This is not tax advice
What follows is a qualitative overview of how seven European countries classify and tax P2P lending income as of 2026. Rates and thresholds change, interpretations differ, and your personal situation may trigger additional obligations. We do not provide tax advice. Consult a qualified tax professional or your national tax authority before filing.
The common thread: capital income, not wages
Every country covered in this guide treats P2P interest as capital income or savings income rather than employment income. That distinction matters because capital income often faces a flat or lower marginal rate than wages, and it sits on a separate line of your tax return.
Interest you earn on Maclear, Mintos or any other P2P platform accrues in the year it is credited to your account, even if you reinvest it immediately. You pay tax on the gross amount before any defaults reduce your effective return. Platforms typically provide an annual statement showing the total interest paid; you declare that figure, convert it to your local currency if necessary, and apply your jurisdiction's rate.
Two qualifiers apply everywhere. First, the platform's country of incorporation does not determine your tax. A German resident using a Latvian platform reports the income in Germany and pays German rates. Second, losses may or may not be deductible depending on how your country classifies bad debts within the capital-income rules.
The seven countries at a glance
| Country | Rate | Allowance | Key form | Foreign account disclosure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | 25% + solidarity surcharge | EUR 1,000 (single) / EUR 2,000 (joint) | Anlage KAP | Part of Anlage KAP if interest arises |
| France | 30% PFU (flat tax) | None | Form 2042-C | Form 3916 for foreign accounts |
| Spain | 19-28% (progressive savings scale) | None | Modelo 100 | Modelo 720 if assets exceed EUR 50,000 |
| Italy | 26% flat | None | Quadro RM | Quadro RW for foreign accounts |
| Netherlands | Box 3 (36% of deemed return, ~2% of balance) | Tax-free threshold EUR 57,000 (2026 indicative) | Inkomstenbelasting | Declared in annual return |
| Portugal | 28% flat | None | Modelo 3 - Anexo E | Declared in Modelo 3 |
| United Kingdom | Income tax (0-45%) | Personal savings allowance (GBP 1,000 / GBP 500) | Self-assessment | Only if tax due or HMRC requests |
Germany: Abgeltungsteuer and the EUR 1,000 allowance
Germany taxes capital income at a flat 25 percent under the Abgeltungsteuer (final withholding tax), plus a 5.5 percent solidarity surcharge on the tax itself, bringing the effective rate to 26.375 percent. Church tax may add another 8-9 percent if you are registered with a church.
You receive an annual allowance of EUR 1,000 (EUR 2,000 for married couples filing jointly) that covers all forms of capital income-bank interest, dividends, P2P interest and realised capital gains. Income below that threshold is tax-free. Above it, the flat rate applies to every additional euro.
You declare P2P interest on Anlage KAP (the capital-income supplement to your main tax return). If your platform is based outside Germany and does not withhold tax, you self-report the gross interest and pay the bill when you file. Loss offsetting is permitted: realised capital losses reduce your taxable capital gains in the same year, and any unused loss carries forward indefinitely.
One trap: if your marginal income-tax rate is below 25 percent (for example, if you earn little other income), you can opt for the Gnstigerprfung (more-favourable-assessment check), which applies your personal rate instead. Most P2P investors with standard employment will pay the flat 25 percent.
France: the 30 percent PFU flat tax
France introduced the prlvement forfaitaire unique (PFU) in 2018, a flat 30 percent levy on capital income that combines 12.8 percent income tax and 17.2 percent social charges. P2P interest falls under this regime alongside bank interest and dividends.
No allowance applies. You pay 30 percent on the first euro of P2P interest you earn. You declare the income on form 2042-C (the capital-income annex to your main return). If your platform is based abroad, you report the gross amount received and pay the tax yourself; French banks and brokers may withhold the 12.8 percent income component at source, but most P2P platforms do not.
You may opt out of the PFU and instead apply the progressive income-tax scale if your marginal rate is below 30 percent (which requires a low overall income). Losses on P2P loans can offset other capital income within the same category in the year they are realised.
Foreign account disclosure is mandatory. If you hold an account on a platform outside France, you file form 3916 each year listing the account details, even if the balance is zero or the interest negligible.
Spain: progressive savings scale and Modelo 720
Spain classifies P2P interest as rendimientos del capital mobiliario (returns on movable capital) and taxes it on a progressive scale: 19 percent on the first EUR 6,000, 21 percent from EUR 6,000 to EUR 50,000, 23 percent from EUR 50,000 to EUR 200,000, 27 percent from EUR 200,000 to EUR 300,000, and 28 percent above that.
You declare the income on Modelo 100 (the annual personal income-tax return). No specific allowance applies to P2P interest, though general personal allowances reduce your overall taxable base. Losses may be offset against other savings income in the same year or carried forward for up to four years, but the classification of a P2P default as a realised loss can be fact-specific.
Spain imposes a separate foreign-asset reporting obligation under Modelo 720. If the total value of your foreign financial accounts, securities or real estate exceeds EUR 50,000 at 31 December, you must file Modelo 720 by 31 March of the following year. The threshold applies to the aggregate of all three categories; a P2P account with EUR 30,000 and a foreign savings account with EUR 25,000 together trigger the requirement. Missing the deadline or filing incorrectly carries steep penalties.
Italy: 26 percent flat and quadro RW
Italy taxes capital income at a flat 26 percent. P2P interest is classified as redditi di capitale (capital income) and declared on quadro RM (the capital-income section of your annual return, Modello Redditi).
No allowance applies. The 26 percent rate covers the entire amount of interest earned. If your platform is Italian and acts as a tax intermediary, it may withhold the 26 percent at source and remit it to the Agenzia delle Entrate on your behalf. Most platforms based in other EU countries do not, so you self-report and pay the tax when you file.
Losses on individual P2P loans may be offset against other capital income in the same tax year, provided the loss is definitively realised (for example, the borrower has been declared insolvent or the platform has written off the loan). Carry-forward rules for capital losses are restrictive.
Italy requires disclosure of any foreign financial account on quadro RW (the foreign-assets section of your return), regardless of the account balance or whether any income arose. A dormant P2P account with EUR 10 still triggers the requirement. Failure to disclose can result in penalties that exceed the tax owed.
Netherlands: Box 3 and the deemed-return fiction
The Netherlands does not tax actual interest or capital gains. Instead, it applies a notional return to your net wealth above a threshold and taxes that fictional income at a fixed percentage.
P2P balances fall into Box 3 (savings and investments). In 2026, the tax-free threshold is approximately EUR 57,000 (EUR 114,000 for fiscal partners). Above that, the tax authority assumes you earn a return based on the composition of your assets-cash, debt claims and equity are each assigned a percentage, typically around 2 percent for mixed portfolios. You pay 36 percent tax on that deemed return.
The result: if you hold EUR 10,000 on a P2P platform and earn 12 percent actual interest (EUR 1,200), the tax authority ignores the EUR 1,200 and instead assumes you earned roughly EUR 200 (2 percent of EUR 10,000), on which you pay EUR 72 (36 percent of EUR 200). The effective rate on your actual return is low if your returns are high, punitive if your returns are low or negative.
You declare the year-end balance of your P2P account on your annual Inkomstenbelasting (income-tax return). Losses do not reduce your bill because the tax is levied on deemed wealth, not realised income. The system is under legal challenge and may change.
Portugal: 28 percent flat on foreign and domestic platforms
Portugal taxes capital income at a flat 28 percent. P2P interest is classified as rendimentos de capitais (capital income) and declared on Modelo 3 - Anexo E (the capital-income annex to your annual return).
No allowance applies. The 28 percent rate covers interest from the first euro. If your platform is based in Portugal and registered as a financial intermediary, it may withhold the 28 percent at source. Most EU-based platforms do not, so you self-report and pay the tax when you file by 30 June of the following year.
Losses on P2P loans may be offset against other capital income in the same year, but the loss must be definitively realised. Carry-forward of unused losses is limited. You must declare foreign accounts on Modelo 3, including the country, institution name and year-end balance.
United Kingdom: income tax and the personal savings allowance
The UK treats P2P interest as either trading income or savings income depending on the scale and frequency of your activity. Most investors who use auto-invest and hold loans passively will fall into the savings-income category and pay income tax at their marginal rate: 0 percent (within the personal allowance), 20 percent (basic rate), 40 percent (higher rate) or 45 percent (additional rate).
You receive a personal savings allowance (PSA) of GBP 1,000 if you are a basic-rate taxpayer or GBP 500 if you are a higher-rate taxpayer. Interest within the PSA is tax-free. Additional-rate taxpayers receive no PSA. The allowance covers all savings income (bank interest, peer-to-peer interest, building-society interest); once exhausted, you pay tax at your marginal rate.
You declare P2P interest on your self-assessment return if you file one, or HMRC may collect the tax through an adjustment to your PAYE code if the platform reports the interest under the UK's data-sharing rules. Losses on individual loans may be offset as a trading loss if you are trading, or as a capital loss if you hold the loans as investments; the distinction is fact-specific and hinges on your level of activity.
The Innovative Finance ISA (IFISA) wrapper allows you to hold up to GBP 20,000 of P2P loans tax-free within your annual ISA allowance, but the wrapper does not protect you from capital losses, and uptake has been low since the 2019-2020 platform failures.
You do not need to disclose foreign P2P accounts separately unless HMRC requests the information or you owe tax. If you are non-domiciled and claim the remittance basis, different rules apply.
Cross-border traps: withholding tax and double-taxation treaties
Most P2P platforms do not withhold tax on interest paid to foreign investors. Mintos, PeerBerry and Robocash are based in Latvia or Croatia and typically remit the gross interest to your account, leaving you to report it in your home country.
Some countries have double-taxation treaties that grant a foreign tax credit if tax was withheld at source, but these treaties rarely apply to P2P interest because the platform itself is not the borrower and does not withhold. The result: you pay tax once, in your country of residence, at your domestic rate.
If you move between countries mid-year, you split the tax year at the point of residence change and report interest earned before the move in the old country, interest earned after in the new country. Both jurisdictions will want documentation of the split.
Record-keeping: what you need before you file
Your platform's annual statement is your starting point, but it may not be enough. You need:
- Gross interest received during the calendar year (or the tax year if your country uses one that differs, such as 6 April to 5 April in the UK).
- Currency conversion if the platform reports in a currency other than your own. Use the official exchange rate published by your tax authority on the date the interest was credited, or an average annual rate if permitted.
- Loss documentation if you plan to offset defaults. Some countries require proof that the borrower has been declared insolvent or that the platform has formally written off the loan. A drop in your account balance is not always sufficient.
- Foreign account details for disclosure forms: platform name, country of incorporation, account number (if any), year-end balance.
Keep records for the period your tax authority specifies-typically five to ten years. Digital screenshots of statements are acceptable in most jurisdictions but check whether your authority requires certified translations for foreign-language documents.
In most European countries, P2P interest is classified as capital income or savings income and taxed at the same rate as bank deposit interest. Germany, France, Italy and Portugal all apply their standard capital-gains or flat savings tax to P2P returns. Spain treats it as savings income on a progressive scale. The Netherlands taxes deemed notional returns rather than actual interest. The UK treats it as trading or savings income depending on your activity level, with a personal savings allowance available.
In all seven countries covered here, you pay tax on interest that accrues or is credited to your account during the tax year, even if you leave the money on the platform and reinvest it. Tax is due when the income arises, not when you withdraw it. Platforms typically show the gross interest paid into your account each year, which is the figure you report.
You pay tax in the country where you are tax-resident, not where the platform is incorporated. A German resident using a Latvian platform reports the interest on their German tax return and pays German capital-gains tax. The platform's location determines which licence applies and whether it withholds tax at source, but your tax bill is set by your home country. Many platforms based in Latvia or Estonia do not withhold tax, leaving you to declare the income yourself.
Germany allows you to offset realised capital losses against capital gains within the same year or carry them forward. France, Spain and Italy also permit loss offsetting within the savings or capital-income category, but rules vary on whether the loss must be realised or can be claimed as a bad debt. The Netherlands does not tax actual returns, so losses do not reduce your bill. The UK allows trading losses to offset income if you are trading, or capital losses if you hold the loans as investments. Check your jurisdiction's rules before assuming you can deduct defaults.
Several countries impose separate reporting obligations. Spain requires Modelo 720 disclosure if your total foreign assets exceed EUR 50,000 at year-end. Italy requires quadro RW disclosure for any foreign financial account, regardless of value. Germany has no automatic reporting threshold but asks for foreign income details on your Anlage KAP. France requires foreign account disclosure on form 3916. The Netherlands and Portugal expect you to declare foreign holdings in your annual return. The UK does not require disclosure unless you owe tax. Missing these filings can trigger penalties independent of any unpaid tax.