Anyone who trades with cryptocurrencies and has already submitted a tax return knows how much effort is involved in collecting and preparing the data. However, with the right tools and the information provided by us, you can submit your crypto taxes efficiently and on time before the tax deadline.
Regardless of the crypto tax software of your choice, trading with cryptocurrencies is considered a private sales transaction in accordance with §23 EStG. Profits from cryptocurrencies, such as from staking, are considered taxable income in accordance with §22 No. 3 EStG. Profits and losses from futures and margin trading, on the other hand, fall under the provisions of §20 EStG and are considered income from capital assets.
Before you are ready to submit your crypto taxes, you should make sure that you have registered correctly with Accointing, made the right tax settings, and checked all your data for accuracy. The following guide will help you prepare your annual income tax return with cryptocurrencies quickly and efficiently using the Accointing tax report.
Filing your Tax Return
Filing with a Tax Tool
Filing your crypto tax return in Germany may seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. One way to simplify the process is to use various tax software providers. In this section, you will find a step-by-step guide that will help you submit your crypto taxes using different tax tools.
- Wiso Steuer Crypto Tax Filing Guide 2023 (German only)
- Taxfix Crypto Tax Filing Guide 2023
- Smartsteuer Crypto Tax Filing Guide 2023
Filing on your Own
There are two forms that need to be filled out depending on the type of cryptocurrency income, namely Form SO and Form KAP. The following instructions explain step-by-step how taxable cryptocurrency income and capital gains are to be reported.
Form SO (Other Income – Taxable disposals and inflows)
- The total amount of taxable profits must be entered in line 49 of Form SO. This information can be found on the first page of the tax report.”
- The total amount of taxable income must be entered in lines 10, 12 and 14 of the attachment SO. This information can also be found on the first page of the tax report
Form KAP (Income from capital assets)
- The total amount of capital income from futures and margin trading must be entered in line 19 (total), line 21 (profit), line 22 (loss + fees), and line 24 (loss) of the KAP form. This information can be found on the first page of the tax report.
Filing with a Professional
If you have a significant amount of cryptocurrency investments, run a business, or have a complex tax situation, it would be beneficial for you to seek advice from an experienced tax expert. Although Accointing can simplify the process of creating a tax report, the taxation of digital assets is a complex and rapidly changing area. A qualified professional can help you master the nuances of this field and correctly classify the data for tax purposes.
Accointing’s Tax Report
Taxable Summary
This is the most important page of your tax report and contains all the calculated tax-relevant information based on your data. The page provides a summary of your realized gains and losses, taxable income, and capital gains from margin trading.
Taxable disposals from private disposal transactions according to §23 EStG (≤1 year) contains all taxable disposals from trading with cryptocurrencies and must be entered in the SO Form.
Taxable inflows of cryptocurrencies according to § 22 no. 3 EStG contains all taxable inflows from staking, lending, etc. and must be entered in the income tax return in the SO Form.
Capital gains from margin trading according to § 20 EStG contains all capital gains from margin trading and futures and must be entered in the income tax return in the KAP Form.
Tax-Free Summary
This page contains all tax-free disposals and inflows. Although these are not relevant for tax purposes, tax-free profits should also be transparently disclosed to the tax authorities.
Tax-free disposals from private disposal transactions according to §23 EStG (>1 year) includes all tax-free disposals from trading in cryptocurrencies and does not need to be entered in the income tax return.
Tax-free disposals from private disposal transactions according to §23 EStG for cryptocurrencies that were disposed without the receipt of any form of consideration includes all tax-free disposals and does not need to be entered in the income tax return. It is important to note that this category includes various types of disposals, such as gifts and donations, where the taxpayer does not receive any compensation in return. Therefore, when analyzing cryptocurrency transactions, it is essential to identify those disposals in which the taxpayer does not receive any consideration.
Tax-free inflows of cryptocurrencies include all tax-free inflows and does not need to be entered in the income tax return.
Transaction fees for internal transactions are internal fees that have been incurred during transfers between wallets and exchanges. These can only be claimed as advertising costs if they are directly related to a disposal of cryptocurrencies. This is usually not the case with internal transfers, so this cost overview serves more for information purposes, but is not relevant for tax purposes.
Transaction details
Taxable disposals from private disposals under §23 EStG
Detailed view of the taxable trade including transaction ID, origin, purchase date, cost basis of the sold asset, fee incurred on sale, location of the sale, and resulting taxable proceeds.
Taxable income from cryptocurrencies under §22 No. 3 EStG
Taxable income, such as rewards from mining, staking, liquidity pools, or other taxable income, specifying the date of receipt, quantity, and cryptocurrency. The specified taxable receipt value is based on the market value and quantity of the corresponding cryptocurrency at the time of receipt.
Capital gains from margin trading under §20 EStG
Summary of all profits and losses from margin trading. Please note that due to different exchange data and the technical implementation of margin trades on individual trading platforms, only the profit and loss is attributed to taxable capital gains.
Tax-free disposals from private disposals under §23 EStG
Here you will find all details of tax-free disposals with the same information as the taxable disposals. Tax-free gains and losses are listed only for completeness, making it possible to trace each transaction and its tax classification.
Tax-free deposits of cryptocurrencies according to §22 No. 3 EStG
Details of tax-free income, such as airdrops, hard forks, donations, or other tax-free receipts, specifying the date of receipt, quantity, and cryptocurrency
Additional Files
Taxable Capital Gains – CSV File
This file contains all of your taxable and non-taxable gains and losses for the year – consider this more of a profit and loss statement than a tax expense. All taxable transactions will match with your tax report when the data is filtered out. Using the file format, anyone can analyze their transaction data in detail using Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets.
Daily Balance
The CSV report “Daily Balance” contains the balance per wallet for each day of the tax year. Using the file format, anyone can analyze their portfolio development in detail using Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets.
Complete Data Set
This report contains all the details necessary to trace crypto transactions, such as:
- ID
- Exchange or Wallet
- Type of Transaction
- Classification of Transaction
- Amount Bought or Deposited
- Asset Bought or Deposited
- Cost Basis in EUR
- Amount Sold or Withdrawn
- Asset Sold or Withdrawn
- Cost Basis in EUR
- Amount of Fee
- Fee Asset
- Fee in EUR
- Data Source
- Date of Tx
- Tx-ID
- Comments entered in Accointing
The information contained in this guide, including any supplemental materials, is for general information purposes and does not constitute financial, investment, legal or tax advice. The present content is not intended as a thorough, in-depth analysis, nor a substitute for a formal opinion, nor is it sufficient to avoid tax-related penalties. Please consult your tax advisor.
