Cryptocurrency in Ireland: 33% on gains and a December deadline
In short. Ireland charges a flat 33% on your gain and exempts the first €1,270 each year. There is no reduced rate for holding longer, so a coin sold after five years meets the same rate as one sold after five days. The calendar catches people out: the tax falls due in December, ten months before the return that reports it.
- GAINS
- 33%flat, whatever you earn otherwise
- EXEMPT EACH YEAR
- €1,270per person, losses deducted first
- HOLDING PERIOD
- No effectfive years and five days meet the same rate
- PAY BY
- 15 Decemberfor disposals in January-November
- FILE BY
- 31 Octoberof the following year, on form CG1
- MINING AND STAKING
- Income taxplus USC and PRSI, not the 33% rate
Thirty-three percent, and a €1,270 shelter
A gain on crypto meets capital gains tax at 33%. The rate does not move with your income, so a nurse and a fund manager hand over the same third of the same profit.
Every person gets €1,270 of gains free each year. It is per person, not per asset, and it comes off after you net your losses against your gains. A couple assessed jointly cannot pool it: one spouse cannot use what the other leaves unspent.
Losses carry forward without limit. Sell at a €5,000 loss this year and the figure sits on your file until a gain comes along to absorb it.
Pay first, file later
Almost every other tax authority wants the paperwork before the money. Ireland reverses it.
Ireland splits the year in two. Dispose of something between 1 January and 30 November and the tax is due on 15 December of that same year. Dispose of it in December and you have until 31 January.
The return that reports those disposals is not due until 31 October of the following year. So you calculate the gain, pay it, and only ten months later file the paperwork that explains what you paid. Miss the December date and interest starts running, even though nothing has been filed late.
Swaps and spending count
Three events trigger the charge: selling for euro, exchanging one crypto for another, and paying for something.
The middle one does most of the damage. Move from bitcoin into a stablecoin during a drop and you have made a disposal at that moment, valued in euro, whether or not any euro reached your account.
Mining, staking and salary are a different tax
Capital gains tax applies to disposals. Anything that arrives as income does not go there.
Mining rewards, staking yield and wages paid in crypto are income, charged at your marginal rate with the universal social charge and PRSI on top. That combination reaches 52% for higher earners, well above the 33% a trader pays on a gain. The coin takes its market value on the day it arrived as its base cost. Any rise after that meets the 33% as a gain.
Twelve licences and a short runway
The Central Bank supervises providers under MiCA. Firms registered under the earlier anti-money-laundering regime had twelve months to convert, and the window closed on 30 December 2025. Malta, Denmark and Luxembourg allowed eighteen.
Twelve providers now hold Irish authorisation, and that licence works across all twenty-seven member states without a second application. Since April 2026 applications go through the Central Bank's online portal rather than by correspondence.
Allowed
- Hold and sell crypto, paying 33% on the gain above €1,270 a year
- Carry a capital loss forward with no time limit
- Use any provider authorised under MiCA anywhere in the EU
- Receive crypto as income, taxed as income rather than as a gain
Restricted
- Reducing the rate by holding longer: the period makes no difference
- Pooling the €1,270 exemption between spouses
- Treating a coin-for-coin swap as untaxed, since it is a disposal
- Serving Irish clients without Central Bank authorisation, as of 30 December 2025
How the rules took shape
The Central Bank warns consumers that crypto sits outside investor-protection rules.
Providers must register with the Central Bank under the anti-money-laundering regime.
The EU crypto rules take effect, with the Central Bank as supervisor.
Ireland closes its transition after twelve months, six ahead of most of the EU.
Licence applications move to the Central Bank's online portal.
Worth knowing
The €1,270 exemption is the old IR£1,000 converted at the euro changeover and left alone since. No government has raised it since, so inflation has done the rest.
Common questions
What rate do I pay on a gain?
A flat 33%, with the first €1,270 of your annual gains exempt.
Does holding longer reduce the tax?
No. Ireland gives no relief for a longer holding period.
When is the tax due?
15 December for disposals from January to November, 31 January for December ones. The return follows on 31 October of the next year.
Is swapping one coin for another taxable?
Yes. It is a disposal, valued in euro on the day of the trade.
How is mined or staked crypto taxed?
As income at your marginal rate, with USC and PRSI, which can reach 52%.
Sources
Other countries
Updated 08.10.2026 · this is reference material, not investment or tax advice