Greece to tax gains from crypto, sources say

ATHENS, June 5 - Greece is preparing legislation to impose a 15% capital gains tax on cryptocurrencies, two government officials with knowledge of the issue told Reuters on Friday.

Greece doesn't have a comprehensive legal framework for taxing cryptocurrencies, and European Union countries don't have a unified taxation system for the sector.

A senior government official told Reuters that the Finance Ministry is preparing a law that is expected to be submitted to the parliament in coming months.

"The aim is to include cryptocurrencies in the country's tax code," the official said.

Taxation of cryptocurrencies among European countries varies from 8% in Cyprus to 30% in France and is usually imposed on capital gains.

A second official confirmed the government's plan, adding that the first 500 euros ($580) of gains will be tax-free. The tax will not apply to individual cryptocurrency mining, but will if the entity mining is registered as a corporation.

Both officials said that it is very difficult to estimate the size of Greece's cryptocurrency market since the vast majority of investors use platforms outside the country. For the moment there isn't a specific projection for state revenues from the new tax.  

($1 = 0.8615 euros)

(Reporting by Lefteris Papadimas, edditing by Sharon Singleton)