Austria Tax Rule: Bitcoin Savings Plans Use Moving Average Price

When investors buy bitcoin across multiple transactions—such as 200 euros monthly—they acquire coins at different prices. For tax purposes, Austria applies the moving average price method to determine which acquisition cost applies when units are later sold.

Under this system, when the same cryptocurrency is acquired repeatedly at the same wallet or address, the acquisition costs are merged into a single average price. If an investor holds 0.03 bitcoin with combined acquisition costs of 1,200 euros and sells 0.01 bitcoin, that sale is attributed 400 euros in acquisition costs—regardless of which specific coins were purchased first, last, or at what individual price.

The average price is not fixed permanently. Each new purchase of the same cryptocurrency at the same address or wallet recalculates it. Buying an additional 0.01 bitcoin for 600 euros, for instance, changes the average across the entire holding. Austrian crypto asset regulation mandates this moving average method for both capital gains tax deduction and income tax assessment.

Investors managing multiple wallets should note that bitcoin held in different addresses are not automatically merged for tax purposes. Each wallet can carry different acquisition costs under Austrian rules. However, providers obliged to withhold capital gains tax may choose whether to use the individual address or the entire wallet as the reference unit, and that choice then becomes binding.

One significant exception applies to bitcoin acquired on or before February 28, 2021. These legacy holdings do not feed into the moving average price of newer purchases. Similarly, bitcoin assigned flat-rate acquisition costs due to missing tax data remain separate. Savings plan investors may therefore face a tax division between older and newer holdings despite regular purchases.