Country guide
Germany for nomads: euro cards, Girocard and crypto tax
By DmytroLast checked
- Currency
- EUR
- Crypto tax
- Tax-free after 1 year; gains under EUR 1,000 a year exempt
- Tax residence test
- A dwelling, or a stay of more than six months
- Remote-work stay
- Self-employment or Freiberufler residence permit
Short answer
Pay in Germany with an international card and some euro cash, since some merchants take only Girocard. Crypto held privately for more than one year falls outside §23 EStG when you sell it, and shorter-held gains stay exempt only while the year’s total is below EUR 1,000. For a long stay, freelancers in liberal professions (Freiberufler) and other self-employed people each have their own residence-permit route.
Banks and cards
Euro payment accounts differ: some providers issue a German IBAN, others an IBAN from another EU country, and some are payment institutions rather than banks.
German banks ask for address, identity and tax details for the account you choose. Credit and overdraft checks apply to credit products; a basic payment account has its own eligibility rules.
If you work self-employed, check whether your personal account allows business payments.
Crypto rules
The one-year rule under §23 EStG covers qualifying private disposals; coins held as business assets are taxed under the business income rules instead.
The annual exemption limit (Freigrenze) covers total private-disposal gains only while they are below EUR 1,000. At EUR 1,000 or more, the whole gain is taxable: it is a limit, not a EUR 1,000 deduction.
Swapping tokens or paying with crypto counts as a disposal. Staking or lending rewards, mining and work paid in tokens are income when you receive them, and selling those tokens later is a separate disposal.
Tax and residency
A dwelling in Germany held under circumstances that show you will keep and use it creates a Wohnsitz (AO §8), and with it tax residence. Separately, a continuous stay of more than six months is a habitual abode (AO §9) from the first day, and short breaks do not interrupt it. The six-month rule does not apply to purely private stays, such as visits or holidays, of up to one year.
Dual residence with another country is settled by the tax treaty between the two.
Export full transaction histories before you change platforms or close accounts.
Checklist
- Choose the residence route for your work (self-employment or a liberal profession) and check any professional licence it requires.
- Complete your address registration after moving into a dwelling.
- Compare eligibility, fees and protection of a German bank account and an EU payment account; either can be your first account.
- Count your continuous months in Germany.
- Log the acquisition, proceeds, fees and dates of each crypto lot.
- Track the year’s private-disposal gains against the EUR 1,000 limit.
Sources
- Amtliches Einkommensteuer-Handbuch 2025, Anhang 4 — Federal Ministry of Finance
- § 23 EStG: Private Veräußerungsgeschäfte — Federal Ministry of Justice
- § 8 AO: Wohnsitz — Federal Ministry of Justice
- § 9 AO: Gewöhnlicher Aufenthalt — Federal Ministry of Justice
- Visa for self-employment — German Federal Government
Tax, visa and residence rules depend on your situation, so confirm them with the official authority. How we compare