What do CARF and DAC8 mean for a crypto investor in Finland?

What it is about

CARF (Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework) is an OECD framework under which tax authorities automatically exchange information on crypto-asset transactions. DAC8 is an EU directive that places the same obligation on crypto-asset service providers operating in the EU. In Finland, the law entered into force at the start of 2026.

In practice, exchanges and other service providers identify their customers, establish their country of tax residence and report their transactions. The data goes to the tax authority of the country of residence – even when the exchange operates in another country. According to Yle, around 70 countries are covered by the information exchange.

What is reported

• The customer's identification details and country of tax residence
• Purchases and sales of crypto assets for euros or other fiat currencies
• Exchanges of one crypto asset for another
• Transfers, including transfers out of the service

The data is reported per crypto asset on an annual basis. The exact content is determined by DAC8 and CARF, and it may be clarified in practice during the first reporting rounds.

Timeline

Does this affect earlier years?

Reporting covers transactions from the start of 2026. It does not directly reveal earlier years, but they do not remain outside it either. If you sell crypto in 2026 that you acquired years earlier, calculating the gain on the sale requires the original acquisition cost. If in 2026 you transfer a large amount of crypto assets from your own wallet to an exchange, the natural question is where they came from.

In addition, blockchains are public. When an exchange reports a transfer to a particular wallet address, the full history of that address can be read by anyone.

According to the Tax Administration, there are estimated to be around 300,000 owners of crypto assets in Finland, yet only around 8,200 people reported crypto trades for tax year 2023. The reporting is designed to narrow exactly this gap.

What you should do

1. Check what you have reported. Compare exchange exports and wallet histories with your earlier tax returns.
2. Correct any gaps before the Tax Administration asks. When you correct on your own initiative, the tax increase (penalty surcharge) is 0.5% of the added income. Read more: What if your crypto went unreported?
3. Keep the deadlines in mind. Claims in your own favour, such as for losses, have a three-year deadline. Tax year 2023 closes on 4 Jan 2027. See deadlines by tax year.
4. Keep your 2026 records in order already now. When the reported data arrives, it is easier to reconcile your own calculation with it than to build it after the fact.