Greece's parliament passes a 10% tax on crypto gains with the first 500 euros a year exempt, and the reporting and audit rules still to come

Greece's parliament has passed a law taxing cryptocurrency gains at 10%, Reuters reported on Thursday. Reuters called it the country's first comprehensive legal framework for taxing crypto assets. Gains of up to 500 euros a year, about $563, are exempt. Reuters did not give the vote count or an effective date.

What happens next is still open. A finance ministry official told Reuters that "further implementation directives will be published in the coming weeks," and that these will set transparency and audit rules. The official said the state cannot project how much the tax will raise, because most Greek investors use overseas platforms, which makes the size of the domestic market hard to measure.

The rate sits at the low end of a patchwork. Reuters noted that European Union countries have no unified crypto tax system and that rates across the continent run from 8% to 30%, usually applied to capital gains. Reuters did not address whether swapping one crypto asset for another is taxable, a question the pending directives may settle.