The European Commission is considering the possibility of creating a common tax on cryptoassets across the European Union (EU).
This is clear from internal documents leaked and revealed by Politico on May 29, 2026. This document was known. Ahead of upcoming discussions on long-term regional budgets.
For the first time in the text, specific details are given. How the City of Brussels evaluates taxation in this sector as a new source of funding for the European budget. Among the options analyzed are a tax on crypto-asset transactions, which is not currently implemented in any European Union country, and a separate tax on capital gains made by investors.
According to the document, the alternative that would generate the most revenue would be a tax on operations performed with cryptocurrencies.
The European Commission has stated that “in the case of taxes on crypto-asset transactions, estimates for 2025 (…) will result in an annual income of approximately €3 billion to €4 billion for the EU budget.”
The proposal assumes a percentage of value for each operation of 0.1% and considers crypto asset service providers (CASPs) as potential points of collection and reporting.
In the case of capital gains tax, collection is less likely. The committee believes that: This alternative could generate between €1 billion and €2.4 billion annually for member states.depends on market conditions.
Stablecoins will be excluded
One of the most impressive aspects of this document is that stablecoins used as payment instruments will be exempted from transaction taxes.
The document states that due to the nature of stablecoins and their price stability, capital gains tax generally does not apply to stablecoins as well.
Despite revenue projections; The European Commission devotes much of its document to explaining the obstacles faced by this type of initiative.
One of them is the lack of reliable data. “It remains impossible to reliably quantify virtual currency markets across different EU member states,” the text acknowledges.
The European Commission also recognizes that “the potential returns of both options are likely to be volatile,” but warns Responds to strong fluctuations in both price and trading volume.
Another important challenge is the behavior of the users themselves. “Earnings potential will be affected by the risk of activities moving to non-EU jurisdictions,” the European Commission warns.
The document adds that economically equivalent operations can be performed outside of centralized exchanges and directly in decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols. These are currently excluded from some of the reporting mechanisms being considered by MiCA and DAC8.described by CriptoNoticias.
Similarly, the European Commission has recognized that “users may be encouraged to hold their crypto assets independently in self-custodial digital wallets that are more difficult to trace.”
It will be difficult for taxes to prosper
Chris Carrascosa, a lawyer specializing in financial regulation and digital assets, believes: This document is relevant because it provides the first concrete evidence of how Brussels assesses taxation of this sector.
“This is the first time that concrete details have emerged about how the EU thinks about taxing crypto assets,” he said.
But he remembered that There is still no formal legislative proposal, and the initiative faces significant political, technical, and regulatory challenges.
In it he emphasized the need for unanimity among all member states, the creation of a harmonized tax base throughout the European Union, and The possibility that some of the activity will eventually move to DeFi or self-custody systems.
A similar vision was expressed by Patrick Hansen, director of strategic policy at Circle, a stablecoin company for the European Union. “Given the substantial political, legal and operational challenges outlined in this document, we hope that virtual currency taxation at EU level will not become a short-term policy priority,” he said.
Mr Hansen also questioned estimates of collections made by the city of Brussels, citing behavioral changes that new taxes could cause.
“A transaction-based crypto tax is likely to accelerate the transition to tax-free channels (e.g. DeFi, self-custody, non-EU parties),” he argued.
According to the expert, relevant parts of the activity could be moved to alternatives that fall outside the scope of the European tax system, significantly reducing the revenue potential projected by the European Commission.
There are no formal proposals yet.
For now, this effort is in a very preliminary stage. The leaked documents do not constitute legislative proposals, and any progress would require overcoming significant political and legal obstacles.
Additionally, it has not been disclosed how the proceeds will be distributed. However, it could be a “own resource” of the European Union, so the purpose would be to fund the community’s budget. not yet defined Will member states act solely as collectors of European contributions, or will the new regime coexist with current national taxes on crypto assets?
These include the need to harmonize tax bases in advance across the European Union and obtain unanimous approval from member states, a requirement that has historically made it difficult to create new taxes at community level.
For this reason, although the document indicates that the City of Brussels is already analyzing concrete mechanisms for taxing crypto assets, It is not yet certain whether any of these alternatives will become law.
(Tag translation) Cryptocurrency
