Box 3 Plan Hits Crypto Holders Harder Than Stock Investors
Crypto appears set to move to capital gains taxation later than stocks in Box 3, while the tax burden already rises in 2027 because of a lower tax-free allowance and a higher deemed return.
Key Takeaways
- The cabinet is sending the new Box 3 plan to the House of Representatives, with actual gains tax on stocks, bonds, and options starting in 2028.
- Crypto is for now left out of that fast transition and will likely follow only in 2030, while the tax burden will first rise in 2027.
- Crypto held directly still seems likely to be taxed annually on price gains in 2028 and 2029, while indirect holdings will fall under the new rules sooner.
The cabinet has sent its new Box 3 plan to the House of Representatives, and for crypto holders that works out less favorably for now than for stock investors. Stocks will fall under actual gains tax when sold starting in 2028, while crypto will likely not follow until 2030. In 2027, the tax on crypto will also go up first.
Crypto Is Still Behind
In the letter from Prime Minister Rob Jetten, Finance Minister Eelco Heinen, and State Secretary Eelco Eerenberg, the cabinet is choosing the fastest route to bring as much wealth as possible under capital gains taxation. That means the current bill will be adjusted so that from 2028 onward, stocks, bonds, and options will also fall under that gains tax.
For investors, that is a clear break from the current system, where paper gains can also be taxed every year. Under a capital gains tax, you only pay when you sell. Crypto is not mentioned in the letter as a financial instrument, which means crypto assets seem to fall into the residual category. For that, the cabinet says the switch to a full capital gains tax for the remaining assets will come in 2030.
That makes the difference between direct and indirect ownership important. Anyone who holds Bitcoin or another coin directly in a crypto wallet still seems likely to pay tax annually on the increase in value in 2028 and 2029. Anyone with exposure through a tracker or fund will fall under the new rules for financial instruments sooner.
Higher Tax First
Before that new system even kicks in, crypto will already be taxed more heavily in 2027 under the current Box 3 system. The tax-free allowance will then drop to 30,846 euros per person, almost half of the current limit of 59,357 euros. That means more savers and investors, including those with crypto in the mix, will hit the tax bill sooner.
On top of that, the cabinet is raising the deemed return for other assets, the category crypto falls under, by 1.5 percentage points. According to the letter, that pushes the tax burden on crypto holdings from about 2.2 percent to around 2.7 percent of value per year. Starting in 2028, there will also be a tax-free result of 1,000 euros for annual returns.
Why This Matters for Crypto
For Dutch crypto investors, the main point is that the gap between direct and indirect ownership is getting bigger. That could make the way people structure their exposure to Bitcoin and other coins more important than before. For some holders, it could also mean owing tax on gains that have not been sold yet, while the cash to pay that tax is not immediately available.
This is still a proposal, not final policy. The House of Representatives will debate it on Wednesday, and the Senate still has to approve it too. The cabinet calls the timeline ambitious and is asking the Council of State for an urgent opinion. Banks also will not be able to fill in all the data in advance in the first year, which means part of the tax return will have to be done manually.
