Options & covered writing
Germany taxes options in two different ways, depending on whether you write (sell) an option or buy one. capi.tax recognises the individual events — premium, closing, expiry, exercise, assignment — and sorts each into the right place.
When you write options (Stillhalter)
The premium you receive is taxable when it reaches you, regardless of what later happens to the option (§ 20 Abs. 1 Nr. 11 EStG).
- Closing (Glattstellung): if you buy the option back, the premium you pay to close reduces your income. A net loss on the round-trip is possible and deductible.
- Worthless expiry: the premium simply stays taxed — the best outcome for you as the writer.
- Assignment: on an assigned short put you acquire the underlying (cost basis = strike); on an assigned short call you deliver it (proceeds = strike). The premium remains a separate item under Nr. 11.
When you buy options (Termingeschäft)
A purchased option is a forward transaction (§ 20 Abs. 2 S. 1 Nr. 3 EStG):
- Sale or cash settlement: your result is the difference between the purchase and the closing sale or cash settlement.
- Worthless expiry: the premium you paid is a deductible loss. The Federal Fiscal Court (BFH) confirmed this and the tax authority adopted it.
- Exercise: on a long call the premium folds into the underlying's cost basis; on a long put it reduces the sale proceeds.
The good news since JStG 2024
Until recently, forward transactions had their own separate loss bucket capped at €20,000 per year (§ 20 Abs. 6 S. 5 EStG, old version). The 2024 Annual Tax Act (JStG 2024) abolished that restriction retroactively in all open cases. Losses from forward transactions can once again be offset without limit against your other capital income.
On the tax return
For private investors, options belong on Anlage KAP — not Anlage SO. Writer premiums and gains from forward transactions go in their dedicated lines, and losses from forward transactions are reported separately.
capi.tax prepares your data and is not tax advice. Please review the figures and ask a tax advisor (Steuerberater) about your personal situation.