MoF: Questions regarding the income tax treatment of specific crypto assets

On 7 March 2025, the Federal Ministry of Finance (MoF) published a revised circular on specific questions regarding the income tax treatment of certain crypto assets in Germany.

The current ministerial guidelines replace the previous MoF circular from 10 May 2022 (Tax & Legal, blog post of 12 May 2022) which is now republished under the different heading “Questions on specific issues regarding the income tax treatment of specific crypto assets” (“Einzelfragen der ertragsteuerrechtlichen Behandlung bestimmter Kryptowerte”). In this context, the previously used wording “virtual currencies and other tokens” has been replaced by the term “crypto assets” to comply with regulatory terminology.

Due to the cross-border nature of the issues discussed, a legally non-binding English translation has been prepared by the MoF.

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and liquidity mining are not yet covered in the MoF circular. The MoF will continue to deal with the relevant income tax issues relating to crypto assets in close consultation with the supreme tax authorities of the federal states and with the participation of the associations and the current MoF circular will then be continuously updated.

Source:

Federal Ministry of Finance, circular of 6 March 2025 (IV C 1 - S 2256/00042/064/043).