Hauptvordruck ESt 1 A and Anlage SO
The German income tax return (ESt 1 A) is the official process for taxpayers in Germany to declare all their income and capital gains, including those from cryptocurrencies, to the Finanzamt (tax office).
If you have earned income (like staking or mining rewards) or made profits from selling or exchanging crypto in 2024, you are required to report these using the ESt 1 A form and its annex, Anlage SO.
âčïž Declaration deadline
The deadline for submitting your tax return for the 2024 tax year is 31 July 2025 (or later if you use a tax advisor). This covers all transactions and income earned between 1 January 2024 and 31 December 2024.
The Finbooks Precompiled Report
The report you receive from Finbooks is designed to make your tax return process straightforward. It provides you with pre-calculated figures and clear, step-by-step instructions on where to enter each value in the official German tax forms.
The report includes:
precompiled Anlage SO - Private VerĂ€uĂerungsgeschĂ€fte section (private disposals) for reporting gains and losses from the sale or exchange of cryptocurrencies (private sales transactions)
precompiled Anlage SO - Leistungen section (other income) for declaring crypto income such as staking, mining, lending, or airdrops
Youâll also find a complete list of your taxable transactions, which you can either submit with your tax declaration or keep for your records in case of a tax audit.
How to declare crypto gains/losses
Whenever you sell, exchange, use, or give away your cryptocurrencies, you trigger a private sale transaction (âprivates VerĂ€uĂerungsgeschĂ€ftâ) that needs to be reported in Anlage SO (page 2) of your tax return.
How to fill-out the Private VerĂ€uĂerungsgeschĂ€fte section
On page 2 of Anlage SO, youâll find the section âEinheiten virtueller WĂ€hrungen und / oder sonstige Tokenâ. In order to declare you crypto captial gain/loss you should cfill-out this section as follows:
line 41: enter a 1 in box 108 if you have realized income from the sale of cryptocurrencies (use box 109 if the income applies to your spouse)
line 42: enter âKryptowĂ€hrungenâ or âKryptowĂ€hrungen â siehe AnhĂ€ngeâ if you are attaching the transaction list provided by Finbooks to your tax return
line 43: enter the date of acquisition and sale. If you are declaring multiple transactions throughout the year, you can simply indicate the full period (e.g., 01.01.2024 to 31.12.2024)
line 44: report the sum of all sale values from transactions in which you sold cryptocurrencies during the year
line 45: indicate the total acquisition cost for all cryptocurrencies sold
line 46: specify any related advertising expenses (Werbungskosten), such as transaction fees
line 47: calculate your gain or loss by deducting the acquisition costs (line 45) and advertising expenses (line 46) from the total sale value (line 44)
line 54: transfer the amount from line 47 into box 114 (use box 115 for spouses)
Your Finbooks report will provide all the data you need to declare and a detailed breakdown of each transaction.
How to declare crypto income
Not all crypto earnings are capital gains. Some, such as rewards from staking, mining, lending, airdrops, or exchange bonuses, are considered âother incomeâ and must be declared in Anlage SO (page 1).
How to fill-out the Leistungen section
On page 1 of Anlage SO, youâll find the section âAngaben zu TĂ€tigkeiten im Zusammenhang mit Einheiten virtueller WĂ€hrungen und / oder sonstigen Tokenâ. This section is also new from the 2023 tax year.
line 10: mark field 162 with a 1 if you received any income from cryptocurrency activities
line 11: enter "Krypto-Einkommen insgesamt" or "Krypto-Einkommen insgesamt - siehe AnhÀnge" if you are attaching the transaction list provided by Finbooks to your tax return.
line 14: add together the amounts from lines 11, 12, and 13
line 16: calculate your net income by subtracting the expenses in line 15 from the total in line 14
Your Finbooks report will provide all the data you need to declare and a detailed breakdown of each transaction.