Sort your Malta crypto taxes with CoinTracking
Malta branded itself the “Blockchain Island”, and for long-term investors the tax treatment lives up to the hype. But the popular “Malta has no crypto tax” line is misleading: it only holds for genuine investment in coins. Trade actively and you’re taxed as a business. Getting the investing-versus-trading distinction right, and documenting it, is where this matters most.
Here’s how crypto is taxed in Malta and how to prepare your return.
- CoinTracking (my pick): deepest reporting, full transaction records to evidence investment vs trading, with a 7-day free trial and plans from 200 transactions. Read the review.
- Koinly: the easiest option, free to use until you download a report, with clean reports. Read the review.
How Crypto Is Taxed in Malta
Malta has no general capital gains tax on long-term holdings of coins treated as a store of value. So if you buy Bitcoin as a long-term investment and sell it years later, the gain is not taxed. This is the source of the “0%” reputation, and for genuine investors it’s real.
The catch is the investing versus trading distinction:
- Investment in coins: capital gains generally fall outside the scope of tax.
- Active or day trading as a business: profits are taxed as income at the progressive personal rates, up to 35%.
There’s no fixed holding-period rule. The tax authority looks at frequency, volume, and how business-like your activity is, similar to how share trading is judged in other countries.
The Three Token Categories
Malta’s guidelines split crypto into coins (used as a medium of exchange or store of value), financial tokens (treated like securities, and potentially subject to stamp duty), and utility tokens. Treatment depends on the category and how the asset is actually used.
Crypto Income
Mining income and salary paid in crypto are taxed as income at the value when received, at the progressive rates up to 35%. Malta’s guidelines don’t set a specific rule for staking rewards, so get advice on how yours are treated.
Residence, Domicile, and the Remittance Basis
Malta uses a residence-and-domicile system. Non-domiciled residents (common among people who move to Malta) are taxed on Maltese-source income and on foreign income they actually bring into Malta. Foreign capital gains aren’t taxed in Malta, even if you bring the money in. Whether a crypto gain counts as a foreign capital gain depends on its source and on whether it’s capital or trading income, not on where the coins are held. A minimum annual tax of €5,000 can apply to non-domiciled residents with foreign income of €35,000 or more. Remittance is interpreted broadly, so structuring needs care and proper advice.
The Forms You Need to File
Individuals file the annual personal income tax return, online or on paper. The normal deadline is the end of June; for the 2026 year of assessment it was 31 July 2026. From 1 January 2026, crypto service providers collect transaction data under the EU’s DAC8 rules, with the first reports on 2026 activity exchanged in 2027, so accurate records matter.
How to Prepare Your Crypto Taxes in Malta
- Connect every account. Add each exchange and wallet so the tool captures your full activity.
- Import your full history. Complete records help evidence whether your activity is investment or trading.
- Reconcile. Patch any data gaps with a CSV.
- Generate the figures. Use the output to complete your return, and get advice on the investing-versus-trading question if your activity is heavy.
Prepare your Malta report with CoinTracking
The Best Crypto Tax Tool for Malta
CoinTracking is my pick for its depth and the complete records it keeps, which help document the investment-versus-trading position that drives your Malta tax bill. Its lifetime licence is the best long-term value. Koinly is the easiest alternative, free to use until you download a report. Both let you import your history and check the numbers before you pay. For the wider field, see my guide to the best crypto tax software.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is crypto tax-free in Malta?
Only for coins held as an investment. Capital gains on coins held as an investment generally fall outside the scope of tax, so a buy-and-hold investor can pay nothing. But active or day trading is taxed as income at rates up to 35%. The “0% crypto tax” claim only applies to genuine investment, not trading.
How is crypto trading taxed in Malta?
If your activity amounts to trading as a business, profits are taxed as income at Malta’s progressive personal rates, up to 35%. There’s no fixed holding period; the tax authority looks at frequency, volume, and how business-like the activity is.
Do non-domiciled residents pay crypto tax in Malta?
Non-domiciled residents are taxed on Maltese-source income and on foreign income they remit to Malta. Foreign capital gains are outside Maltese tax even if remitted, but a crypto gain only counts as a foreign capital gain if its source is foreign and it isn’t trading income. A €5,000 minimum annual tax can apply if your foreign income is €35,000 or more. Remittance is interpreted broadly, so take advice before relying on this.
When is the Malta tax return deadline?
Individuals file the annual personal income tax return, online or on paper, normally by the end of June. For the 2026 year of assessment the deadline was 31 July 2026.
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