Selling Bitcoin at a Loss: Loss Offsetting in Austria

Selling Bitcoin at a Loss: How Loss Offsetting Works in Austria

If the Bitcoin price falls below the purchase price recognised for tax purposes, a sale in Austria can matter commercially and for your tax bill alike. A realised Bitcoin loss may in principle be offset against certain positive income from private investment capital.

The Austrian finance ministry expressly names dividends and capital gains on shares as possible counter-positions to crypto gains and losses. 

A Paper Loss Alone Is Not Enough

As long as Bitcoin merely falls in value and stays in the wallet, there is in principle no loss realised for tax purposes.

Only realisation makes the loss usable for tax loss offsetting. The typical case is a sale for euros.

Example:

• Acquisition cost: 20,000 euros
• Later sale: 14,000 euros
• Realised loss: 6,000 euros

This loss can in principle be offset against suitable positive investment income from the same year.

Which Gains Can Be Offset?

Bitcoin losses can be offset in particular against positive investment income that is taxed in the same way.

That can include:

• Gains on other taxable cryptocurrencies
• Share gains
• Dividends
• Certain other investment income

What is not permitted, by contrast, is offsetting against interest on bank deposits or against distributions from private foundations. Offsetting against salary or self-employment income is not provided for either in the case of private Bitcoin losses. 

Only the Same Calendar Year Counts

One important point is the time limit.

Private losses on cryptocurrencies can in principle only be offset against suitable positive investment income from the same calendar year. 

A Bitcoin loss from 2026 can therefore reduce a share gain from 2026, for example. An unused private loss, by contrast, cannot simply be carried over into 2027.

Not Every Loss Offset Happens Automatically

Austrian crypto service providers may carry out an automatic loss offset within the cryptocurrencies they administer.

An automatic loss offset between cryptocurrencies and other investments - shares or dividends held at a bank, for instance - is expressly not permitted. That offset has to run through the income tax assessment. 

Example:

• Bitcoin loss at a crypto platform: 5,000 euros
• Share gain at a bank: 10,000 euros

The bank does not take the Bitcoin loss into account automatically. You can in principle claim the cross-provider offset through your income tax return.

Withholding Tax Already Paid Can Be Refunded

If a bank has already withheld 27.5 percent capital gains tax on share gains or dividends, a Bitcoin loss recognised later can result in a tax refund.

Example:

Share gain: 10,000 euros
Bitcoin loss: 4,000 euros
remaining positive amount: 6,000 euros

Instead of tax on 10,000 euros, in principle only a positive amount of 6,000 euros remains after the loss offset.

The offset does have to be claimed correctly through the assessment and supported by evidence.

Tax Reporting Makes the Assessment Easier

For income from 2025 onwards, Austrian parties obliged to deduct capital gains tax must provide standardised tax reporting on request.

Among other things, it contains information on income, losses and capital gains tax already paid or credited under the automatic loss offset. 

If you hold Bitcoin at a crypto platform and shares at a different bank, you can use the respective documents for the loss offset that does not happen automatically.

What Applies to Foreign Crypto Exchanges?

Losses on a foreign crypto exchange can be relevant in principle too, provided they qualify as tax losses under Austrian tax law and are sufficiently documented.

Because there is regularly no Austrian automatic capital gains tax offset there, you need in particular:

• Acquisition costs
• Sale proceeds
• Transaction history
• Fees
• Euro values
• Where applicable, the platform's tax reports

The finance ministry expressly names offsetting against foreign income as a possible case for the income tax assessment. 

Conclusion

A realised Bitcoin loss can reduce the tax on other investment income in Austria. The condition is above all that a tax loss has actually arisen and that suitable positive investment income exists in the same calendar year.

What can be offset includes certain crypto gains, share gains and dividends. Against savings account interest, salary or any other income, the loss offset does not work. 

If you hold Bitcoin and securities with different providers, you will regularly have to carry out the cross-provider loss offset through your income tax return.

(As of August 26, 2026. This article is not investment advice. Prices and fee structures change; check the terms with the provider before you buy.)