DAC8: Crypto-Asset Reporting in the EU — What Changes from 2026

Since 1 January 2026, DAC8 has been in force across the EU — rules that require crypto-asset service providers to report client transactions to tax authorities. This article covers what exactly changes, what data Latvia’s tax authority (VID) will receive, and what it means in practice for anyone holding or trading crypto.

This page is not individual tax or legal advice.

What DAC8 is

DAC8 is an EU Council directive (2023/2226) amending the directive on administrative cooperation in tax matters and extending automatic information exchange to crypto-assets. It implements the OECD’s Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) — the global reporting standard for crypto.

An important point about what DAC8 is: it’s a directive, not a directly-applicable EU law. Each member state has to transpose it into national law (Latvia did, by amending its Law on Taxes and Fees). So it’s more accurate to think of it not as a “new national law” but as a single EU regime operating across all member states at once.

The principle isn’t new: bank accounts have been transparent across borders for years under CRS. DAC8 applies the same logic to crypto — an area tax administrations could barely see into now becomes structurally visible.

Who has to report

The obligation falls on crypto-asset service providers — exchanges, brokers, trading platforms and other operators executing client transactions. It covers both CASPs licensed under MiCA and non-EU operators serving EU residents — the latter must register in one member state and report there.

Self-custody wallets are not reportable as such — nobody reports on what happens inside your own wallet. But transfers between a service provider and private wallets are part of what gets reported, so the overall picture still forms.

How the data reaches VID

The key thing for a Latvian user to grasp: most of the exchanges we use aren’t registered in Latvia — but that no longer means VID can’t see them.

The mechanism works like this. A provider reports to the tax authority of its own member state of registration. That authority then automatically exchanges the data with the authority of the member state where the client is tax-resident. So for you, as a Latvian resident, the data is routed to VID — regardless of which EU country the exchange sits in. There is no single EU tax body that pools it all: the data flows between national authorities, with the European Commission providing only the technical infrastructure.

For each client, once a year, the following is passed on:

• identification data: name, address, member state(s) of residence and tax identification number;
• transaction summaries per crypto-asset type: exchanges against fiat, crypto-to-crypto exchanges and transfers — the number of transactions and aggregate values, inbound and outbound separately.

VID does not receive every individual transaction with its full history — but annual totals per asset type are enough to compare against what was declared and spot discrepancies.

Timeline

• From 1 January 2026 — providers collect reportable data.
• By 30 June 2027 — the first report, covering calendar year 2026.
• Member state administrations then exchange the data — for 2026, by 30 September 2027. In practice, the information reaches VID in the second half of 2027.

What it means for individuals

DAC8 is not a new tax — how tax is calculated and declared doesn’t change at all (the rules are covered in the full crypto tax guide). What changes is visibility. Until now, VID obtained crypto data sporadically; from 2027 it arrives automatically and in structured form.

The practical consequence is simple: if what providers report doesn’t match what was declared, a question from the tax authority is only a matter of time. For those whose filings are in order, DAC8 changes nothing.

If past years were never declared, 2026 is the right moment to put them in order — before the data reaches the authorities. The technical side is in the EDS guide; for doing it with legal support, see the crypto lawyer in Latvia page.

What it means for CASPs and founders

For service providers, DAC8 adds a new compliance layer alongside MiCA and AML: collecting and validating client self-certifications, data validation, and building the reporting processes. Penalties apply for non-compliance. If you’re building or already running a CASP, MiCA/CASP licensing and AML/KYC programmes are adjacent workstreams best handled together.

Frequently asked questions

Is DAC8 a new tax? No. DAC8 changes nothing about how tax is calculated — it only ensures tax authorities can see crypto-asset transactions. How much you owe and when is still governed by the existing rules.

Will the tax authority learn about my trades on a foreign exchange? If the exchange operates in the EU — yes: it reports to its own tax administration, and member states exchange the data automatically. Non-EU providers serving EU residents must register in a member state and report there. In parallel, nearly 70 jurisdictions have committed to CARF, the global standard — Singapore, Hong Kong and the UAE, for example, start exchanging in 2028. Practical coverage outside the EU will depend on implementation, but the direction is unmistakable: the invisible zones keep shrinking.

Are self-custody wallets reported too? Only service providers have reporting obligations — nobody reports on what happens inside your own wallet. But transfers between a provider and external wallets are a separate reportable category: an exchange must also report transfers to addresses not associated with any service provider. So the overall picture forms even when assets sit in self-custody.

What if past years were never declared? Put them in order now — voluntarily correcting your filings before the tax authority asks is always a stronger position than explaining afterwards. The step-by-step EDS guide is a good place to start; for anything non-standard, get advice first.

When will the tax authority actually start seeing the data? The first reports, covering 2026, are due by 30 June 2027, and after the exchange between member states the data reaches national tax authorities in the second half of 2027. But collection is happening already — for all of 2026.

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Related articles:

• Crypto Tax in Latvia 2026 — the full guide
• When do you pay tax on crypto in Latvia

Updated: 14 June 2026.