Spain’s ruling coalition floats 47% crypto tax, critics call it a direct blow to Bitcoin
Spain’s left-wing Sumar alliance has put forward a series of amendments that could significantly reshape how cryptocurrencies are taxed and regulated in the country. According to Spanish media reports, the proposal would modify three key pieces of legislation — the General Tax Law, the Income Tax Law, and the Inheritance and Gift Tax Law — introducing some of the most aggressive crypto tax measures in Europe.
Under the suggested reforms, profits from digital assets would no longer be treated like gains from traditional savings. Instead, they would fall under Spain’s general income tax system, pushing the maximum tax rate on crypto earnings to 47%, up from the current top rate of 30%. Companies holding crypto would face a flat 30% tax on their gains.
Sumar, which holds 26 seats in the 350-member Congress and serves as the junior partner in the country’s governing coalition, argues that stricter rules are needed. As part of the plan, Spain’s financial watchdog — the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) — would be required to introduce a “traffic light” risk indicator for cryptocurrencies that platforms must display to investors.
Another highly controversial element of the proposal is the suggestion that all digital assets should be categorized as attachable property, meaning they could be legally seized. Lawyer Cris Carrascosa described this idea as unrealistic, pointing out that certain tokens — such as Tether’s USDT — cannot be held by licensed custodians under Europe’s MiCA regulations, making enforcement almost impossible.
Backlash: “an attack on Bitcoin”
Not everyone is convinced. Economist and tax expert José Antonio Bravo Mateu criticized the amendments on X (formerly Twitter), calling them “pointless attacks on Bitcoin.” He argued that lawmakers appear to misunderstand how decentralized currencies function. Bitcoin stored in self-custody, he noted, cannot be seized or controlled like assets held in the traditional banking system.
According to Bravo, policies like these will simply push Spanish crypto users to leave the country whenever BTC surges high enough that relocation becomes financially trivial.
Interestingly, some tax officials in Spain have recently advocated for the opposite approach. Inspectors Juan Faus and José María Gentil proposed creating a more favorable tax framework dedicated specifically to Bitcoin. Their concept would allow investors to categorize wallets separately and choose between FIFO or weighted-average cost methods, with value adjustments when transferring assets to avoid manipulation.
Spain’s tax authorities have already been taking a tougher stance on crypto oversight. In 2023, they sent 328,000 tax warning letters to crypto holders for the 2022 tax year — a number that jumped to 620,000 the following year.
Meanwhile in Japan: a push to lower taxes
As Spain weighs steeper taxation, Japan appears to be moving in the opposite direction. The country’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) has proposed a sweeping change that would cut crypto taxes dramatically. Instead of treating digital asset earnings as “miscellaneous income” — a category that can lead to taxation of up to 55% — Japan aims to introduce a flat 20% capital gains tax, aligning crypto with stock investments and making the Japanese market more competitive for traders and companies.
