Tax on staking, lending and airdrops.

In staking, you lock up tokens to help secure a blockchain network, in return for periodic new tokens as a reward. For private individuals doing this as part of normal, active asset management, the underlying position is generally still treated as wealth under Box 3, where the value on the reference date counts, including any rewards received that you still hold at that point.

Whether receiving the reward itself constitutes a separate taxable event is less clear-cut and can depend on how staking is organised: directly through a protocol, via an exchange offering staking as a service, or through a third party promising a fixed return. For large-scale or actively reinvested staking activity, a tax inspector might, in certain circumstances, treat it as results from other activities, with a different tax treatment than Box 3.

In lending, you lend crypto to a platform or counterparty in exchange for a periodic fee, often paid in the same or a different token. This fee economically resembles interest on a loan, and the tax treatment builds on that: for a private investor, the underlying position generally falls under Box 3, while whether the fee itself is separately taxed depends on the exact structure and frequency of the activity.

An important practical point with lending is counterparty risk: platforms promising high, fixed returns on lent crypto have repeatedly run into trouble in the past, resulting in loss of the lent amounts. Tax consequences are of secondary importance compared with the risk inherent in the lending itself.

An airdrop is the free distribution of tokens, often used as a marketing tool for a new project or as a reward for early users of a protocol. For tax purposes, an airdrop is generally treated as an asset once you actually receive the tokens and can dispose of them; the value at that moment, and subsequently on each reference date, counts under Box 3.

Discussion can arise about the moment you 'dispose of' an airdrop, for example when tokens are claimable but not yet claimed, or when they are subject to a lock-up period before becoming tradeable. Carefully recording the claim date and the value at that moment helps ensure a consistent tax filing.

In Belgium, the tax treatment of staking, lending and airdrop income strongly depends on whether it qualifies as normal management of private assets, miscellaneous income, or professional activity. Under normal management of private assets, there is generally no tax on the capital gain itself, while periodic rewards such as staking rewards may more readily be treated as miscellaneous income, taxed at a specific rate.

For a broader comparison between the Netherlands and Belgium, including the differences in approach between Box 3 and Belgian income tax, the dedicated guide on crypto tax in both countries is a good starting point.

Anyone regularly receiving staking rewards, lending income or airdrops should record the date, the number of tokens and the euro value at that moment for each receipt. This avoids having to reconstruct, sometimes years later, exactly what was received and when.

Many platforms offer an export function for transaction history, but not all exports show the euro value at the correct moment. A separate spreadsheet or specialised crypto tax software can help keep the data organised and consistent, tying into the broader guide on crypto record-keeping.