Private Veräußerungsgeschäfte versus Kapitalerträge: Gold, Xetra-Gold, Crypto, Physical Commodities and Certificates
Decide for each instrument whether §23 (private sale, one-year rule, personal rate) or §20 (capital income, 26.375 percent, no holding period) applies, and calculate the tax difference.
What you will learn
- The differences between a private sale transaction and capital income that change your tax bill.
- Why Xetra-Gold and similar products are treated like physical gold while most gold ETCs are not.
- Where physical commodities, crypto, certificates and derivatives fall and how losses are ring-fenced.
- How to check a product's legal structure before you buy it.
Explanation
German tax law has two drawers for private gains. Kapitalerträge (capital income, §20 EStG) cover shares, bonds, funds, certificates and derivatives: the bank withholds 26.375 percent (lesson 1), there is no holding period, and losses stay in the pots of lesson 3. Private Veräußerungsgeschäfte (private sale transactions, §23 EStG) cover "other assets": tax free after one year, taxable at your personal rate within one year subject to the €1,000 Freigrenze, declared by you in Anlage SO, with losses usable only against other §23 gains.
| Feature | §20 capital income | §23 private sale |
|---|---|---|
| Tax rate | 26.375% flat (church tax extra) | Personal rate, 0 to 45% plus surcharges |
| Holding period | None, always taxable | Tax free after one year |
| Allowance | Sparer-Pauschbetrag €1,000 (Freibetrag) | €1,000 Freigrenze, all or nothing |
| Losses | Share pot and general pot | Only against §23 gains, one-year carry-back |
| Collection | Bank withholds | You declare in Anlage SO |
Gold and other physical commodities
Bars and coins of gold, silver, platinum or palladium in your possession or in a vault in your name are other assets: §23. Sell after one year and the gain is tax free; within a year it counts against the €1,000 Freigrenze together with crypto. VAT on silver is covered in the course "Gold & Precious Metals".
Xetra-Gold and ETCs with a delivery claim
An ETC (exchange-traded commodity) is legally a bond issued by a company, not a fund. Normally a bond is a capital claim and falls under §20. The Bundesfinanzhof (BFH, the federal fiscal court) decided in May 2015 for Xetra-Gold and in June 2020 for a similar foreign product that an ETC which gives the holder an enforceable claim to physical delivery of the gold is economically the same as owning gold and therefore falls under §23. Products with this feature include Xetra-Gold and EUWAX Gold II (as of 2026; check the prospectus). Consequence: tax free after one year, and German banks generally withhold nothing on the sale. A gold ETC without a delivery claim, and any certificate whose value tracks gold but settles in cash, is a capital claim under §20: 26.375 percent, no holding period.
Crypto, certificates and derivatives
Coins and tokens held directly are §23 (previous lesson). The same coin wrapped in an exchange-traded product is a debt security: issuers argue the Xetra-Gold logic where a delivery claim exists, but this is less settled than for gold; without a delivery claim it is §20. Certificates (index, bonus, discount, knock-out) are capital claims or forward transactions under §20; options, futures and CFDs are Termingeschäfte (forward transactions) under §20 Abs. 2 Nr. 3. The former €20,000 cap on offsetting losses from Termingeschäfte was removed by the Jahressteuergesetz 2024 for all open cases; the details are in lesson 4.
The practical check
Before buying, read the basic information sheet: fund, debt security or physical asset? If a debt security, does it grant a physical delivery claim? If the bank withholds tax wrongly, you can correct it in your return, but you must prove the structure.
Worked example
Hypothetical example: three sales in 2026, marginal rate 30 percent, Sparer-Pauschbetrag used, fees and church tax ignored.
- Xetra-Gold bought 14 months ago, gain €2,500. §23, held over one year: tax €0.
- Gold ETC without delivery claim bought three years ago, gain €2,500. §20: €2,500 × 26.375% = €659.38, withheld by the bank.
- Silver coins bought eight months ago, gain €700, plus a crypto sale within one year, gain €500. §23 total €1,200, which reaches the €1,000 Freigrenze: €1,200 × 30% = €360, declared in Anlage SO.
Total tax €1,019.38. Two identical gold gains cost €0 or €659.38 purely because of the legal wrapper. Had the silver coins been held four more months, the §23 total would have been €500, below the Freigrenze, and item 3 would have cost nothing.
Common mistake
Practice activity
On paper, classify each position as §20 or §23 and calculate the tax on a €1,500 gain for each, assuming a two-year holding period, a 40 percent personal rate, allowance used, no other private sales: (a) a 100 g gold bar in a bank safe; (b) a gold certificate settled in cash; (c) Xetra-Gold; (d) a Bitcoin ETP without delivery claim; (e) Bitcoin in a hardware wallet; (f) a DAX discount certificate.
Show solution
(a) §23, over one year: €0. (b) §20: €1,500 × 26.375% = €395.63. (c) §23 (delivery claim): €0. (d) §20: €395.63. (e) §23, over one year: €0. (f) §20: €395.63.
Three positions pay €395.63 and three pay nothing for identical gains. At eight months, (a), (c) and (e) would each be taxed at 40 percent = €600 because each gain exceeds the Freigrenze, so the wrapper question cuts both ways.
Limitations: fees and spreads, the Sparer-Pauschbetrag, loss pots and church tax are ignored; the treatment of crypto ETPs with a delivery claim is not fully settled, so check the current position.
Key takeaways
- §20 means flat 26.375 percent and no holding period; §23 means personal rate within one year and tax free after one year.
- Physical metals, direct crypto and ETCs with an enforceable delivery claim (Xetra-Gold, EUWAX Gold II) are §23.
- Cash-settled certificates, ETCs without delivery claim and derivatives are §20.
- Check the legal structure in the product documents before you buy, not when you sell.
Next step
The next lesson explains grandfathering: shares bought before 2009, fund units bought before 2018 and the €100,000 allowance.
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