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What are private sales transactions?

Private sales transactions are classified as other income and are regulated by Section 23 of the Income Tax Act (EStG). They involve the sale of certain assets from private property, where a taxable profit may arise under certain conditions.

What counts as private sales transactions?

1. Sale of non-owner-occupied property

If you sell a property that was not owner-occupied (e.g. rented out) within ten years of purchase, the profit is taxable (Section 23 (1) No. 1 EStG).

Exception: Tax exemption applies if the property was owner-occupied in the year of sale and the previous year, or continuously owner-occupied for two years.

2. Sale of other private assets

The sale of the following assets is also taxable if it occurs within one year of purchase:

  • Gold bars or gold coins
  • Foreign currencies
  • Rented transport (e.g. boats, motorhomes)

Note: If the asset generates income (e.g. rental), the speculation period is extended to ten years.

What does not count as private sales transactions?
  • Capital assets (e.g. shares, funds): Taxed via withholding tax
  • Other types of income (e.g. commercial or business sales)
Cryptocurrencies as private sales transactions
Taxation of cryptocurrencies
  • Sale within one year: Taxable if the profit exceeds 1.000 Euro (Section 23 (1) No. 2 EStG)
  • Sale after more than one year: tax-free – also when used for lending or staking
Special regulations according to BMF (10.05.2022, updated 06.03.2025)
  • Commercial trading or mining: May lead to classification as business assets
  • Block creation (mining/forging): Considered a commercial activity, taxable from 256 Euro per year
BFH case law

The Federal Fiscal Court confirmed in its ruling of 14.02.2023 (Ref. IX R 3/22): Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum or Monero are assets. Capital gains within one year are subject to taxation under Section 23 EStG.

New cooperation obligations (BMF letter dated 06.03.2025)

The Federal Ministry of Finance, together with the federal states, has published new requirements for cooperation and record-keeping obligations for crypto assets:

  • Obligation to document purchase and sale data
  • Submission of tax reports with the tax return
  • Regulations on claiming and the use of second-accurate rates or daily rates

The aim is transparent and legally secure assessment of income from digital assets.

What are private sales transactions?


How is the speculation period calculated?

Profits and losses from private sales transactions are only taxable if the speculation period has not yet expired between the purchase and sale of the goods. Once the speculation period has expired, profits are no longer taxable, regardless of the amount. Losses are also not relevant for tax purposes.

The date of acquisition is the date on which the purchase contract came into effect (this is usually the date the notarial purchase contract was signed), not the date of delivery (transfer of ownership, benefits, and burdens). The same applies to the date of sale of the goods to a third party.

How is the speculation period calculated?

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Field help

Did you sell land, flats, houses or similar land rights in 2025?

Select "yes" if you sold land, a house, or a flat in 2025 and the period between purchase and sale was no more than ten years.

When does the ten-year period begin and end?

The decisive factor is the date of the purchase contract or sales contract (usually the notarial contract). Dates such as moving in, transfer of ownership, or entry in the land register are not relevant.

What counts as a sale?
  • the normal sale of land, a house, or a flat,
  • the later sale of land previously contributed to a business, if this sale occurs within ten years of the original purchase,
  • the covert contribution of land to a corporation (e.g. GmbH).
Buildings and modifications

The sale also includes:

  • buildings and outdoor facilities,
  • extensions or conversions,
  • independent building parts,
  • flats and part-ownership,
  • if these were constructed or extended within ten years.
When is the sale tax-free?

The sale is usually tax-free if the property:

  • was continuously occupied by the owner, or
  • was used exclusively for own residential purposes in the year of sale and the two previous years.

This also applies to the associated land.

Partial tax liability

If a property was only partially used by the owner and the other part was rented out, only the rented part is taxable (e.g. rented rooms or a granny flat).

A home office within an otherwise owner-occupied flat is still considered own residential use. The profit attributable to it is therefore not taxable (BFH ruling of 01.03.2021, IX R 27/19).

Depreciation (AfA)

If you previously claimed depreciation for the property (e.g. for rental), this reduces the purchase or production value for tax purposes. This can increase the taxable profit.

Have you earned income from the sale of virtual currencies and/or other tokens?

Select "yes" if you have sold or exchanged virtual currencies or other tokens (e.g. into euros or another cryptocurrency) and less than one year has passed between acquisition and sale.

The main virtual currencies include:

  • Bitcoin (BTC)
  • Ethereum (ETH)
  • Binance Coin (BNB)
  • Cardano (ADA)
  • Solana (SOL)
  • Ripple (XRP)
  • Polkadot (DOT)
  • Dogecoin (DOGE)
  • Litecoin (LTC)
  • Chainlink (LINK)
  • Stellar (XLM)
  • Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
  • Tezos (XTZ)
  • EOS (EOS)
  • Monero (XMR)
What counts as a disposal?

Disposal is not only the exchange into euros, but also:

  • the exchange of one cryptocurrency for another,
  • the use of cryptocurrencies to pay for goods or services.
When are profits taxable?

Tax liability exists if the sale occurs within 1 year and the profit exceeds 1.000 Euro. After more than 1 year, the sale is tax-free – even with prior lending or staking.

The Federal Ministry of Finance has published a letter that comprehensively regulates the tax treatment of virtual currencies and other tokens (BMF letter dated 06.03.2025).

Have you sold any other assets (e.g. gold, antiques, paintings, etc.)?

Select "yes" if you have sold other assets and no more than one year has passed between the purchase and sale.

Other assets include, among others:

  • Gold and silver bars
  • Gold and silver coins
  • Antiques
  • Paintings and other artworks
  • Classic cars
When are such sales taxable?

The sale of assets from private property is only taxable if the period between purchase and sale is no more than one year.

If this one-year period has passed, profits are tax-free. Such sales do not need to be declared in the tax return, regardless of the amount of profit.

Exception: Items for daily use

Items for daily use (e.g. furniture, clothing, or household items) are not taxable even within the one-year period.

Losses from the sale of such items cannot be claimed for tax purposes. The reason is that there is generally no intention to make a profit.

Did you sell company shares in 2025?

Select "yes" if you have sold shares in a partnership or company whose income is subject to separate and uniform assessment.

What does this mean?

This refers to investments in companies where the income is not directly attributed to you but is first assessed separately and then distributed to the participants. The sale of such shares can lead to taxable profits or losses.

Examples:

  • Sale of shares in a GmbH & Co. KG: Profits or losses must be declared in the tax return.
  • Sale of shares in a GbR: Profits or losses must also be declared here.

Note: The sale of shares and other securities also counts as disposals, but is not recorded here. Profits or losses from share sales must always be declared under income from capital assets (e.g. in the KAP form).

I request for Partner A to waive a loss carryback according to sect. 10d of the Income Tax Act (EStG) into the year 2024.

You can request that a loss carryback from 2025 to 2024 is not applied automatically.

If you incur a loss from a private sale transaction, you can offset this loss against profits from other sale transactions in full. However, losses cannot be offset against positive income from other types of income in the same year.

However, loss carryback is an option:

(1) If you have incurred a loss from sale transactions, the tax office will automatically carry back this loss in full to the previous year. However, this only applies if speculative gains were also made in the previous year. If this is not the case, the tax office will issue a loss assessment notice.

(2) If you do not wish the automatic loss carryback to be applied, you can reject the loss carryback. Limitation as in previous years is no longer possible from 2022 onwards.