The directive, which is expected to be approved and implemented by January 2026, will enable authorities in Spain to exchange data on cryptocurrency assets held on international exchanges. Similarly, the Spanish tax agency will be able to seize these assets to collect payment for tax debts.
Spain Introduces Law to Strengthen Cryptocurrency Tax Oversight
Spain is preparing to follow European directives that increase the level of oversight on its citizens’ cryptocurrency holdings. According to local media, the government introduced a law forcing virtual asset service providers to report transaction data and the holdings of their users.
As part of the Directive on Administrative Cooperation on Tax Transparency for Crypto-Assets (DAC8), the Spanish tax agency will also receive data of Spanish citizens with accounts in crypto exchanges located in the European Union (EU) or third countries signing agreements with the EU.
DAC8 seeks to enforce compliance with tax laws in the EU, given the challenges that cryptocurrencies, due to their decentralized nature, pose for European tax agencies. The directive encompasses the exchange of information on crypto transactions and holdings with tax agencies on an annual basis.
The draft introduced would also allow the Spanish tax agency to seize the cryptocurrency holdings of any user with tax debts. This also extends to other digital assets. The measure seeks to expand the tax agency’s scope, which can only confiscate money held in traditional bank institutions for this objective.
Cris Carrascosa, a cryptocurrency attorney, declared that she participated in the drafting of this project, stressing that she believes that “public-private collaboration in drafting regulations that affect changing issues, such as innovation, but which are also highly technical, is the only way to pass fair, sensible and effective laws.”
DAC8 will be enforced in January 2026 across Europe and aims to generate over 2.4 billion euros in taxes with its new level of scrutiny. The EU’s Taxation and Customs Union estimates that the first data exchanges relating to the first reporting year (2026) will take place by 30 September 2027.
Read more: Warning: Europe Might Irrevocably Make Bitcoin Illegal