Crypto Reporting Obligation Act: What Investors Need to Know

Since 2024, Austrian taxpayers must report profits from cryptocurrencies abroad to the tax authorities. According to PwC Austria, many investors do not comply with this obligation. As international data exchange increases the risk of discovery, delinquent investors should quickly correct their untaxed crypto income through a voluntary disclosure. Voluntary disclosures are only exempt from penalties as long as the authorities have not yet taken action.

EU and OECD Directive Implemented with Crypto Reporting Obligation Law

As part of the anti-fraud measures package, the government also published its legislative proposal for the "Crypto Reporting Obligation Law" on Thursday. It implements the requirements of the OECD and the EU, according to which crypto platforms must report the name, address, and tax identification number as well as the crypto transactions carried out to the tax authorities across countries from January 1, 2026. The transmission of information will take place for the first time at the beginning of 2027. The framework has been established by the OECD in the so-called Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF), and the EU Administrative Assistance Directive (DAC 8) obliges all EU countries to apply it. According to PwC, more than 40 third countries have now pledged their participation, so the impact goes far beyond the EU countries.

For Finance Minister Markus Marterbauer (SPÖ), the associated enforcement of taxation of crypto income abroad is "a question of justice." "I cannot explain to savers that they pay taxes on their earnings and someone who makes profits with cryptocurrencies at foreign crypto exchanges possibly does not," he comments on the law. "All European countries have this challenge, and we will work very well together here because it is about the danger of tax evasion that we want to end."

(APA/Red)

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