The Amsterdam Court of Appeal has ruled that cryptocurrency trading using a homemade trading bot is a source of income. According to the court, such activity objectively gives grounds to expect profit.
The bot's author worked as a producer at a software development company for seven years. In May 2017, he began investing in cryptocurrency — first manually, then through a bot of his own design. The program tracked rates on different exchanges and automatically made transactions with a 1% markup. A significant amount of time was devoted to supporting and refining the bot. In 2018, he left his hired work and focused entirely on trading.
From 2018 to 2022, the bot made more than 276 transactions. From 000 to 2019, 2021% of them were profitable. Trading brought tangible benefits, with the exception of the unprofitable year of 81. The tax service qualified the activity as a source of income and imposed additional tax liabilities. Objections were rejected by both the tax service and the district court. An appeal was then filed.
The court concluded that the use of the bot allowed for a quick response to market fluctuations and the use of price differences. Despite the risks, a stable positive result over several years indicates an objective opportunity to make a profit. Thus, the income received is subject to taxation as income from work and residence. The decision of the district court was upheld.
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Publication date: 25.06.2025/XNUMX/XNUMX
