Latvia Eyes Crypto Tax Payments in 2027, Adviser Says

Latvia could let residents pay their personal taxes in cryptocurrency as early as next year, according to an adviser to the country’s prime minister. It is a plan, not law. Latvia’s Finance Ministry has not commented publicly, and no payment provider, eligible coins or start date have been named. The plan comes days after Latvia’s parliament, the Saeima, passed a separate law that changes how crypto investments are taxed, including a one-off chance for holders to settle past tax at 10% of their holdings’ value. This is not tax or investment advice.

What the adviser said

Didzis Dejus, “an adviser to the prime minister on strategic planning and the new economy”, spoke to CoinDesk at the UN:BLOCK Fintech conference in Riga, in a report published on Sunday 18 October. Asked whether Latvians would be able to pay taxes in crypto during the prime minister’s term, he said: “I believe that will take place next year.”

According to CoinDesk’s account of the interview, Dejus said the Finance Ministry has agreed to the plan, but that technical work with a payment provider remains. CoinDesk said it had asked the Finance Ministry for comment and had not heard back at the time of writing. TSN has found no public statement from the ministry.

“We are not afraid to be the fastest country,” Dejus said, describing Latvia’s efforts to attract crypto businesses beyond simply licensing them.

CoinDesk reported that Dejus “did not name Latvia’s payment provider or say which cryptocurrencies would qualify to pay taxes”. It also said the plan builds on proposals announced in May 2025 to enable crypto tax payments and the tokenisation of other assets, such as real estate.

Why the timing is uncertain

Politics may decide when, or whether, this happens. “The payment plan’s timing could depend on the next government,” CoinDesk wrote. It reported that Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs’ United List won the parliamentary election on 3 October and is expected to be renominated, but still needs coalition partners.

Beyond the technical work with a payment provider that Dejus described, no details of how the scheme would work have been published. CoinDesk noted that Latvia would not be the first government to accept crypto for taxes: the US state of Colorado began allowing crypto tax payments through PayPal in 2022, with the funds converted into dollars. Whether Latvia would convert payments into euros in the same way has not been said.

What the new law does

The tax-payment idea is separate from a law that has passed. On Thursday 15 October, the Saeima announced, it “adopted in the final reading urgent amendments to the Law ‘On Personal Income Tax'”. The changes do two main things.

An investment-account regime for crypto. Under the new rules, the Saeima says, “Tax will be payable when the amount withdrawn from the investment account exceeds the amount invested in it, rather than on each individual transaction.” In plain terms, people could buy, sell and swap within such an account and pay tax only when they take out more than they put in. The Saeima says these accounts may be offered by “crypto-asset service providers licensed in the European Union”. The government (the Cabinet of Ministers) must set out the requirements for those providers by 30 December 2026.

A one-time declaration. People will be able to declare crypto they hold on 31 December 2026, whether with an EU-licensed provider or “in crypto addresses controlled by the individuals themselves”, meaning their own wallets. “A tax rate of 10 percent of the market value of the declared crypto-assets as of 31 December 2026 will apply,” the Saeima says.

That declared value then becomes the assets’ purchase price for future tax calculations. People who declare and pay “will be deemed to have fulfilled the legal requirements for declaring income and paying taxes” on those assets, and on the income used to buy or swap them, for the period up to 31 December 2026, according to the Saeima.

Declarations go to the State Revenue Service between 1 April and 31 May 2027 and can be amended once until 30 June 2027. The tax must be paid by 23 July 2027. The option is not available to people already facing criminal proceedings, a tax audit, tax control procedures or administrative offence proceedings over crypto income.

According to CoinDesk, Dejus said the declaration would help people who bought crypto years ago but cannot prove what they paid for it.

Aiva Vīksna, who chairs the Saeima’s Budget and Finance (Taxation) Committee, had earlier said: “The financial market is developing rapidly, and tax regulation must be able to adapt to new forms of investment.” She said the amendments would “ensure clearer rules for investments in crypto-assets by allowing the application of the investment account principle, while at the same time giving residents an opportunity to address their tax obligations related to such assets”.

How it compares

Other European countries are also changing how they tax crypto. In France, MPs have backed a tax on swaps into stablecoins, which would end the tax deferral on those swaps. TSN has also covered Greece’s 10% crypto tax plan. For UK readers, TSN’s crypto tax explainer sets out how the rules work there.

What we don’t know

Whether the tax-payment plan will happen. It rests on an adviser’s statement. The Finance Ministry has not commented publicly, and the next government could change the timetable.
How it would work. No payment provider, eligible coins or conversion method has been named.
When the new tax law takes effect. The Saeima’s release does not give a commencement date for the investment-account regime, beyond the Cabinet’s 30 December 2026 deadline for the rules.

The Bottom Line

A Latvian prime ministerial adviser says residents could pay taxes in crypto next year, but that remains a plan, with no provider, coins or date confirmed and no comment from the Finance Ministry. What has passed is a crypto tax overhaul: tax only on net withdrawals from crypto investment accounts, and a one-off chance to declare holdings at 31 December 2026 and pay 10% of their value. This is not tax or investment advice.