What DAC8 crypto reporting is
DAC8 is Council Directive (EU) 2023/2226, the eighth amendment to the EU directive on administrative cooperation in taxation.
It extends automatic exchange of tax information to crypto-assets, by requiring reporting crypto-asset service providers to collect and report information about their users.
Tax authorities then exchange that information between EU countries.
DAC8 crypto reporting timeline
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| 31 December 2025 | Deadline for Member States to adopt the national rules |
| 1 January 2026 | Member States apply the rules |
| Within nine months of the year-end | Information on a calendar year is communicated |
Source: Council Directive (EU) 2023/2226.
In practice, information on 2026 transactions is reported in the following year.
What DAC8 crypto reporting means for you
- Your exchange may ask for tax-related information, such as your tax residence and tax identification number.
- Information about your transactions can reach your tax authority without you sending it.
- Your own tax return should match what has been reported.
DAC8 does not create new taxes; it changes how information reaches tax authorities, and each country's tax rules still decide what is taxable.
Records to keep alongside DAC8 crypto reporting
- Download your exchange history: every year, before you might lose access.
- Keep records of transfers between your own wallets: they are not sales, but you may need to show it.
- Record fees: they can affect taxable gains in many countries.
- Check your national tax authority's guidance: rules differ between countries.
The profit and loss calculator helps you work out gains and losses after fees.
DAC8 crypto reporting and privacy
Information under DAC8 is exchanged between tax authorities under EU rules on administrative cooperation and data protection.
It is not published.
DAC8 and scams
Scammers may use tax rules as a pretext, asking for a "tax payment" before a withdrawal.
Taxes are paid to your own tax authority, never to a trading platform or a stranger to release funds.
DAC8 crypto reporting: who reports
DAC8 places the reporting duty on crypto-asset service providers, which the directive calls reporting crypto-asset service providers.
In practice, this means the exchanges, brokers and custodians that serve you, not you as the user.
The directive also sets up a register of crypto-asset operators, which the Commission had to establish by 31 December 2025.
Source: Council Directive (EU) 2023/2226.
DAC8 crypto reporting: what it means in everyday terms
| Before DAC8 | With DAC8 |
|---|---|
| Tax authorities relied mostly on what taxpayers declared | Tax authorities also receive information from crypto service providers |
| Cross-border crypto activity was hard for authorities to see | Information is exchanged automatically between EU tax authorities |
| Exchanges collected identity data for anti-money-laundering purposes | Exchanges also collect tax-related data, such as tax residence |
General description; national implementation details vary.
DAC8 crypto reporting and your own records
Reports from exchanges show transactions on their platforms, but they may not show everything relevant to your tax position.
Transfers between your own wallets, purchases made years ago on another platform, or fees can be missing from one provider's view.
That is why your own records remain important, even when an exchange reports.
| Record | Why keep it |
|---|---|
| Purchase price and date of each lot | Needed to work out gains when you sell |
| Fees paid | May affect the taxable amount in many countries |
| Wallet-to-wallet transfers | Show that a transfer was not a sale |
| Swaps between coins | Often treated as disposals |
| Staking and other rewards | May be taxable when received in some countries |
DAC8 crypto reporting: practical steps for each year
- Early in the year: download the previous year's history from each exchange.
- Reconcile: match deposits and withdrawals between your own accounts.
- Calculate results: using the method your country requires.
- Check national guidance: from your tax authority's website.
- Store everything: for as long as your country requires records to be kept.
DAC8 crypto reporting and closed accounts
If you close an exchange account, download your full history first, because access may be lost afterwards.
If a platform stops serving your country, as can happen when a firm lacks MiCA authorisation, download your records before access ends.
DAC8 crypto reporting and other rules
DAC8 sits alongside MiCA and the Transfer of Funds Regulation, each with a different purpose.
Authorisation and conduct
Who may provide crypto services, and how.
Transfer information
Who sends and receives crypto transfers.
Tax reporting
What tax authorities learn about users.
The guides to MiCA and the travel rule cover the other two.
DAC8 crypto reporting: key dates in one table
| Date | What happens under DAC8 |
|---|---|
| 31 December 2025 | Member States had to adopt national rules, and the Commission had to establish a register of crypto-asset operators |
| 1 January 2026 | National DAC8 rules apply; the first reporting year begins |
| Within 9 months after each year | Information for that calendar year is communicated between tax authorities |
Source: Council Directive (EU) 2023/2226 on EUR-Lex.
The exact national deadlines for providers and the form of any notice to customers are set in each country's own implementing law.
DAC8 crypto reporting: why the EU introduced it
Tax authorities could already see income from bank accounts and many investment accounts, but crypto activity was often harder to trace.
DAC8 extends the EU's existing rules on administrative cooperation in taxation to crypto-assets, so that information about users' crypto transactions reaches the tax authorities that need it.
For most people who already report their crypto correctly, DAC8 mainly means that the tax authority can compare their return with information from providers.
DAC8 crypto reporting: an annual routine example
- January: download the full transaction history for the previous year from every provider you used.
- February: combine the files and check purchases, sales, swaps and rewards.
- March: calculate gains and losses using your country's rules, or with an adviser.
- Tax season: report the figures in your tax return by your national deadline.
- All year: keep records of transfers between your own accounts and wallets.
Example routine only; tax deadlines and methods vary between countries.
DAC8 crypto reporting: differences between provider data and your return
A provider only knows what happened on its own platform.
If you bought coins elsewhere and moved them in, the provider may not know what you paid, so your own records are needed to show the correct purchase cost.
Keeping purchase records for every coin, including coins moved between providers and wallets, prevents disputes about gains that look larger than they really are.
DAC8 crypto reporting: who it does not change
- It does not change the tax rate or the rules for calculating gains, which remain national.
- It does not make previously untaxed activity taxable on its own.
- It does not replace your duty to file a correct tax return.
DAC8 crypto reporting: correcting past mistakes
If you realise that earlier tax returns left out crypto gains, most tax authorities allow you to correct them.
Correcting voluntarily is usually treated more favourably than waiting for the tax authority to find the difference, but the rules depend on your country.
Your national tax authority's website explains how to submit a correction.
DAC8 crypto reporting: questions readers ask
Do I have to report anything to the provider because of DAC8? Providers may ask for information such as your tax residence to meet their reporting duties.
Does DAC8 cover my own hardware wallet? DAC8 places reporting duties on crypto-asset service providers, so a wallet you control is not itself a reporting entity, but your tax duties stay the same.
Is a DAC8 request for my tax number a scam? It can be genuine when it appears inside the official app, but never give personal data through links in unexpected emails or messages.
DAC8 crypto reporting: keeping documents
Keep yearly transaction histories, records of transfers between your own wallets and accounts, and the calculations behind each tax return.
Store them in a format you can still open in several years, such as CSV or PDF, and keep a back-up copy.
National rules decide how long tax records must be kept, so check your tax authority's guidance.
Good records turn any question from the tax authority into a short exchange instead of a long search.
DAC8 crypto reporting and moving abroad
If you move to another country, tell your crypto providers about your new tax residence, because DAC8 information is exchanged with the tax authority of the country where you are resident.
Check the new country's tax rules on crypto before your first tax return there, as methods and rates can differ.
Frequently asked questions
What is DAC8?
Council Directive (EU) 2023/2226, which requires crypto service providers to report information about users' transactions to tax authorities.
When did DAC8 crypto reporting start?
Member States apply the rules from 1 January 2026.
Does DAC8 mean I pay more tax on crypto?
DAC8 does not create new taxes. It changes how information reaches tax authorities; national rules decide what is taxable.
What should I keep for DAC8?
Your transaction history, records of transfers between your own wallets and records of fees.
Can a platform ask me to pay tax before I withdraw?
That is a common scam. Taxes are paid to your own tax authority, not to a platform to release funds.
Sources
Every figure on this page is checked against the ESMA register, the exchange's own terms and fee pages or another primary source, and the sources are listed above. Editorial policy · How we rate