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Guide to declaring crypto taxes in The Netherlands (2021)
Find out how to calculate and declare cryptocurrency taxes in The Netherlands.
This article aims to serve as a complete guide on how to calculate and pay taxes on cryptocurrency (for example Bitcoin and Ethereum) for individuals in the Netherlands. Whether it’s your first time declaring taxes on cryptocurrencies or you are an experienced crypto evangelist, you should find this guide useful. In this guide we will be covering:
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Important Dates
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How cryptocurrencies are taxed
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Detailed information about different transaction types
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How to submit your tax report to the Belastingdienst
This guide will be updated and maintained on a regular basis to account for changes made by the local tax authority (Belastingdienst) and for new types of transactions. In the event that you find any errors or outdated information, it is greatly appreciated that you let us know by sending an email to support@divly.com.
This guide should not be considered as a substitute for tax, legal, audit, accounting, or financial advice. No fiduciary relationship has been created by you and divly.com. We are merely collating and sharing information we find useful. The guide may or may not include incorrect our outdated information.
Important dates 2022
1 March 2022 - The online tax portal MijnBelastingdienst opens on belastingdienst.nl and you can start your tax declaration.
1 May 2022 - If you have received a letter from the Belastingdienst informing you that you have to file your taxes then you must ensure that your tax declaration arrives at the tax office by this date*.
14 July 2022 - If you have not received a letter from the Belastingdienst informing you that you have to file your taxes then you may still have to file your tax declaration. It is expected that you check this yourself. If after filling in the tax declaration on MijnBelastingdienst you notice that you owe more than 47 euros then you have to submit your taxes by this date.
*For the year 2021 this date was moved to the 8th of May due to technical problems
How cryptocurrencies are taxed in The Netherlands
There are potentially three types of taxes that you need to consider every year you declare taxes on your cryptocurrencies. We will discuss all three and how they are applied in this section.
Wealth Tax (Vermogensbelasting)
The wealth tax is levied over various assets. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies fall under a subheading of Box 3 Savings & Investments. Namely under other assets (overige bezittingen) in your income tax report.
In this guide we will walk through the list of detailed scenarios for when your crypto is subject to a wealth tax.
Calculating Wealth Tax: The wealth tax is levied on the income from your taxable basis for savings and investments (grondslag sparen en beleggen). Your taxable basis is the value at 00:00:00 on January 1st of your assets minus your debt and your tax-free capital of €50,000. The Netherlands does not tax your actual return and instead uses a fictitious return based on your taxable basis.
In 2021 there are three wealth tax brackets.
The tax authority determines the amount of wealth tax you pay based on your taxable basis for savings and investments as well as the proportion allocated to savings compared to investments. Depending on your taxable basis the assumed percentage of your taxable basis allocated to savings compared to investments changes. As your taxable basis increases it is assumed that a larger proportion of your capital is in investments compared to savings. Savings are taxed at 0.03% and investments are taxed at 5.69%.
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In bracket one the tax authority applies a 0.03% fictitious return on 67% of your capital and a 5.69% fictitious return on 33% percent of your capital, for an effective fictitious return of 1.898%.
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In bracket two the tax authority applies a 0.03% fictitious return on 21% of your capital and a 5.69% fictitious return on 79% percent of your capital, for an effective fictitious return of 4.501%.
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In bracket three the tax authority applies a 0.03% fictitious return on 0% of your capital and a 5.69% fictitious return on 100% percent of your capital, for an effective fictitious return of 5.69%.
On the sum of these fictitious returns you pay a tax rate of 31%.
Be aware that it is the value of your capital on 1 January at 00:00:00 that matters. If you own crypto with a value of €1,000,000 on January 1st, but when you are filing your taxes in March your crypto is only worth €5,000 you have to pay taxes on the fictitious return over the €1,000,000 not the €5,000. In this case you would pay a tax of over €14,000. Therefore it is possible to be obligated to pay more tax on your crypto than your crypto is worth.
Wealth Tax Example: Say you own €140000 in assets on 1 January t with 0 debt. Then your taxable basis is €140,000-€50,000 of tax-free capital. This means you pay taxes on the fictitious return applied to the taxable basis of €90,000. For the first €50,000 you apply the fictitious return as indicated in bracket 1. For the remaining €40,000 you apply the fictitious return as indicated in bracket 2.
Over this total taxable amount a tax rate of 31% is applied meaning your total wealth tax is €852.
For further examples see here.
Submitting Your Wealth Tax: You can report your wealth tax in Box 3 on MijnBelastingdienst. You can read more about how to submit taxes at the end of the guide.
Income Tax (Inkomstenbelasting)
If you have earned crypto for some form of work or effort then you need to pay typical income taxes, just as you would have if you were paid in your local currency. If you mine crypto In some cases you may also have to pay income tax on your returns. Income tax is a part of Box 1:Taxable Income from Work and Home, on your tax declaration. If you receive part of your income in crypto then you are required to report this in euros.
Calculating Income Tax: Simply sum up the income from the different transaction types that contribute to your income. This pertains to the value of the cryptocurrency in euros at the time you receive it.
The tax rate that applies depends on whether you have reached pension age. To see which tax bracket you belong to click here.
Submitting Your Income Tax: You can report your income tax in Box 1 on MijnBelastingdienst. You can read more about how to submit taxes at the end of this guide.
Gift Tax
Receiving a gift in the Netherlands is tax free until a worth of €3244 or €6604 if you are receiving a gift from your parents. Past this point you have to pay gift tax. If you receive a gift in crypto you have to pay taxes on it.
Calculating Gift Tax: Notice that the value of the gift is the amount in excess of the tax free amount of €3244. The recipient of the gift has to pay taxes in accordance with the table below.
Submitting Your Gift Tax: You can file your taxes for gift tax online. You can do this on MijnBelastingdienst and then click schenkbelasting.
Detailed information on different transaction types
Certain transactions trigger the three types of taxation listed above. Below is a master list for your reference, we will go through each in detail in this guide. Each transaction has an associated tax classification and the corresponding label in Divly for those using our service to automate their tax reporting.
The Tax Classification refers to how your crypto is taxed. In most instances ownership of crypto is taxed under Box 3: Savings & Investments over which you pay a wealth tax. Although the transactions listed under Wealth Tax are not themselves taxable we list them under Wealth Tax as the assets that are acquired through these transactions are still subject to the tax. In some instances you may instead pay income tax under Box 1: Taxable Income from Work and Home. An asterisk is placed next to transactions whose classification may differ based on certain criteria mentioned further along in this guide.
| Transaction Type | Tax Classification | Divly Label |
|---|---|---|
| Buy crypto | Wealth Tax | Buy |
| Buy crypto with fiat | Wealth Tax | Buy |
| Sell crypto | Wealth Tax | Sell |
| Sell crypto with fiat | Wealth Tax | Sell |
| Trade crypto for crypto | Wealth Tax* | Traded crypto |
| Initial Coin Offering (ICO) | Wealth Tax | Traded crypto |
| Purchase goods & services with crypto | Wealth Tax | Goods/Services |
| Pay trading fee with crypto | Wealth Tax | - |
| Pay transfer fee with crypto | Wealth Tax | - |
| Transfer crypto between your own wallets | None | Transfer |
| Lost or stolen crypto | Wealth Tax | Lost/Stolen |
| Give crypto as a gift | None | Gifted Away |
| Receive crypto as a gift | Gift Tax* | Received Gift |
| Donate crypto | None* | Donation |
| Airdrop | Wealth Tax | Airdrop |
| Hard Fork | Wealth Tax | Fork |
| Mining | Wealth Tax* | Mining |
| Lending | Wealth Tax | Loan Interest |
| Staking Rewards | Wealth Tax | Staking Reward |
| Reward | Income Tax | Reward |
| Income from other activities | Income Tax | Income |
| Margin Trading | Wealth Tax | Realized Profit/Loss |
| Futures / Derivatives Trading | Wealth Tax | Realized Profit/Loss |
*Whether you need to pay wealth tax, income tax or gift tax is dependent on certain criteria which are elaborated upon below.
Buy Crypto / Buy Crypto with Fiat
There are no taxes involved when buying crypto. However, you have to declare the amount of crypto you own for your wealth tax.
Sell Crypto / Sell Crypto for Fiat
Like with buying, there are no taxes involved when selling crypto. However, you have to declare the amount of crypto you own for your wealth tax.
Trade Crypto for Crypto
You pay no taxes on trading crypto. Normally the amount of crypto you own is taxed under Box 3: Savings & Investments, however if you qualify for a more than standard asset management (vermogensbeheer) you may instead have to pay taxes in Box 1: taxable Income from Work and Home. The exact moment you need to switch from declaring your crypto from Box 3 to Box 1 is not defined. However, there are a number of ways to be certain that you need to declare your crypto holdings under Box 1.
- Do you have specialized knowledge of trading such that the uncertainty regarding transactions disappears, then your profits fall under Box 1.
- Your cryptocurrency trading is a full-time activity.
Initial Coin Offering (ICO)
An ICO is when you invest your crypto (usually Ethereum) in a new project that in turn provides you a token that represents that project. In a taxation point of view, it functions the same as a crypto to crypto trade. Essentially, you send cryptocurrency in exchange for a token from a new project. You follow the same principle where you sell your crypto for the value of the ICO token in local currency. Following the tax rules for trading crypto you generally declare your ICO investment in Box 3: Savings & Investments.
Purchase Goods & Services with Crypto
This works the same as selling crypto for fiat, the selling price is what the same good or service costs in your local currency. However, you do not need to pay taxes on your crypto when using it to purchase goods or services.
Pay Trading Fees / Transfer Fees in Crypto
On some exchanges, typically when you trade crypto for crypto, the trading fee will be paid in crypto. However, you do not need to pay taxes on any trading fees paid for in crypto.
Transfer Crypto Between Your Own Wallets
Transferring crypto between your own wallets is not a taxable event (this includes sending crypto to your account on an exchange).
Lost or Stolen Crypto
If you own crypto on January 1st you have to declare it for your vermogensbelasting regardless of whether it was stolen by the time you are filing your tax declaration.
Give Crypto as a Gift / Receive Crypto as a Gift
Gifting or inheriting in The Netherlands is tax free up till €3244 . You are free to give away crypto without the gift being taxed up till this amount. Above €3244 a gift tax is applied. If you are receiving a gift from your parents then the tax free amount is instead €6604. This is explained in detail earlier in the guide.
Donate Crypto
You can write off donations entirely when done periodically. A one time gift can be written off if it reaches a threshold minimum amount (drempelbedrag) up till the maximum allowable amount. This means that an amount above the threshold minimum up till the maximum amount can be deducted.
The amount you can write off is dependent on your threshold income (drempelinkomen) which is the total of your income and deductions(aftrekposten) in Box 1, 2, and 3. If you are managing your taxes online your threshold minimum amount will be indicated. The threshold minimum amount is 1% of your threshold income. With a minimum of 60 euros. The maximum amount is 10% of your threshold income.
Airdrop & Hard Fork
Up till today there are no concrete rules laid out by the belastingdienst regarding airdrops and hard forks. However, following a call with the Belastingdienst we were informed that its best to declare your assets from an airdrop or hard fork under Box 3, for the wealth tax. Make sure to calculate their values on January 1st at 00:00:00 for your tax declaration.
Mining
If you are mining as a hobby you have to pay wealth tax (vermogensbelasting Box3) on the crypto that you mine.
It might at times be difficult to keep track of your costs for mining so be careful with this. Because the costs of mining can be quite high it is assumed that with mining for a hobby you do not make a consistent profit and this is not taxed. However, if your revenue exceeds your cost you need to declare this under Income from other work or profit from business. This is taxed under Box 1. The value of the cryptocurrency itself must be declared under Box 3.
Lending Your Crypto
Lending is classified as standard asset management and so your income from lending will be taxed under Box 3 together with the crypto you are lending.
Staking
If you stake crypto, you are lending your crypto to the protocol to verify transactions and hence get compensated with staking rewards. Like airdrops and hard forks there aren't currently any concrete regulations laid out for staking. However, following a call with the Belastingdienst we were informed that staking belongs to normal asset management and is taxed as wealth, therefore staking rewards belong to Box 3.
Rewards (e.g. referral)
Rewards are subject to Income Tax if you have performed some form of work to receive the benefits. If in any case you have received a reward from referring a friend, sharing a post, or any other required action, then you need to declare the reward as Income Tax from other work (overige werk).
Income From Other Activities (e.g. freelancing, salary)
If you have been paid in cryptocurrency for your work or a favor you completed, then that needs to be declared for Income Tax under Box 1. income tax has to be paid on the value of crypto you earned in euros at the moment you received it.
Margin trading, Futures, and Derivatives trading
Margin trading involves borrowing to take leveraged positions on crypto. Income you generate from margin trading/futures & derivatives may be taxed under Box 3 unless this qualifies for more than standard asset management.
How to submit your tax report to the Belastingdienst
Once all the tax calculations are done and the Belastingdienst’s tax portal is open, it is time to declare your taxes before the deadline in May. You can submit your taxes online or by mail. We will primarily focus on the online portal in this guide. However, should you want to report your taxes offline you can call the Belasting Telefoon (0800 - 0543) for free to ask for a P-form. If you are abroad you can call the Belasting Telefoon Buitenland.
Submitting your Income Tax
Once you or your accountant has calculated your crypto tax, the easiest way to file your taxes is online using Mijn Belastingdienst. The information you fill in here is automatically saved. Therefore you can come back to it anytime. To reach MijnBelastingdienst simply login on belastingdienst.nl.
- From your MijnBelastingdienst dashboard select Inkomstenbelasting
- Select the year for which you are doing your taxes. Say you are doing your taxes for 2021 you would select “Belastingjaar 2021”
- Select “Aangifte Inkomstenbelasting doen”
After filling out your personal information you will be asked what form of income you’ve had during the year.
There are two potential areas to check off on this page regarding crypto. Each corresponds to whether you’ve earned crypto as part of your salary in crypto, or whether you’ve earned crypto from other work.
If you’ve received part of your salary in crypto you need to check the box Inkomsten uit loondienst.
If you’ve mined crypto and made a profit, or you’ve been paid in crypto for freelancing work you need to check Inkomsten uit overig werk. For more examples of when you’d have to check Inkomsten uit overig werk click here.
Following this you will receive forms to fill in for each checkmarked section under Inkomsten. They will ask you to write a description for each form of income and the amount received.
Submitting your Wealth Tax
Most importantly for crypto ownership is that you check mark “Overige Bezittingen” under “Bankrekeningen en andere Bezittingen”. This section applies to other assets under Box 3. This includes cryptocurrencies.
In this section once you’ve reached “Andere Bezittingen” you must declare the value of your crypto assets on January 1st.
Submitting your Gift Tax
You can file your taxes for gift tax online. You can do this on MijnBelastingdienst and then click schenkbelasting. After filling out your information you will be asked about who is sending you the gift. You are asked whether the gift comes from an institution, select “nee” if this is not the case. You are then asked to provide the gifter’s first letter of their first name as well as their last name under achternaam. You will then have to use a dropdown menu to indicate the relationship you have with the person whom you’ve received the gift from.
Afterwards you are asked what kind of gift you received. As well as for the amount. You can select “Aandelen en andere effecten”. Then fill in the date and value of your gift. If your gift is non revocable you can select “nee” on the following question. Finally you are asked whether you have received another gift this year from the same individual.
Automate your crypto taxes with Divly
An easy way to save time is by using automation services like Divly. Divly does all the calculations for you so you can spend more time on other things in life.
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