Staking, DeFi, airdrops and mining income in Spain

Terms used

• Rendimientos del capital mobiliario — Rendimientos del capital mobiliario is income from lending or investing your capital, such as interest, taxed in the savings base.
• Ganancia patrimonial — A ganancia patrimonial is a capital gain, a rise in your wealth, for example from selling an asset or receiving a free one.
• Rendimientos de actividad económica — Rendimientos de actividad económica is income from a regular business or professional activity, taxed in the general base.
• IAE — The IAE is the business activity tax registration needed to carry on an economic activity in Spain.
• Autónomo — An autónomo is a self-employed person registered with Spain's social security system.

Key rules

• Classify first: Staking, lending, airdrops and mining are each classed as a different type of income, with different tax bases.
• Received value: The euro value on the day you receive a reward is declared as income and becomes its purchase cost.
• Mining: Organised, regular mining is business income needing IAE and autónomo registration; there is no fixed threshold.
• Swaps: Calculate a gain or loss whenever you exchange one asset for another, including pool deposits.

The type of reward decides how it is taxed

Each kind of crypto income has its own classification, and the classification sets the tax base. Sort every reward first, then value it. In every case, the euro value on the day you receive it becomes your purchase cost for that reward.

Staking

Staking rewards are generally treated as rendimientos del capital mobiliario, meaning income from handing your capital to others. They go in the savings base, which has progressive savings rates. You pay tax in the year you receive the reward and can control it, at its euro market value on that day.

If you run staking as an organised business, it counts as activity income instead.

Lending and DeFi yield

Interest from crypto lending and DeFi yield is generally treated the same way as staking: capital income, savings base, taxed when received and available, at the euro value at that moment.

Some yields do not fit this, such as certain liquidity-mining rewards. Depending on the facts, they may count as a capital gain or other income. Official guidance does not cover every DeFi structure, so ask a Spanish tax adviser about unusual products.

Airdrops

A free airdrop is generally a ganancia patrimonial, a gain from an increase in your wealth. It goes in the savings base at its euro value when you receive it.

If you had to do something to get it, such as complete tasks or promote a project, or if it comes from a business activity, it may be activity or work income. That goes in the general base. Tax arises in the year you receive and control the tokens.

Mining

That requires IAE registration and registration as an autónomo. The income goes in the general base.

Occasional mining without organised means can be a ganancia patrimonial, valued when you receive the coins. No fixed number separates the two. The tax agency looks at whether your activity is regular, organised and for your own account.

How the received value becomes your cost

Value each reward in euros when you receive it and declare that amount as income. The same amount becomes its acquisition cost. When you later sell, your gain or loss is the sale price minus that value. Where you hold several units of the same crypto, the oldest are matched first (FIFO).

Selling is a separate taxable event from receiving. You can owe tax twice on the same reward: once as income when received, and once on any gain when sold.

Liquidity pools and wrapping

Spain has no settled rule here. Swapping one crypto for another is treated as a taxable disposal. A pool deposit that gives you LP tokens in exchange for different assets is commonly treated the same way. Some argue that wrapping a token like-for-like is not taxable, but official treatment is inconsistent. The safe approach is to calculate a gain or loss whenever you exchange one asset for another.

Use the checklist below to go through each reward, and the questions below it for common edge cases.

Checklist

• Sort each reward into staking, lending or DeFi interest, airdrop or mining, because each type of income is classified differently.

• Note the euro market value of each reward on the day you received it and could control it.

• Report that received value as income, and keep it as the purchase cost of the reward.

• Check whether a free airdrop needed any action from you, since that can move it from the savings base to the general base.

• Decide whether your mining is occasional or an organised, regular activity, which would need IAE and autónomo registration.

• Work out a gain or loss on any liquidity-pool deposit or wrapping that exchanges one asset for another.

Check liquidity-pool and wrapping treatment with a tax adviser or the AEAT, Spain's tax agency, before you file.

Frequently asked questions

Can mining income count as a capital gain instead of business income?

Yes, occasional mining without organised equipment or staff can be treated as a capital gain valued at receipt. Regular, organised mining for your own account is business income, which needs registration for IAE (the business activity tax) and as self-employed (autónomo). There is no fixed threshold, so the test is how regular and organised your activity is.

What happens when I sell staking or airdrop rewards later?

You work out a separate gain or loss equal to the sale price minus the euro value you declared when you received the reward. That declared value is your purchase cost. Rewards of the same coin are matched first-in first-out.

Is an airdrop taxed the same way as staking rewards?

No, a free airdrop is generally a capital gain (ganancia patrimonial), while staking rewards are generally capital income (rendimientos del capital mobiliario). Both go in the savings base at their euro value when received. An airdrop that required you to do something may instead be taxed as activity or labour income in the general base.

Are liquidity-pool deposits and token wrapping taxable in Spain?

The safest approach is to treat them as taxable, because Spain has no settled rule. A deposit that returns LP tokens is commonly treated as an exchange of one asset for another, which means a gain or loss. Some argue that wrapping is not taxable when it is like-for-like, but the official position is not consistent.