (section 1.3.5, Einkuenfte aus Kryptowaehrungen): current income in KZ 171 or 172, realised gains in KZ 173 or 174, and losses in KZ 175 or 176. Any KESt withheld at source goes in KZ 899. The even numbers (172, 174, 176) are the fields for income without KESt deduction, typically from foreign platforms.
• Deadlines for tax year 2025: paper by 30 April 2026, online by 30 June 2026, later through a Steuerberater.

If you have never filed capital income before, you may need to switch your return to include E1kv, an Erklaerungswechsel, in FinanzOnline.

How Kryptos helps with Austrian crypto tax

Kryptos connects your exchanges and wallets, applies FIFO up to 2022 and the moving average per wallet from 2023, keeps Altbestand out of the average pool, and tags each coin's acquisition date so old gains are not taxed by mistake. It reconciles any KESt withheld at source against your actual gains, then produces the figures for Beilage E1kv. With 5,500+ integrations, it covers the foreign exchanges that do not withhold Austrian KESt and that report under DAC8 from 2026.

Crypto tax Austria FAQ

Is crypto taxed in Austria?

Yes. Gains and most crypto income are taxed at a flat 27.5% KESt. Some transactions are tax free, including buying and holding, transfers between your own wallets, crypto to crypto swaps, and disposals of Altbestand held longer than a year.

What is the crypto tax rate in Austria?

A flat 27.5% special rate, the Sondersteuersatz, for private investors. The progressive rate up to 55% applies only to old regime short term gains, NFTs, and certain commercial or derivative income.

Is crypto to crypto taxable in Austria?

No, not since 1 March 2022. The cost basis carries to the coin you receive, and tax is deferred until you sell to fiat or spend it.

What cost basis method does Austria use?

Moving average per coin per wallet for disposals from 2023, and FIFO for disposals up to 2022. FIFO is no longer permitted for new assets.

Which form do I file for crypto in Austria?

Beilage E1kv through FinanzOnline for capital income. Old regime speculative gains and NFTs go under sonstige Einkuenfte.

Do foreign exchanges report to the Austrian tax office?

From 2026, yes, under DAC8 and CARF. Self assess foreign exchange gains on E1kv regardless of whether tax was withheld abroad.

All content on Kryptos is for general information only and is not a substitute for advice from a licensed tax professional. Austrian crypto tax rules change and contain grey areas. Confirm your position with a Steuerberater before filing.

About the author

Deepak Pareek

Head of Tax & Accounting - Kryptos