Greek parliament approves 10% crypto gains tax and €500 exemption

In short

• Greece's parliament approved a 10% capital gains tax on crypto on 5 November 2026, according to Reuters.
• Gains of up to €500 (about $563) a year are exempt under the bill.
• A senior finance ministry official says directives on transparency and audit rules will follow in the coming weeks.
• EU crypto tax rates run from 8% to 30%, and Greece says it cannot project the revenue.

Greece's parliament approved a bill on 5 November 2026 that puts a 10% capital gains tax on cryptocurrency gains, according to Reuters. Gains of up to €500 (about $563) a year are exempt, the bill says, and it is Greece's first comprehensive legal framework for taxing crypto assets.

Greece's Ministry of National Economy and Finance had published a draft with the same 10% rate and €500 exemption in early October, according to Cointelegraph, and aimed for a parliamentary vote in the first week of November.

A senior finance ministry official told Reuters that further implementation directives will be published in the coming weeks, and that those directives will also set out transparency and audit rules. Until they land, the practical detail of how the tax is declared and checked is still open.

The country is not alone in taxing crypto gains. European Union countries have no unified system for the sector, and rates across Europe run from 8% to 30%, usually charged on capital gains, according to Reuters. Cointelegraph reported that Austria introduced a 27.5% tax on crypto gains in March 2022, and France a 30% flat tax on individual crypto gains in December 2018.

The finance ministry official also told Reuters that the government could not estimate how much revenue the new tax would raise. The official explained that most investors use platforms based abroad, so the scale of the country's crypto market is difficult to gauge.

What the bill means for ordinary holders

For most people with a small crypto position, the €500 annual exemption covers modest gains. A local trader who makes less than €500 of gains in a year owes nothing under the bill as Reuters describes it. Anyone with larger gains faces a 10% charge, and the finance ministry's coming directives are the place to check how that is declared and audited.

The €500 threshold catch

One detail worth checking before acting on it: a community explainer posted on X before the vote said that once gains pass €500, the whole gain is taxed, so a €600 gain would mean €60 of tax. That reading comes from a poster, not from the bill text, and the final law and the ministry's directives should be checked before anyone relies on it.

How did traders react to the new crypto tax?

Reaction on X was quick and mixed. The account Unfolded (@cryptounfolded) said on X that the 10% rate adds regulatory clarity at a moderate level but raises holding costs for locals, and that it saw limited immediate price impact. Whale Alerts (@WhaleAlertNews) and Crypto News (@News_crypto) said on X that parliament had approved a 10% tax on crypto gains.

Not everyone was convinced. Greece Crypto Degen Club (@DegenClubGR) said on X, in Greek, asking whether this really happened that day and why they could not see it reported elsewhere. Cryptocodes (@Cryptocode_nl) said on X that the plan was a bill rather than law at the time of posting, with the first €500 a year tax-free and swaps between coins not taxed, per the explanatory memo.

What comes next for the crypto tax

The next step is the finance ministry's implementation directives, which the senior official told Reuters will be published in the coming weeks and will define transparency and audit rules. The country is also among the EU countries required to implement DAC8, a tax transparency directive that widens the automatic exchange of information between national authorities to cover crypto transactions, according to Cointelegraph. Cointelegraph reported that from 1 January 2026 crypto service providers have to gather data on their EU users' transactions, and that national authorities are due to complete their first cross-border exchanges covering 2026 activity by 30 September 2027.

Key numbers

Timeline

• 8 Oct 2026: Greece publishes draft bill with 10% crypto gains tax and €500 exemption
• 22 Oct 2026: Public consultation on the draft bill closes
• 5 Nov 2026: Greek parliament approves the 10% crypto capital gains tax bill

Questions readers ask

How much tax do I pay on crypto capital gains in Greece?

Under the bill approved on 5 November 2026, cryptocurrency capital gains are charged at 10%, according to Reuters. Gains of up to €500 (about $563) a year are exempt. A senior finance ministry official said further directives defining transparency and audit rules will be published in the coming weeks.

Are crypto-to-crypto swaps taxed under the new law?

The Reuters report on the approved bill covers the 10% rate and the €500 annual exemption but does not set out how swaps are treated. A community explainer posted on X before the vote said swaps between coins are not taxed, per the explanatory memo. The final law and the ministry's coming directives are the place to confirm this.

When will Greece publish the detailed crypto tax rules?

A senior finance ministry official told Reuters that further implementation directives will be published in the coming weeks, and that they will also define transparency and audit rules. Until those directives appear, the practical steps for declaring and checking crypto gains under the new 10% tax are not set out.

How does the crypto tax compare with other EU countries?

European Union countries have no unified crypto tax system, and rates run from 8% to 30%, usually on capital gains, according to Reuters. Cointelegraph reported that Austria introduced a 27.5% tax on crypto gains in March 2022 and France a 30% flat tax on individual crypto gains in December 2018.

Our view

At InvestIn.News, we see Greece's 10% crypto capital gains tax as clarity more than a punitive hike. The rate sits toward the low end of the 8% to 30% band Reuters reports across the European Union, and the €500 annual exemption keeps small holders out of the net. For a country that had no comprehensive crypto tax framework, that is a meaningful step.

The clarity has a limit. A senior finance ministry official told Reuters that transparency and audit rules will only arrive in the coming weeks, and that revenue cannot be projected because most investors use platforms abroad. A rate on paper is not the same as a tax that can be measured or collected.

The country is also bound by the EU's DAC8 transparency rules, which require crypto providers to collect data on EU users from 1 January 2026, according to Cointelegraph. That reporting, more than the headline rate, is what will make the tax real. We would treat the ministry's implementation directives as the moment to judge whether this framework works.

How we reported this: this story draws on reporting by Reuters and Cointelegraph and on 8 public posts shown in the story. Each source is linked in the text and listed under Sources.

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Keshav Aggarwal

What to watch: Greece's finance ministry is due to publish implementation directives in the coming weeks, setting out transparency and audit rules for the new tax.