Capital gains tax on crypto in Belgium
- Aeacus Lawyers
- Jul 7
- 8 min read
On 30 June 2025, the final agreement on the capital gains tax in Belgium was reached, covering financial assets including, among others, crypto. Various political parties have already given a glimpse of the contents of the planned regulation. What many feared has been confirmed: there will be a 10% tax on capital gains on financial assets, including crypto assets. In this article, we provide an overview of what is already known today, with the important caveat that we are still waiting for the publication of the final legal texts. As soon as these are available, we will further adapt and supplement this article.
Solidarity contribution of 10% on realised capital gains
The coalition agreement already stated: "There will be a general solidarity contribution of 10% on the future realised added value of financial assets, including crypto assets, built up from the moment the contribution is introduced. Historical added values are therefore exempt."
The above is reaffirmed in the final agreement. It states that the term “financial assets” should be interpreted broadly and includes four separate categories. Specifically, these are financial instruments, certain insurance contracts, crypto assets and currencies.
In the previously published legal texts, crypto assets were defined as:
"(c) crypto-assets, i.e. any digital representation of a value or a right that can be transferred and stored electronically, using distributed ledger technology or similar technology;"
The new regime would be introduced as a lex specialis on top of the existing miscellaneous income regime. This means that the current 33% tax on crypto resulting from speculative transactions or actions outside the normal management of private assets will remain in full force. Contrary to earlier reports, this 33% tax will therefore not be abolished. Specifically with regard to crypto assets, the final agreement has announced that additional clarifications will follow on when crypto transactions are considered speculative. It therefore remains perfectly possible that certain crypto capital gains, regardless of the new capital gains tax, will still fall under the existing 33% rate if they are qualified as speculative.
Exemption and depreciation
An annual exemption of EUR 10,000 (to be indexed) is provided for on taxable capital gains. In addition, up to EUR 1,000 of this exemption can be saved annually and carried over to later years, with a maximum of EUR 15,000 of cumulative exemption. Since crypto assets explicitly fall within the scope of the new capital gains tax, taxpayers who manage their crypto assets in a normal manner may also be entitled to this exemption. This means that capital gains on crypto that do not qualify as speculative or abnormal management should also fall within these exemption limits.
Losses on financial assets within the scope of the capital gains tax, including crypto assets, can only be offset against realised capital gains within the same tax year and within the same asset category. For crypto, this means in concrete terms that losses on crypto assets are only deductible from crypto capital gains within the same year. Moreover, this offset does not take place via the withholding tax, but only afterwards via the personal income tax return.
FIFO, LIFO or weighted average
What is particularly relevant for those who have crypto assets in their portfolio: the final agreement does not yet contain any concrete information on the calculation method for the acquisition value for multiple similar assets. In previous draft texts, the weighted average was explicitly put forward as the preferred method. This would imply that FIFO or LIFO methods (first-in-first-out or last-in-first-out) may be excluded, which could make a significant difference to the final tax burden for crypto investors. The definition of “assets of the same nature” also remains unclear for the time being, although it seems likely that this would also include different positions in the same crypto coin. This therefore remains an important point of attention, pending further clarification via the final legal texts or future administrative circulars.
Crypto assets according to the explanatory memorandum
In the past, a draft version of the explanatory memorandum was already shared. This explanatory memorandum, which was drawn up for the sake of clarity for the final agreement on the capital gains tax, discusses in detail how crypto-assets are qualified. It confirms that crypto-assets fall under the definition of financial assets. This qualification is in line with the description in Article 3(1)(5) of Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 May 2023 on markets in crypto-assets. It defines a crypto-asset as a digital representation of a value or a right that can be transferred and stored electronically, using distributed ledger technology or similar technology.
What is meant by ‘distributed ledger technology or similar technology’ is further elaborated in Article 3, § 1, points 1) to 3) of the same Regulation. It concerns technologies that enable the operation and use of distributed ledgers—systems where transactions are recorded in information repositories that are shared and synchronised between different nodes in a network via a consensus mechanism. Such a consensus mechanism concerns the rules and procedures by which nodes agree on the validation of transactions. A node is defined in this context as a device or process that holds a full or partial copy of all transaction data within the network.
The explanatory memorandum also emphasises that even in the case of crypto assets that do not fall under this definition, such as unique, non-fungible assets, including digital works of art, collectors' items or assets representing unique rights such as product guarantees or real estate, any added value upon disposal may fall under Article 90, first paragraph, 1° WIB 92, insofar as no professional activity is involved. The assessment of this remains dependent on the facts.
Finally, the explanatory memorandum explicitly confirms that any alienation of crypto-assets, i.e. both the conversion into other crypto-assets and into fiat currencies, is considered a transfer for valuable consideration. This is in line with the definition of the term “exchange transaction” within the meaning of Council Directive (EU) 2023/2226 of 17 October 2023, which recognises both the conversion of crypto-assets into fiat currencies and the conversion between different forms of crypto-assets as such.
Weighted average
What is particularly relevant for those who have crypto assets in their portfolio: the final agreement does not yet contain any concrete information on the calculation method for the acquisition value for multiple similar assets. In previous draft texts, the weighted average was explicitly put forward as the preferred method. This would imply that FIFO or LIFO methods (first-in-first-out or last-in-first-out) may be excluded, which could make a significant difference to the final tax burden for crypto investors. Regarding the weighted average, the explanatory memorandum above states that in the case of multiple acquisitions of similar financial assets, the weighted average of the purchase prices is used to calculate the added value. According to the explanatory memorandum, this increases predictability, simplifies tax processing and avoids discussions with the tax authorities.
Example with BTC: Suppose a taxpayer purchases BTC at three points in time:
0.1 BTC purchased for 1,000 EUR ( at a rate of 10,000 EUR/BTC )
0.2 BTC purchased for 10,000 EUR ( at a rate of 50,000 EUR/BTC )
0.7 BTC purchased for 70,000 EUR ( at a rate of 100,000 EUR/BTC )
The total cost = 1,000 + 10,000 + 70,000 = 81,000 EUR. A total of 1 BTC was purchased. So the weighted average purchase price is 81,000 EUR / 1 BTC = 81,000 EUR per BTC.
If you sell 0.25 BTC for EUR 30,000 (for example at a rate of EUR 120,000/BTC), the added value will be EUR 9,750 (EUR 30,000 reduced by 0.25 x 81,000).
Many platforms such as CoinTracking, Koinly and CryptoTaxCalculator support this method. However, this is a game changer: until now, the LIFO method was often used in practice as a "gold standard" to optimize the tax burden. The introduction of the weighted average as a mandatory method therefore means a major change of course in the tax treatment of crypto.
What about depreciation or losses?
The bill already provided for a limited possibility to deduct capital losses, but under strict conditions. This seems to be confirmed in the final agreement. In contrast to what is sometimes possible with other assets, costs or taxes on the sale of financial assets cannot be deducted from the sales price for the calculation of the taxable capital gain. Only actually realised losses (capital losses) are eligible for deduction.
These losses can only be deducted from realised capital gains within the same taxable period, and only within the same category of financial assets. For example, losses on crypto assets (art. 90, §1, 9°, c) WIB 92) can only be offset against profits on other crypto assets, and not against profits on shares or insurance products.
Furthermore, the taxpayer must demonstrate the existence and amount of the loss, which requires clear administration. Losses cannot be carried forward to later years, which means that losses are only fiscally usable if sufficient profits were realised within the same category in the same year.
Although this is a step towards a more balanced arrangement, the possibilities for loss compensation remain limited in time and scope, which makes tax optimisation more difficult.
Entry into force
The new capital gains tax will enter into force on 1 January 2026. Capital gains accrued before that date will remain fully exempt. For existing financial assets, the value on 31 December 2025 will be considered the fiscal acquisition price, unless the taxpayer can prove by 31 December 2030 at the latest that the actual acquisition value is higher. The precise rules for determining the value will be further laid down in the law.
Mining and other crypto income: status quo?
As for other crypto income, such as mining, harvesting, liquidity pools and yield farming, the draft texts are not yet conclusive. There is no mention of any changes to the tax treatment of these activities, which suggests that the current rules will remain unchanged. This means that investors and users will continue to operate within existing tax frameworks for the time being, which often already entail significant uncertainties.
Conclusion
Although these are still draft texts and an agreement, the current agreement clearly points to a fundamental change of course in the tax treatment of capital gains on financial assets, including crypto.
At the same time, the weighted average introduces a uniform calculation method, limited loss offsets are made possible, and the anti-abuse provision remains fully applicable. However, legal uncertainty remains for income from mining, staking or DeFi, as no explicit regulation is made on this in the draft.
Contrary to earlier expectations, the final agreement confirms that the existing 33% tax on speculative capital gains will be fully maintained. This also applies to speculative profits on crypto assets. The difference between normal management of private assets (subject to the new 10% capital gains tax) and speculative trading (subject to 33%) therefore remains crucial.
In practice, this assessment often requires an in-depth analysis of the investor's entire portfolio, trading behavior, transaction frequency and other personal circumstances.
What is important here is that taxpayers, who are now required to declare all their capital gains on financial assets, will automatically also expose their entire crypto transactions to the tax authorities. This creates direct visibility for the tax authorities, which significantly increases the chance of targeted checks.
Especially in light of the announced data mining and the increased focus of the tax authorities on crypto income, it is clear that the hunt for crypto profits is finally open. You can read more about this witch hunt in this article.
The bill therefore represents an attempt at simplification and rationalisation, but at the same time raises new questions that will probably only be further clarified through implementing measures or administrative guidelines.
The above article went into detail about the consequences for the crypto investor. If you want more general information about the capital gains tax, you can read more in this general article .
Would you like to exchange thoughts about your crypto portfolio and the introduction of this new capital gains tax? Contact Aeacus Lawyers for a free and confidential consultation.
If you have any other questions about crypto, be sure to check out our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Christophe Romero
Senne Verholle