Greece has approved a 10% tax on crypto gains and a 15% levy on DeFi income. Investors get a 12-month window to declare past gains without late-filing penalties, but the rules for crypto-to-crypto swaps are still undefined.
The two rates
The new framework sets two separate rates depending on where the income comes from. Realized profit from selling crypto assets is taxed at 10%, while income earned through DeFi is taxed at 15%.
Category | Rate | Note |
|---|---|---|
Crypto gains | 10% | applies to realized profit |
DeFi income | 15% | separate rate from gains on sales |
Retroactive declaration | 12 months | no late-filing penalties |
The 5-point gap between the two rates means classification matters: the same amount can be taxed at 10% or 15% depending on its source.
The 12-month window for past gains
You have 12 months to declare crypto gains realized in the past without the usual late-filing penalties. The waiver covers late-filing penalties on amounts declared within that period.
On November 5, the Finance Ministry published a statement from minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis on tax evasion: "Every euro we recover from tax evasion is a euro we can return to citizens."
Crypto-to-crypto swaps are the grey area
The approved framework does not clarify whether a direct swap between two cryptocurrencies - BTC into ETH, for example - is a taxable event, or whether tax applies only when converting to euros.
For active traders the difference matters: if every swap is taxable, you have to calculate profit or loss at each exchange, not just on exit to fiat. Until a clarification comes, there is no explicit rule for these trades.