Crypto Tax in Italy

Italy has changed its crypto rules more often than almost any EU country, and a big shift lands in 2026. This guide covers the current rate (and what it becomes), the threshold that's now gone, the wealth tax on your holdings, and the forms. CryptaTax then builds your Italian report from your transaction history.

This is general information, not tax advice. Italian crypto rules change frequently and depend on your circumstances. Confirm the current position with the Agenzia delle Entrate or a qualified tax advisor (*commercialista*).

Is crypto taxed in Italy?

Yes. Gains on crypto are taxed with a flat substitute tax (*imposta sostitutiva*), separate from progressive income tax. A taxable event generally arises when you cash out to fiat or spend crypto. (Swaps between crypto-assets with the same characteristics and functions are generally not taxable under Agenzia delle Entrate guidance, but this is nuanced, so check your specific case.)

Capital gains, the rate changed

The flat rate depends on when you realised the gain:

• Gains realised in 2025 (declared in 2026): 26%.
• Gains realised from 1 January 2026 (declared in 2027): 33%, with a narrower 26% carve-out for MiCAR-compliant euro-denominated stablecoins.

The original 2025 Budget proposal floated 42%; it was lowered to 33% after industry pushback.

Two more points:

• The €2,000 exemption threshold is gone from 2025, every euro of gain is taxable (it still applied for earlier years).
• Optional step-up: you can elect to pay a substitute tax (around 18%) on the value of your holdings to re-base your cost basis, useful before disposing at the higher 33% rate. *(Confirm the current step-up rate.)*

Crypto income and wealth tax

• Staking, mining, lending, and airdrops are taxed as crypto proceeds, at the flat rate (from 2026) or potentially ordinary income rates (up to ~43%), depending on classification. Check your case.
• Wealth tax on crypto: a 0.2% annual tax applies to the value of your crypto held (at 31 December, or date of sale), declared in Quadro RW.

Which forms do I file?

• Quadro RT, capital gains and losses from crypto. → Capital gains report
• Quadro RW, holdings (foreign-held or self-custody) and the 0.2% wealth tax.
• Quadro RL/RE, other crypto income, where applicable.

Filed via Modello Redditi PF (or Modello 730 if eligible).

Key dates

• Tax year: calendar year (1 January, 31 December).
• Payment: tax on the prior year's gains is paid by 30 June (with a second installment by 30 November).
• From 1 January 2026, EU exchanges report your data automatically under DAC8.

How CryptaTax helps with Italian crypto tax

• Imports your full history from exchanges and wallets
• Applies the correct rate by year (26% for 2025, 33% from 2026) and the removed threshold
• Calculates the 0.2% wealth tax for Quadro RW
• Produces Quadro RT-ready capital gains figures
• Helps model the 18% step-up option

Common mistakes to avoid in Italy

Italy has rewritten its crypto rules repeatedly, which is the root of most mistakes: people apply the framework they remember from a previous year rather than the one that actually governs the gain in front of them. The Agenzia delle Entrate taxes crypto gains under a flat substitute tax, layers a small annual wealth charge on holdings, and has changed both the rate and the old exemption threshold, so the year a gain was realised matters enormously.

• Using last year's rate. The substitute-tax rate has moved, so a gain realised in one year and one realised in another can be taxed differently. Always match the rate to the year of realisation, see the summary table on this page.
• Still assuming a small-gains exemption. The old threshold that once let modest gains escape tax was removed, so treating a small result as automatically tax-free is now a mistake.
• Ignoring the annual wealth charge on holdings. Beyond gains, Italy applies a recurring charge on the value of crypto held, declared with your holdings. People who had no disposals still sometimes owe this.
• Forgetting the holdings declaration for self-custody and foreign accounts. Crypto held abroad or in your own wallets generally has to be declared, separately from any gain.
• Misjudging the step-up election. The optional re-basing of cost basis can help before disposing at a higher rate, but it's a deliberate choice with its own cost, not something that happens automatically, and not always worthwhile.

The single most valuable habit in Italy is pinning every gain to the correct year and the rate that applied then. Because the rules are a moving target, confirm the current figures with the Agenzia delle Entrate or a *commercialista* rather than relying on what was true a year or two ago.

Record-keeping for Italian filers

Italian record-keeping has to serve two jobs at once: calculating gains for the capital-gains section, and valuing your holdings for the recurring wealth charge and the holdings declaration. That means you need both a transaction-by-transaction history and reliable year-end valuations, and you need them to be consistent with each other. With rules that shift by year, dated records are what let you apply the right treatment to the right period.

• Every acquisition, date, asset, quantity, euro value and fees, forming the cost basis for each later disposal.
• Every disposal, with the euro value on the day and the year clearly recorded, since the applicable rate depends on it.
• Year-end holding values for the wealth charge and the holdings declaration.
• Staking, lending, mining and airdrop receipts, valued in euros when received and tagged by type.
• Self-custody and foreign-account details, ready for the holdings declaration.
• Any step-up election you make, with the re-based values, so future disposals start from the right figure.

Keep this for the period the Agenzia delle Entrate can review, and don't rely on exchanges to retain it for you. From the point at which EU platforms report user data automatically, the authorities increasingly have their own view of your activity, so your records need to reconcile with theirs. CryptaTax keeps the dated history and the year-end valuations together, which is exactly what Italy's split between gains and wealth requires.

Year-end and planning considerations

Planning in Italy is unusually time-sensitive because the rate itself has changed between years, so *when* you realise a gain can matter as much as whether you realise it. Reviewing your position before year-end lets you see your realised result, weigh a disposal this year against next, and consider whether the optional cost-basis step-up makes sense before selling into a higher rate. The exact rates, the step-up mechanics and the wealth charge for your year are in the summary table on this page, treat them as the source of truth and confirm them, because this is the area Italy changes most often.

Losses are part of the calculation too: realising positions worth less than their cost can offset gains within the Italian rules, and our tax-loss harvesting guide explains the general idea, while our cost-basis guide shows why the basis you start from drives the size of each gain, which is precisely what the step-up election changes. Whatever route you take, model the numbers first and keep the working, so the choice can be justified later.

DeFi, NFTs and newer activity

Newer crypto activity sits awkwardly across Italy's evolving framework, because the same reward can be argued as flat-rate crypto proceeds or as ordinary income depending on classification, and the Agenzia delle Entrate's guidance is still maturing. The practical answer is to record everything precisely so the treatment can be applied, and revisited, without losing the underlying data.

• DeFi, lending, liquidity provision and yield can generate receipts and disposals whose classification isn't always obvious. Our DeFi tax guide sets out the common cases.
• Staking and mining, rewards are received value that needs a euro figure at receipt, and may be treated as crypto proceeds or ordinary income depending on the facts. See the staking guide.
• NFTs, trading NFTs falls within the crypto-asset rules, though their valuation and classification can be less clear than fungible tokens. Our NFT tax guide covers the detail.
• Airdrops and forks, tokens received this way can be a receipt event and establish the cost basis for any later disposal.

Because the classification can swing the outcome, the worst position is one where you no longer have the raw data to support either reading. Importing the full on-chain history and valuing each event as it happened keeps your options, and your defence, intact.

What if you've never reported your crypto

Given how many times Italy's rules have changed, plenty of holders have simply lost track of what, if anything, they were meant to file. The way back is to rebuild a complete, dated history across every exchange and wallet, then apply the rate and rules that governed each past year, not today's. That reconstruction often reveals that some years had little or no gain, while others, or the recurring wealth charge on holdings, did create an obligation.

Italy offers routes to amend or regularise prior years, and acting before the Agenzia delle Entrate contacts you is generally viewed more favourably, particularly now that EU platforms report account data automatically, narrowing the gap between what you've filed and what the authorities can see. The real constraint is data availability, so assemble your history while old exports and accounts still exist. Confirm the specific penalties, interest and amendment windows for your situation with a *commercialista* or the Agenzia delle Entrate.

How CryptaTax automates your Italian crypto taxes

Italy's difficulty is the moving target: rates that differ by year, a removed threshold, a recurring wealth charge, a holdings declaration and an optional step-up. CryptaTax keeps the dated history and valuations that let all of these be applied to the correct period, so you're not trying to remember which rules were in force when.

• Connects your exchanges and wallets and rebuilds one dated, continuous history.
• Applies the substitute-tax treatment to gains and ties each gain to the year it was realised.
• Calculates the recurring wealth charge from your year-end holding values.
• Separates crypto income from capital gains so each reaches the right part of the return.
• Helps you model the optional cost-basis step-up before you commit to it.
• Produces capital-gains and holdings figures aligned with how Italian crypto is reported.

More Italian crypto tax questions

Why does the year I sold in change my tax?

Because Italy's flat substitute-tax rate on crypto gains has changed between years, the same euro gain can be taxed at different rates depending on when it was realised. That makes the date of disposal a key fact, not a detail, always match the gain to the rate that applied in its year, which you'll find in the summary table on this page.

Do I owe anything if I just held and never sold?

Possibly yes, Italy applies a recurring charge on the value of crypto you hold, and self-custody or foreign-held assets generally have to be declared, even in a year with no disposals. So a pure buy-and-hold year isn't automatically a nothing-to-file year. Check the holdings rules and the wealth-charge figure for your year before assuming you're clear.

Is the cost-basis step-up always worth taking?

No. Re-basing your cost basis by paying a substitute tax on current value can reduce tax when you later sell into a higher rate, but it has an upfront cost and only pays off in some scenarios. It's a calculation, not a default, model the numbers for your own holdings, and confirm the current step-up terms before electing it.

How does automatic exchange reporting affect me?

As EU platforms begin reporting user data automatically, the Agenzia delle Entrate increasingly has an independent view of your trades, which makes a complete and reconciled record more important than ever. It's less about new obligations and more about your filing matching what the authorities already see, which is exactly what a full imported history gives you.