Do Tax laws apply to DAOs?
Select jurisdiction
Germany
It depends. The bottom line is that most DAOs can be captured with the existing tax regulations. The starting point for the German tax law classification is the corporate legal qualification of DAOs, e.g., as “Gesellschaft bürgerlichen Rechts” (GbR). From a tax procedural point of view, the purely digital and decentralized structure of DAOs does lead to considerable problems in terms of local classification, specifically management and permanent establishment, as the location
of a DAO’s management cannot really be determined.
However, it can also be based on the location of the DAO’s greatest influence. In this respect, numerous criteria and indications can be used. If the place of greatest influence is in Germany, German tax law would also apply.
