Wonder how cryptocurrency taxes work in the Netherlands? Not sure if Dutch taxpayers need to report transactions with cryptocurrencies in their personal tax return? If you are curious about how crypto taxes actually work, we’ve got you covered in this crypto tax guide for the Netherlands! Read on to learn more about how crypto is taxed in the Netherlands, how much tax you must pay on your crypto gains, and how to report your crypto taxes to the Dutch Tax Administration, Belastingdienst.
Just a heads up! This guide is quite extensive due to the complex nature of cryptocurrency taxes. While we recommend reading this guide from A to Z the first time to make sure you don’t miss out on anything important, you can also use the menu navigation on the right side to jump to any specific crypto tax question later.
We are also updating this guide regularly based on the latest tax guidelines and statements from Belastingdienst. All updates will be listed below so that you can quickly see if anything has been updated since your last visit:
Latest updates
- August 28, 2022: The first version published
Let’s start with the most important question of all…
Do you pay tax on crypto in the Netherlands?
Yes – but only based on the value of your cryptocurrency portfolio at the beginning of the year. Contrary to most other countries, you are not taxed when buying, selling, exchanging, or otherwise disposing of a cryptocurrency.
How is crypto taxed in the Netherlands?
From a legal perspective, cryptocurrencies are not considered equal to the euro, other fiat currencies, or as an official method of payment guaranteed by the central bank. Instead, all crypto assets are considered a type of personal asset which is taxed similarly to stocks and equities for example.
You might have heard the word “capital gains tax” thrown around in the context of cryptocurrency taxes previously. While most countries impose this type of capital gains tax on the profits from selling cryptocurrencies, this is actually not the case in the Netherlands. Rather than paying taxes on their realized profits, Dutch taxpayers are taxed on the assumed increase in value of their cryptocurrency holdings during the year. This means that, in practical terms, Dutch taxpayers are taxed even by just buying or holding cryptocurrencies without ever selling.
So how does this work in practical terms? First, you need to establish the acquisition cost at the beginning of the tax year or on the date you acquired the asset – whichever comes last. If you acquired a cryptocurrency for the first time sometime during 2022, you will use the value on the acquisition date(s) as your cost basis. On the other hand, if you hold a cryptocurrency at the end of the year that was acquired during previous years, you will use the value on January 1st as the cost basis since you already paid taxes on the assumed increased value the year before. We will explain this in more detail later in this guide, so if this sounds confusing, take a deep breath and keep on reading!
When it comes to the actual process of reporting taxes in the Netherlands, there are three different types of income that must be reported separately. More specifically, all income is divided into three different boxes:
- Box 1 – Taxable income from work and home
- Box 2 – Taxable income from a substantial interest
- Box 3 – Taxable income from savings and investments
Different tax rates apply to the different boxes, and each income type falls under only one box. You are therefore not taxed twice on your income, luckily. You are also not allowed to offset a loss in one box with a profit or positive income in another box. Cryptocurrencies fall under Box 3 since this is considered an investment from a tax perspective.
With that out of the way, let’s look at the different tax rates in the Netherlands in more detail.
Tax rates in the Netherlands
The rates applicable for most Dutch taxpayers are the Box 1 tax rate – typically your ordinary employment income – and the Box 3 tax rate – the tax on the increased value of your assets and investments. Let’s break both down in more detail.
Tax on savings and investments
If you hold assets such as savings and investments at the beginning of the year, you will pay 31% tax on the assumed increase in value from the investment basis – also referred to as the fictitious gain.
Keep in mind that the 31% tax rate is not applied to the actual increase in value during the tax year, but rather the assumed increase according to specific criteria and rules. Also, the calculation of Box 3 income was changed recently after a decision by the Supreme Court on the 24th of December, 2021. We will explain how the new calculations work in more detail in the next section.
Personal income tax rates
Taxable income from employment falls under Box 1 and is taxed according to progressive tax rates. Box 1 also includes income from home ownership, periodic receipts and payments, and benefits relating to income provisions.
For 2022, the personal income tax rates for Box 1 vary from 9.42% to 49.50%.
| Taxable income band | Tax rate |
|---|---|
| €0 – €35,472 | 9.42% |
| €35,473 – €69,398 | 37.07% |
| €69,399+ | 49.50% |
How much tax do I pay on my crypto?
As already explained, Dutch taxpayers are not taxed when selling, exchanging, or disposing of cryptocurrencies, but are instead taxed based on an assumed increase in value during the year calculated from the asset’s value on the 1st of January.
With the new calculation method that came in place recently, investments such as cryptocurrencies are assumed to have fictitious returns of 5.69% during 2021. The fictitious return rates for 2022 have not yet been published but are likely to be slightly higher than the current rates.
To understand how these calculations actually work, let’s look at a practical example next.
Example 1
Your cryptocurrency portfolio is valued at €100,000 on the 1st of January, 2021. We assume for simplicity that you do not own any other investments or savings. You have €20,000 in student loan debt.
Step 1 – Calculate the taxable return
First, we need to calculate the total return on your assets. Since the only assets you own are cryptocurrencies, we find the total return this way:
Total return: €100,000 x 5.69% = €5,690
Next, we need to calculate the return on the deductible debt.
Deductible debt: €20,000 – €3,200 = €16,800
Return on deductible debt: €16,800 x 2.46% = €413.28
We can now find the taxable return this way:
Taxable return: €5,690 – €413.28 = €5,276.72
Step 2 – Calculate your net worth
Assets: €100,000
Deductible debts: €20,000 – €3,200 = €16,800
Net worth: €100,000 – €16,800 = €83,200
Step 3: Calculate the rate of return
The rate of return is calculated as your taxable return divided by your net worth.
Rate of return: €5,276.72 / €83,200 x 100% = 6,34%
Step 4: Calculate the basis for savings and investments
The basis for savings and investments is your deductible debts and tax-free capital (€50,000) subtracted from your net worth.
The basis for savings and investments: €100,000 – €16,800 – €50,000 = €33,200
Step 5: Calculate your benefits from savings and investments
The benefits from savings and investments are simply your basis from the previous step multiplied by the rate of return percentage from Step 3.
Benefits from savings and investments: €33,200 X 6.34% = €2,104.88
You pay 31% tax on this amount which equals €2,104.88 x 31% = €652.51
The total amount of taxes you need to pay on your cryptocurrency assets in 2021 is therefore €652.51.
Is buying cryptocurrency taxed in the Netherlands?
No – you do not pay tax for simply buying cryptocurrency in the Netherlands. You are only taxed based on your crypto asset’s value at the beginning of the tax year.
Please see the example in the previous section that explains the calculations in more detail.
Is selling cryptocurrency taxed in the Netherlands?
Contrary to most other countries in the world, you are not taxed when you sell or otherwise dispose of cryptocurrencies in the Netherlands – even if the cryptocurrency has skyrocketed in value.
As a Dutch taxpayer, the only tax you have to worry about is the tax on fictitious gains that are based on your cryptocurrency portfolio’s value on the 1st of January each year.
Do you pay tax for owning crypto in the Netherlands?
Yes – you are taxed on the total value of your cryptocurrencies on the 1st of January each year. The Dutch Tax Administration assumes that your investments increase in value each year and this forms the basis for the current tax regime that applies to cryptocurrencies in the Netherlands today.
Taxes on crypto mining rewards
Similar to many other countries, income from mining is considered differently based on the professionalism of the mining operation. More specifically, Belastingdienst looks at how much time and money are spent on the mining business, to which degree you are making a profit or not, and the overall character of the operation.
Mining as a hobby
If Belastingdienst considers your mining operation as just a hobby, you should declare your income in Box 3 on your tax return similar to your cryptocurrency holdings.
If you are mining sporadically and not making a net profit during the year, it’s safe to assume that you are simply mining as a hobby. If you are unsure if your mining activity is classified as a hobby or not, you can contact Belastingdiesnt directly to get clarification around this.
Mining as a business
If you are mining bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies on a regular basis and making a profit during the year, you will most likely be seen as carrying on a business operation rather than mining as a hobby. In this case, you should report your mining income in Box 1 and your profits will be taxed similar to your ordinary income – anywhere between 9.42% and 49.50% depending on your total taxable income.
How are airdrops taxed in the Netherlands?
There is currently no official stance regarding the taxation of cryptocurrency airdrops by the Dutch Tax Administration. However, to the best of our knowledge, most Dutch tax advisors seem to agree that airdrops should be reported in Box 3 as investment income.
We will update this guide with more information later if Belastingdienst publishes updated guidance that includes also the tax treatment of airdrops.
Is receiving cryptocurrency as a gift taxed in the Netherlands?
Whether or not you are taxed when receiving cryptocurrency as a gift depends on two factors:
- The value of the cryptocurrency received as a gift
- Your relation to the person that sent the gift
The general tax exemption for gifts is €3,244. Between parents and children, the tax exemption is increased to €6,604. Both exemptions can be used annually and there is no limit to how many times you can give a gift to the same person.
If you receive a gift above the tax exemption limit, you have to pay tax according to these rates:
| Gift value | Children and partners | Grandchildren | Any other person |
|---|---|---|---|
| €0 – €128.75 | 10% | 18% | 30% |
| €128.75+ | 20% | 36% | 40% |
Is being paid in cryptocurrency taxed in the Netherlands?
Being paid in cryptocurrency, either as a salary from employment or in exchange for services as a freelancer, is taxed similarly to being paid in euros or another fiat currency. This means that from a tax perspective, there is no practical difference in what type of currency you receive your compensation – the income amount will be taxed as income in all cases.
To calculate the income amount in euros at the time of receipt, you can use cryptocurrency prices from any reputable exchange – or let Coinpanda handle all the calculations automatically for you!
Crypto tax deadline in the Netherlands
The tax year in the Netherlands runs from January 1 to December 31 each year. Your crypto taxes should be reported in your personal tax return where you also report ordinary income from employment.
The deadline for filing your personal tax return is the 1st of May of the following year. This means that your crypto taxes for the 2022 tax year must be filed before the 1st of May, 2023.
How to report crypto taxes in the Netherlands
Reporting your crypto taxes in the Netherlands is actually not that complicated – especially when compared to most other countries that tax every single transaction made during the tax year.
In essence, you need to work out both your portfolio’s total value on the 1st of January of the year that you report your taxes for in addition to the total amount of income you have received from activities such as mining.
The easiest way to file your taxes is using the online portal Mijn Belastingdienst.
