Crypto Tax by Country: What You Owe Around the World

When you buy, sell, or trade cryptocurrency, the crypto tax by country, the legal requirement to report and pay taxes on cryptocurrency gains based on your country of residence. Also known as cryptocurrency taxation, it’s not a global rule—it’s a local one. In the U.S., the IRS treats crypto like property. In Germany, you pay zero tax if you hold for over a year. In Portugal, crypto gains are tax-free for individuals. But in Singapore, you might owe nothing on personal trades—unless you’re trading as a business. The same wallet, the same transaction, two completely different outcomes depending on where you live.

This isn’t just about filing forms. It’s about avoiding penalties, audits, or worse. Countries like Egypt, a nation that banned all crypto activity without Central Bank approval under Law 194 of 2020 don’t even let you trade legally—so there’s no official tax system, but no protection either. Meanwhile, Hong Kong, a financial hub that introduced the Virtual Assets Ordinance 2025 to bring crypto exchanges under strict licensing rules now requires exchanges to report user transactions to authorities. Even if you’re not a trader, holding crypto in these places changes your risk profile. Then there’s Cuba, where the government doesn’t ban crypto but licenses services because citizens rely on it to bypass U.S. banking sanctions. No official tax yet—but that could change fast.

What you’ll find below are real, up-to-date breakdowns of how different countries treat crypto. Some posts dig into specific laws like Egypt’s ban or Hong Kong’s new rules. Others expose shady airdrops that could trigger unexpected tax events—or scams that make you owe taxes on money you never got. You’ll see how blockchain forensics tools like Chainalysis help governments track you, and how DeFi liquidity pools can create taxable events you didn’t even notice. There’s no fluff. No theory. Just what you need to know before you click ‘send’ on that next transaction.