EBA-Quinquies and crypto: permanent regularization for crypto investors

Last update: 16 May 2026 · Reading time: 7 minutes

From September 2027 the Belgian tax authorities will, for the first time, receive crypto reports under DAC8. Between today and that date there is a window in which Belgian crypto investors with a history of undeclared gains can choose: regularize now at a fixed price, or risk the tax authorities soon having a retrospective picture of their transaction history. The fifth tax regularization round, also known as EBA-Quinquies, has offered that possibility through a permanent channel since August 2025.

🎯 The short version (TL;DR)

• The Program Act of 18 July 2025 introduced a permanent tax regularization (EBA-Quinquies).
• Rate for undeclared income: normal rate + 30 percentage points.
• Rate for tax-barred capital whose legal origin you cannot demonstrate: 45%.
• The procedure runs through the Regularization Contact Point of the FOD Financiën and, after approval, produces a certificate with tax and criminal immunity.
• DAC8 leads to the first reporting by Belgian exchanges on 30 September 2027. Anyone who only reacts after the reports have come in loses the regularization option.

⏰ The timeline: why this matters now

Three legislative developments come together for crypto investors with a history.

Anyone who realized crypto gains between 2018 and 2025 and did not declare them (often speculative, sometimes simply overlooked) now gets one last voluntary moment. From the moment the tax authorities have a report pointing to a mismatch, regularization is no longer an option and it becomes an ordinary tax procedure with the accompanying penalties.

💶 The rates: what does regularizing cost?

The rates of EBA-Quinquies are deliberately higher than earlier regularization rounds. The idea is tax balance: anyone who only puts things in order under pressure from DAC8 bears a deterrent component.

Rate on undeclared income (not tax-barred)

For income that is not yet tax-barred (as a rule, within the ordinary investigation period of 3 to 7 years), the normal rate plus 30 percentage points applies. Examples:

• Speculative crypto gain of EUR 40,000 in 2022, qualified as miscellaneous income at 33%, regularization penalty = 33% + 30pp = 63% effective. Amount payable: EUR 25,200.
• Staking income of EUR 6,000 in 2023, movable income at 30%, regularization penalty = 30% + 30pp = 60% effective. Amount payable: EUR 3,600.
• Professional income of EUR 80,000 (progressive bracket 50%), regularization penalty = 50% + 30pp = 80% effective. Amount payable: EUR 64,000.

Rate on tax-barred capital

For capital whose legal origin you can no longer demonstrate (for example through the passage of time or loss of evidence), a flat rate of 45% on the capital to be regularized applies. This typically affects old positions where the purchase data is no longer available, or inheritances whose origin file is lost.

Important: this is a high rate, but a fixed and finite amount. Without regularization, the tax authorities can, in an audit, qualify the entire sale price as taxable income plus penalties and interest, which in practice often turns out higher than the 45%.

🤔 Who should regularize?

Not everyone with a crypto history needs a regularization. The typical profiles that do benefit:

1. Bull-run traders of 2017 and 2021. Those who cashed in gains during the altcoin rally, often speculatively, without declaring. The tax authorities qualified such gains retrospectively as miscellaneous income at 33%.
2. Undeclared foreign exchange balances. Bitvavo, Binance, Kraken and Coinbase accounts that were never reported to the Central Point of Contact (Centraal Aanspreekpunt, CAP). Read our guides on the Bitvavo CAP declaration and the CAP+DAC8 checklist for the current rules.
3. Underestimated professional qualification. Anyone who considered themselves a hobbyist but in fact used high volume or professional tooling can be qualified retrospectively as a professional investor. This is often a gray area that a ruling in advance would have clarified.
4. Inheritances or gifts in crypto. Anyone who inherited or was gifted crypto without clear documentation faces an origin question on sale. Regularization via EBA-Quinquies provides the capital trail here.

📁 The procedure: three steps

Step 1: declaration with the Regularization Contact Point

You submit a formal regularization declaration with the Regularization Contact Point of the FOD Financiën. The declaration contains a detailed description of the amounts to be regularized, their nature (income or capital) and the year of origin. You usually do not do this yourself: a tax advisor or lawyer compiles the file, because the exact qualification of each amount determines the contribution payable.

Step 2: handling by the Contact Point

The Contact Point examines the declaration, requests additional documents (transaction history, bank statements, exchange exports) and determines the contribution payable. In case of doubt or dispute, there may be consultation with your advisor. The turnaround time is typically three to six months.

Step 3: settlement and certificate

After payment of the regularization contribution, you receive a certificate of regularization. That document grants tax and criminal immunity for the declared amounts. The certificate is of inestimable value in future audits, and also with banks that ask anti-money-laundering questions when you transfer crypto funds to a Belgian bank account.

🔍 Burden of proof: this is where Cryptotax comes in

The Contact Point asks for proof of both the income (what did you earn, when) and the capital (where did the money come from). For crypto investors this is often a reconstruction job:

• Complete transaction history per exchange (CSV export or API import).
• On-chain transaction history per wallet, with EUR valuations at the time of transaction.
• Proof of fiat inflow (bank statements, card transactions at exchanges, SEPA transfers).
• Reconstruction of staking rewards, airdrops and DeFi yields per protocol.

Compiling this file manually for 5 to 10 years of transaction history is a days-to-weeks project. With an automated import via Cryptotax it becomes an audit-ready export your tax advisor can use directly. Start a free scan to see whether your transaction history imports completely, and export the relevant PDF per year for your regularization file.

🧮 Concrete example: bull-run trader of 2021

Marc bought EUR 8,000 worth of ETH in 2020. In April 2021 he sold for EUR 48,000 (gain EUR 40,000), realized another EUR 22,000 gain on an altcoin trade three weeks later, and bought a second position in November 2021. None of these gains were declared. Marc thought that his "buy and hold with sporadic trades" fell under normal management, but the high frequency and the returns pointed to speculative behavior.

The difference between voluntarily regularizing and being caught through a DAC8 mismatch is usually EUR 10,000 to EUR 25,000 on a file of this size, plus the difference between a certificate with immunity and an ongoing tax investigation.

🚫 When NOT to regularize?

Regularization is not always the best option. Three scenarios where holding off can make sense:

1. A tax or criminal investigation is already underway. Once a case is opened, regularization is legally excluded. Only the regular framework applies here.
2. You cannot demonstrate the origin of the capital and the 45% rate consumes the entire capital. For small amounts whose origin is unprovable, the choice between "voluntarily paying 45%" and "not realizing" can rationally tip towards the second option (for example a self-managed wallet, no fiat off-ramp planned).
3. Pure self-custody with no trail to fiat. If the crypto was never purchased with a traceable fiat flow (for example through mining, a peer-to-peer purchase or a historical gift), and you have no intention of cashing out via a regulated platform, then regularization can draw unnecessary attention. This is a conversation with a tax advisor, not a DIY decision.

❓ FAQ: frequently asked questions

What if I have already used DLU-Quater?
EBA-Quinquies is open to anyone who has already used DLU-Quater, but only for new amounts that have not been regularized before. A second regularization of the same amount is not possible.

How long does the procedure take?
From filing to receipt of the certificate: typically 3 to 6 months. For complex files or requests for additional documents this can run up to 12 months.

Is there a minimum amount?
There is no legal minimum amount, but for very small files (under EUR 5,000) the guidance costs weigh heavily. An honest assessment with your tax advisor is essential here.

What if my crypto came through a gift or inheritance?
That is exactly the type of situation for which the 45% rate on tax-barred capital works: the origin is known but the exact trail is missing. The regularization confirms the origin and gives you access to the traditional financial system without anti-money-laundering problems.

What about my DAC8 position itself?
From 1 January 2026 you declare correctly via the new regime (10% capital gains tax above the EUR 10,000 exemption, plus staking as movable income, plus speculative remains 33%). EBA-Quinquies only covers the past, not future returns. Read our guide on the capital gains tax for the regime from 2026.

Does my ruling work as evidence?
A ruling that, based on current facts, says you are a prudent person is not a free pass for the past. For historical periods the actual behavior remains decisive.

🧾 Summary

✅ Build your file with Cryptotax

A regularization declaration stands or falls with the quality of your transaction file. Cryptotax imports your complete history from exchanges and wallets, calculates EUR values per moment of transaction, and exports audit-ready PDFs per tax year. Your tax advisor can work directly with those exports to compile the regularization.

Start a free scan to verify the completeness of your transaction data. To find a crypto-savvy tax advisor to build your file, consult our list of Belgian crypto accountants.

Also read our related guides: general guide on tax regularization of crypto, DAC8 in Belgium, and the CAP+DAC8 checklist for foreign exchanges.

Sources:

• FOD Financiën, Regularization Contact Point
• Belgian Official Gazette, Program Act 18 July 2025

⚠️ Disclaimer: This article is purely informative and not individual tax or legal advice. A regularization declaration is a complex process with tax and criminal implications. Always work together with an accredited Belgian tax advisor or lawyer specialized in crypto.