Crypto glossary
Declaring crypto on your tax return (Spain)
In Spain, crypto gains, losses and income are declared in the annual personal income tax (IRPF) return, filed each spring for the previous year.
Spanish tax residents report crypto in the IRPF return for the calendar year, filed during the spring campaign. Sales and swaps go in the section for capital gains and losses from the transfer of virtual currencies, with acquisition and transfer values calculated by FIFO and including fees; they are taxed in the savings base. Staking rewards and interest from lending are generally declared as income from movable capital, also in the savings base, while professional mining or trading may be an economic activity. Free airdrops have generally been treated as gains in the general base.
Losses in the savings base can offset gains from the same year and, within limits, certain capital income, with any excess carried forward for four years. The tax agency increasingly pre-fills data received from Spanish providers through Modelos 172 and 173, but taxpayers must check and complete it, especially for foreign exchanges and DeFi activity.
Common mistakes include forgetting crypto-to-crypto swaps, ignoring small sales, mixing up wallets and failing to keep records of acquisition costs. Separate obligations, such as Modelo 721 for crypto held abroad and the wealth tax, may also apply.
Example
In the spring, a Spanish resident reviews her draft return, adds the sales on a foreign exchange that the agency did not have, enters the staking rewards as capital income and offsets a loss from an altcoin sale.