Lithuania has no crypto tax. It has an income tax, and virtual currency is one of the things it reaches: no special rate, no special allowance, and no holding period that turns a gain tax-free — only the ordinary rules on disposing of property. VMI's guidance is explicit on the classification: GPMĮ tikslais kriptovaliuta pripažįstama trumpalaikiu turtu — for income tax purposes, cryptocurrency is short-term property. Not a currency, and not a financial instrument.
Table of Contents
- The exemption is €2,500, not €500
- The rates, and where the higher one starts
- What counts as a disposal
- Losses, netting and carry-forward
- Mining, staking, airdrops and salary in crypto
- Acquisition cost and the exchange rate
- Declaring it: GPM311 and the deadline
- When trading becomes a business
- Frequently asked questions
The Exemption Is €2,500, Not €500
The Law carries two annual exemptions on the sale of an asset, and the €500 quoted almost everywhere is the wrong one for crypto. Article 17(1)(30) of the Law on Personal Income Tax (Gyventojų pajamų mokesčio įstatymas, GPMĮ) exempts the first €500 of a year's gain on financial instruments; article 17(1)(27) exempts the first €2,500 on other property not used in a business, and virtual currency sits there.
| Financial instruments — GPMĮ 17(1)(30) | Other property — GPMĮ 17(1)(27) | |
|---|---|---|
| Annual exemption | €500 | €2,500 |
| Covers | Shares, units, derivatives | Cryptocurrency, and possessions such as furniture or a bicycle |
| Income code on GPM311 | 12 | 13 and 14 |
| Where crypto goes | ✗ No | ✓ Yes |
Both limits bite on the skirtumas — what you sold for less what you paid and the costs article 19 allows — not on turnover. Sell €40,000 of Bitcoin bought for €38,000 and the €2,000 gain is inside the exemption; sell €4,000 mined at no recorded cost and €1,500 of that gain is taxable. Nor is there a holding period: five years removes the tax on immovable property, and crypto has no equivalent at any duration.
The exemption is per year and per class, not per trade
The €2,500 is one annual allowance covering every non-business disposal of other property in the tax period — cryptocurrency and a sold-on watch collection together. It does not renew per coin, per exchange or per transaction, and it cannot be added to the €500 on a share portfolio: two articles, two allowances, run separately.
The Rates, and Where the Higher One Starts
From 1 January 2026 the gain above the exemption is taxed as income not from employment relations — its own entry rate, then the ordinary GPM scale.
The first threshold is 12 VDU — twelve times the average monthly wage the rates are indexed to, €2,312.15 in 2026, so €27,746 a year. The two above it are the 36 VDU and 60 VDU boundaries that split the employment income bands, at €83,237 and €138,729.
Material written before 2026 still describes the arrangement this replaced — a flat 15% up to 120 VDU and 20% above. That structure is gone, and anyone realising a large position in a single year now meets 20% at €27,746 rather than at roughly ten times that. Dividends are the exception: they stay at a flat 15% and are not added to anything.
What Counts as a Disposal
Holding is not taxable. Four things are, and the second is the one people file wrongly.
Selling for euros or another official currency. Income arises on the exchange, not on the later withdrawal to the bank.
Exchanging one cryptocurrency for another. VMI treats a swap as two transactions at once — viena kriptovaliuta parduodama, o kita perkama, one coin sold and another bought. The market value of what you received is the sale price of what you gave up, and becomes the acquisition cost of what you now hold.
Paying for goods or services with it. Spending crypto is disposing of it: the crypto's value on the day is both the price of the thing bought and your disposal proceeds.
Receiving additional units for the ones you hold. Staking rewards, and anything else credited for holding, are income at market value on the day they arrive — separately from, and before, any later disposal.
The crypto-to-crypto rule is why a tax bill can exceed the euros a person has ever seen: if the year's swaps produced a net gain above €2,500, the tax is due whether or not anything was cashed out, and payable in euros.
Losses, Netting and Carry-Forward
Article 17(1)(27) is a single annual difference: the year's proceeds from disposing of other property against the year's acquisition costs for it. That is what makes losses work. A loss on one disposal reduces the gain on another within the same year and the same class of property, and the net figure is what meets the €2,500.
What the Law does not do is carry a loss forward: VMI answers that against the taxpayer for anyone on a cash basis, which is every non-business holder. Carry-forward exists only for a registered individuali veikla keeping accruals accounts.
A crypto loss is therefore worth something only in the year it is realised, and only against a gain in the same class — never against a gain on shares, which belongs to a different article and a different allowance. A December sale that crystallises a loss against a November gain is worth exactly what a January sale is not.
Mining, Staking, Airdrops and Salary in Crypto
Crypto that arrives rather than being bought is treated by how it arrived.
Taxed when it arrives, at market value that day
- Staking rewards — units credited for holding. VMI treats these as interest, declared under income code 59 rather than with the disposal.
- Airdrops — units received for holding a balance, on the same market-value basis.
- Salary or a bonus paid in crypto — the Labour Code requires wages in money, so crypto handed to an employee is remuneration in kind. The employer calculates, withholds and declares GPM on it as on cash pay, and Sodra follows the same value.
Taxed when it is sold
- Mining for yourself is not a supply to anyone and is outside VAT. Tax arises on the later disposal, against the cost of producing the coin.
- Mining for someone else is a different thing — VMI classes it as an electronic service, inside VAT and, if continuous and profit-seeking, inside business activity.
Anything received at a declared value takes that value as its cost, so selling it later produces a separate gain or loss under the €2,500 allowance — not double taxation.
Acquisition Cost and the Exchange Rate
Article 19 of the GPMĮ decides what may be deducted: the acquisition price and the costs of acquiring and disposing, each backed by a document with legal force. Exchange commissions and transfer fees qualify; an unsupported estimate does not, and a coin with no recorded cost is taxed on its full proceeds — which is why a mined balance and a forgotten 2016 purchase are the most expensive positions most people hold.
Crypto received rather than bought takes as its cost the fair market value at the moment of receipt — tikroji rinkos kaina, buvusi kriptovaliutos gavimo momentu.
There is no official rate. Lithuania publishes none for virtual currency, and VMI's position is that the holder sets it: nusistatyti turi pats pajamas gavęs gyventojas — in practice a rate from a real exchange at the moment of the transaction, kept with the record.
The concession for a high transaction count. Where transactions are frequent and numerous, VMI accepts converting the annual result instead, at the rate as at 31 December of that year — applied consistently, with the underlying records still kept. Residence, not the platform's location, decides scope: a Lithuanian tax resident is taxed on worldwide income wherever the exchange sits, and the foreign income page covers relief.
Declaring It: GPM311 and the Deadline
Crypto goes on GPM311, the annual return every resident files, on the same schedule as everything else. Nothing about it is separate.
Disposals go in part D under codes 13 and 14; staking rewards in part E under code 59; individual-activity income in part C. Getting the part right matters: the €2,500 allowance attaches to the other-property codes and is available nowhere else on the form.
The statutory filing date is 1 May of the following year and the tax is due the same day, rolling to the next working day where 1 May is not one — the tax return page covers the current year's date and the two situations that are not 1 May at all.
When Trading Becomes a Business
Everything above assumes a private holder. Crypto activity that is independent, continuous and carried on to obtain income — savarankiškumas, tęstinumas, siekis gauti pajamas — is individuali veikla, and the basis changes entirely.
Inside individual activity there is no €2,500 exemption. The trader deducts either documented costs — purchase prices, commissions, electricity and mining equipment — or a flat 30% of gross activity income, and pays under the individual activity regime with its tax credit and €42,500 ceiling. Losses carry forward where accruals accounting is used, and Sodra contributions arise on activity profit.
No transaction count or euro figure in the Law flips one into the other; the three criteria are assessed together on the facts. The difference runs both ways — a trader with heavy costs is better off inside the regime, an occasional holder much better off outside it — which is why the individuali veikla rules are worth reading rather than guessing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the €500 exemption apply to cryptocurrency?
No. The €500 exemption in article 17(1)(30) applies to financial instruments — shares, units, derivatives. VMI treats virtual currency as other property, so the applicable exemption is the €2,500 in article 17(1)(27), and disposals are declared under the other-property income codes. Both exemptions are on the gain, not the proceeds.
Is the exemption calculated on what I sold for, or on my profit?
On the profit: the difference between the year's proceeds and the acquisition price plus the costs article 19 allows. Selling €30,000 of crypto bought for €29,000 leaves a €1,000 gain, inside the €2,500 allowance; selling €3,000 acquired for nothing leaves a €3,000 gain, of which €500 is taxable.
What rate applies above the exemption in 2026?
Crypto gains are income not from employment relations. The part up to 12 average monthly wages — €27,745.8 in 2026 — is taxed at 15%, and above that the ordinary bands apply: 20% to €83,237, 25% to €138,729 and 32% above. The older split — 15% up to 120 average wages, 20% above — was replaced from 1 January 2026.
Can I set a crypto loss against a crypto gain?
Within the same tax year, yes: the exemption article is a single annual difference between the year's proceeds and its acquisition costs for that class, so losses and gains net off and the net figure meets the exemption. A net annual loss cannot be carried forward — VMI answers that directly, and the answer is no for anyone on a cash basis, which is every private holder. Carry-forward exists only inside a registered individual activity using accruals accounting.
Do I owe tax if I swapped one coin for another and never cashed out?
Yes, if the year's net result is above the exemption. VMI treats an exchange of one cryptocurrency for another as a sale of the first and a purchase of the second at market value. Nothing waits for a withdrawal to euros, so a year of trading inside an exchange can produce a liability with no fiat ever leaving the platform.
How are mining, staking and airdrops taxed?
Mining for yourself creates nothing taxable when the coin is produced and is outside VAT; tax arises on the later disposal, against the cost of producing it. Mining for someone else is an electronic service, within VAT and capable of being a business activity. Staking rewards and airdrops are income at market value on the day received — staking rewards are treated as interest — and that value becomes the acquisition cost of the units.
I am paid partly in crypto. How does that work?
The Labour Code requires wages in money, so cryptocurrency transferred to an employee is remuneration in kind: the employer values it, withholds and declares income tax as on cash pay, with social insurance on the same value. That declared value becomes your acquisition cost, so selling the coins later produces a separate gain or loss measured from the day you received them.
Which exchange rate do I use?
There is no official rate for virtual currency in Lithuania. VMI's position is that the recipient of the income sets it, from a crypto exchange at the moment of each transaction, and keeps the evidence. Where transactions are frequent and numerous, VMI accepts converting the annual result instead, at the rate as at 31 December of that calendar year.
Where does crypto go on the GPM311 return, and when is it due?
Private disposals go in part D of the annual GPM311 return under codes 13 and 14; staking rewards in part E under code 59; income from a registered individual activity in part C. Filing and payment are both due on 1 May of the following year, moving to the next working day where 1 May is not one.
When does trading crypto become a business?
Three characteristics assessed together — independence, continuity, and being carried on to obtain income. Where they are met the activity is individuali veikla, the €2,500 exemption does not apply at all, and the trader deducts either documented costs or a flat 30% of gross activity income, pays under that regime with its credit, owes social insurance on profit and may carry losses forward on accruals accounting. No transaction count or turnover figure in the Law triggers the switch.
How is a company taxed on crypto?
For a UAB or MB, crypto is short-term property and corporate income tax applies: 17%, or 7% for a small company within the €300,000 income cap. Mining produces nothing taxable until the coin is sold, when the taxable amount is the sale price less the cost of producing it; a purchased coin is taxed on proceeds less acquisition price, and a swap is a disposal. A revaluation gain on a holding still owned is not taxable under PMĮ article 12, and a revaluation loss is not deductible. On VAT, exchanging virtual currency is a financial service; mining for a third party is an electronic service, within VAT.
Do I need a licence to trade my own crypto?
No — trading your own balance is not a service to anyone. Authorisation is required to serve other people: custody, running a trading platform, exchanging crypto for funds or other crypto, executing, placing, receiving and transmitting orders, advice and portfolio management. The transitional period ended on 31 December 2025, the old national register closed, and the Bank of Lithuania now authorises crypto-asset service providers under the EU Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, treating unlicensed provision as unlawful. An applicant needs a registered office in a member state where it provides some of its services, effective management in the Union and a Union-resident director; the Bank checks completeness within 25 working days, then has 40 to grant or refuse. Banks, investment firms and e-money institutions may notify instead. More than 370 entities sat on the old register and only about 120 were demonstrably operating, so an old listing proves little.
Disclaimer
General information, not tax advice. Rates and allowances change — verify against VMI, the State Tax Inspectorate, or a qualified Lithuanian tax adviser before deciding anything.