Bitcoin Lost to a Scam: What Counts as a Tax Loss in Austria

Bitcoin lost to fraud: what the Austrian tax office recognises as a loss

Fake investment platforms, phishing or supposed crypto advisers: anyone who loses bitcoin to fraud may be facing a total loss in economic terms. For tax purposes in Austria, however, that does not automatically mean the original acquisition costs can be claimed as a loss.

For privately held cryptocurrencies the basic rule is this: losing coins to fraud is not a disposal for tax purposes. What is missing is therefore a realisation event, the thing that would trigger a capital loss you could offset against tax.

20,000 euros gone – and still no tax loss?

An example:

• Bitcoin bought for 20,000 euros
• the coins are transferred to the perpetrators as a result of fraud
• no repayment follows

In economic terms the loss amounts to 20,000 euros.

For tax purposes, those 20,000 euros held as private assets generally cannot simply be offset against share gains, dividends or other crypto gains. What is decisive is that the owner did not sell or swap the bitcoin in the course of a normal taxable disposal.

Fraud, theft and hacking are treated along similar lines

Austrian administrative practice groups several cases together in broadly the same way:

• theft of cryptocurrencies,
• loss through fraud,
• a hacking attack,
• loss of the private key.

Outside a business context, none of these on its own generally produces a loss realised for tax purposes. That sets a case of fraud distinctly apart from a voluntary sale below the original purchase price.

A genuine sale at a loss is different

Anyone who buys bitcoin for 20,000 euros and later sells it in the ordinary way for 12,000 euros generally realises a tax loss of 8,000 euros. Under the Austrian loss-offsetting rules, that loss can be set against certain positive capital income in the same year.

Anyone who loses the same bitcoin entirely to fraud suffers the same economic damage – but for tax purposes the necessary realisation is generally absent.

Compensation can trigger fresh tax consequences later on

A further layer arises where the investor holds a claim for repayment or damages.

An example:

• original acquisition costs: 15,000 euros
• the bitcoin is lost to fraud
• a responsible party later pays 18,000 euros in damages

The compensation payment can then become relevant for tax. Depending on the case, it may realise unrealised gains or losses that were present until then.

Document the fraud case fully all the same

Even where no usable tax loss arises at first, investors should secure all the evidence:

• wallet addresses,
• transaction IDs,
• the original purchase receipts,
• chat and email correspondence,
• the police report,
• reports to supervisory authorities,
• records of attempts to recover the funds,
• possible claims for damages.

This documentation becomes especially important if bitcoin or money is repaid after all at a later stage.

Business assets can look different

The restrictions described here apply in particular to privately held cryptocurrencies. Where bitcoin was part of business assets, different rules on profit determination and valuation apply. A business owner should therefore have a fraud loss assessed separately for tax.

Conclusion

A bitcoin loss caused by fraud is economically real in Austria, but where the assets are held privately it generally does not automatically lead to a capital loss that is deductible for tax.

Fraud does not count as a normal disposal. Only later repayments or compensation payments can trigger events that are relevant for tax once more.

(As of September 14, 2026. This article is not investment advice. Prices and fee structures change; check the terms with the provider before you buy.)