Czech gov’t moves to exempt crypto held for 3+ years from being taxed

Petr Fiala, prime minister of the Czech Republic, has reported that the country is moving to pass legislation allowing residents to bypass taxes on selling their crypto after holding it for more than three years. 

In a Dec. 6 X post, Fiala said the measure, backed by Chamber of Deputies member Jiří Havránek, would “guarantee that if you hold cryptocurrencies for more than three years,” any sale would be exempt from capital gains tax. In addition, taxpayers would not be required to report transactions valued at less than 100,000 koruna — roughly $4,200 at the time of publication — per year. 

“This means that, for example, buying coffee with Bitcoin […] will no longer be a tax transaction,” said Fiala.

Czech lawmaker Jan Skopeček said the Chamber of Deputies had approved the time and value conditions for the law after a Dec. 6 reading.

In a press conference after the parliamentary session, a spokesperson said the tax amendments were intended to be implemented as part of Europe’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulatory framework.

“Today, we have taken an important step so that crypto business in the Czech Republic can function and continue to develop,” said the spokesperson in a translated statement.

Related: South Korea’s Democratic Party agrees to delay crypto tax by 2 years

In many countries, trading or selling one’s crypto requires the user to report the transactions to the local tax authorities, often incurring a capital gains tax. In the United States, depending on the crypto user’s income, that tax could be between 15% to 20%. 

Italy’s government had been planning to increase its capital gains tax on crypto trading for more than 2,000 euros from 26% — in place since 2023 — to 42% as part of its budget. However, a November report suggested lawmakers were considering scaling back their plans and only pushing for a 28% tax.

Magazine: Best and worst countries for crypto taxes — plus crypto tax tips