The Bundestag has held a public hearing on a petition, backed by more than 44,000 signatures, calling for Germany to preserve its one-year tax-free holding period for crypto assets. The session gave tax experts, industry representatives and the petitioner herself a chance to put their case to lawmakers, but representatives of the Bundesfinanzministerium (BMF) gave no ground on the government's underlying plan.
Under current German law, private investors who hold crypto for more than a year pay no capital gains tax on the proceeds when they sell. The BMF's reform proposal would scrap that exemption entirely, taxing crypto gains at 25 percent plus possible surcharges regardless of how long an asset has been held. A grandfathering clause, or Bestandsschutz, is planned for coins acquired before 2027, meaning the change would primarily affect future purchases.
In an unexpected twist, a BMF representative at the hearing raised the possibility of abolishing the same one-year exemption for other assets, including gold. No concrete plans exist yet for that step, but the mere mention signals that the ministry sees crypto's holding-period rule as part of a broader question about preferential tax treatment for non-financial assets.
Experts see an open question, not a done deal
Dr. Ingo Heuel, a tax lawyer who backed the petition, said the ministry's own openness to revisiting the gold exemption undercut the case for rushing the crypto reform through. "That shows that it's not at all ready for a decision yet," he said.
Afra Stöhr, tax advisor and co-founder of the crypto tax law firm SWTAX, drew a similar conclusion from the proceedings. "What I take away from the hearing is that it has not yet been finally decided whether the holding period will be abolished or not," she said.
Nicole Nowak, who brought the petition, described herself as "positively surprised" by the tone of the hearing. Ulrike Lierow-Schad, representing the Blockchain Bundesverband, argued for a more measured approach to the issue, saying that "Germany needs legal certainty and innovation impulses for crypto assets instead of hasty tax changes."
What comes next
The reform could reach the Bundeskabinett as soon as October 14, though cabinet approval would not be the end of the process. Any change would still need to go through deliberations in both the Bundestag and the Bundesrat before becoming law, leaving room for further amendment or delay.
BTC-ECHO attended the hearing in person and spoke with several participants afterward, including Stefan Rönz, co-initiator of the "Pro Haltefrist" campaign pressing to keep the exemption intact. For now, Germany's crypto investors are left with a government proposal that remains on the table, a parliamentary process that has only just begun, and officials who appear unwilling to rule out widening the tax changes well beyond digital assets.
