The Dutch government announced on Tuesday that it plans to introduce a capital gains tax starting from 2028, a shift that would for the first time tax realized profits on bitcoin and other investments rather than notional returns.

The cabinet laid out the proposal in a letter to the House of Representatives, the Tweede Kamer. Under the plan, gains would be taxed when investors actually sell — not on assumed returns or unrealized increases in value, the filing read.

"The earning capacity of the Dutch economy calls for a way of taxing wealth that facilitates investment," the letter stated.

How are bitcoin gains taxed in the Netherlands today?

The current regime works very differently. Dutch tax authorities tax bitcoin and digital assets under the wealth-box system, applying an assumed annual yield regardless of what an investor actually earned. The Belastingdienst currently assumes a notional 4% return on assets, meaning holders pay tax even in years when their crypto lost value or sat idle in a wallet.

The move to a realization-based capital gains tax would change that calculus fundamentally. Losses would no longer generate a tax bill, and long-term holders would defer liability until they sell — an arrangement closer to how the U.S. treats capital assets, though the letter did not specify proposed rates.

When would crypto actually be covered?

The timeline carries a significant ambiguity. According to the cabinet letter, most financial instruments would fall under the new capital gains tax from 2028, while remaining asset categories would transition two years later, in 2030.

The letter did not clarify whether digital assets belong in the 2028 tranche or the 2030 tranche. That uncertainty leaves Dutch bitcoin holders without a firm effective date, and the distinction matters: a two-year gap in the start of liability changes selling decisions, portfolio structuring and record-keeping obligations for exchanges and custodians operating in the country.

The proposal still requires parliamentary approval before it becomes law.

How does the plan fit the European tax picture?

European rules on crypto taxation remain mixed but are on the whole stricter than those in the United States, and the Dutch proposal sits within a broader tightening trend.

Since January, the European Union's DAC8 directive has required crypto exchanges to collect detailed data on their users and transactions and report it to national tax authorities — an obligation comparable to the reporting banks already perform on ordinary accounts. DAC8 gives national tax agencies, including the Dutch Belastingdienst, a ready-made data pipeline for enforcing a realized-gains regime once it takes effect.

Not every EU member state is moving in the same direction on rates and exemptions:

• Germany still exempts crypto from capital gains tax when held for more than one year.
• Portugal applies a similar exemption after 365 days of holding.
• The Netherlands, by contrast, has never offered a holding-period exemption and instead taxed assumed returns.

The divergence means the Dutch reform could sharpen competitive differences within the bloc: long-term holders in Germany and Portugal retain full exemptions on qualifying holdings, while Dutch investors would face tax at the point of sale — albeit only on actual gains.

For Dutch crypto businesses, the operational consequences are concrete. Exchanges and custodians serving Dutch customers will need cost-basis tracking and realized-gain reporting aligned with the new regime, complementing the transaction data they already transmit under DAC8. Individual investors who previously owed tax on notional returns will need to calculate actual gains and losses per disposal.

The immediate next step is parliamentary: the House of Representatives must approve the proposal before the 2028 start date is fixed, and the cabinet's decision on whether digital assets fall in the first or second tranche will determine whether Dutch bitcoin holders face the new regime in 2028 or 2030.