France’s National Assembly finance committee approved two crypto tax amendments this week, one aimed at taxing conversions from cryptocurrencies into stablecoins and another designed to extend the country’s exit tax to wealthy crypto holders who move their tax residence abroad. Even so, the immediate effect of those votes may be limited.
On Friday, the committee voted 31 against and 3 in favor to reject the entire revenue section of the budget bill. That means the full Assembly will begin from the government’s original text, and the crypto amendments are not part of that version.
Two crypto tax amendments cleared committee stage
The first amendment would tax conversions from crypto assets into stablecoins, meaning tokens pegged to a single fiat currency such as the U.S. dollar or the euro.
The second would expand France’s exit tax regime to cover crypto assets held by wealthy taxpayers who relocate overseas.
Still, because the committee later struck down the budget’s full revenue package, those amendments will not automatically move forward in the text now heading to the full chamber. Backers will need to reintroduce them during plenary debate starting Oct. 13. Neither measure has become law, and both still face the rest of the legislative process.
Stablecoin amendment targets what sponsors call a legal gap
The stablecoin amendment was introduced by Nicolas Sansu of the left-wing GDR group together with 16 co-signers. The sponsors said the proposal addresses a “legal loophole.”
Under current French rules, converting Bitcoin into stablecoins does not trigger tax because gains are generally taxed only when converted into fiat currency or used for spending. The amendment would change that treatment.
The text covers e-money tokens as defined under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation, or MiCA, a category that includes most stablecoins pegged to a single currency. From Jan. 1, 2027, converting into those tokens would be treated as a disposal, with gains calculated on the basis of the holder’s original acquisition cost.
The amendment does not set a separate tax rate. Instead, it would apply France’s existing flat tax system. Because the 2026 social security financing law raised the social tax component from 17.2% to 18.6%, the flat rate rose to 31.4% on Jan. 1. The sponsors said they were not creating a new burden but applying existing law to a case they believe had been left out.
They also argued that stablecoins can function as ordinary investment instruments because they can be used to pay crypto service providers or to buy other tokens. On that basis, they said, allowing tax deferral after a conversion into stablecoins is not justified and can let gains escape the flat tax.
Exit tax proposal would be extended to crypto holdings
Sansu’s second amendment would bring crypto assets into France’s exit tax framework. The exit tax applies to unrealized gains when a taxpayer transfers tax residence abroad.
Under the proposal, the tax would apply to moves taking place after Jan. 1, 2027, when a tax household’s total crypto holdings exceed €800,000, including assets held through custodians, and the taxpayer has been a French tax resident for at least six of the previous 10 years.
That threshold matches the one used for shares, and the deferral rules would also borrow from the stock regime. The amendment also says crypto-to-crypto exchanges that do not involve cash would not count as disposals for exit tax purposes.
Taxpayers would have to declare all crypto holdings on the day they move, including offshore assets and self-custodied assets, meaning holdings kept in wallets they control directly rather than through an exchange.
The sponsors said directly held crypto assets can currently avoid the exit tax while shares of the same value cannot. They also stressed that digital assets are easy to move across borders.
Loss carryforward amendment also won approval
A separate amendment from Daniel Labaronne was also approved by the committee. It would allow investors to carry crypto losses forward for 10 years to offset future gains, aligning the treatment with shares. Under current rules, unused crypto losses cannot be carried forward.
France has already advanced other crypto tax measures
In late October 2025, the National Assembly approved at first reading another tax measure involving crypto assets. That amendment passed by 163 votes to 150 and imposed a 1% annual tax on “non-productive” wealth above €2 million, grouping digital assets with gold and yachts.
At the time, lawyer Burçak Ünsal told Decrypt that taxing early token holders could be “economically unfair.”
MiCA compliance is tightening the stablecoin environment in Europe
At the European level, stablecoin rules have also been tightening. Coinbase said in October 2024 that it would delist non-MiCA-compliant stablecoins for European customers by Dec. 30 and steer users toward compliant tokens such as USDC and EURC.
For the French budget process, plenary debate on the revenue section is set to begin on Oct. 13, with a formal vote scheduled for Oct. 20. If the measures are reintroduced and approved, the stablecoin tax and the crypto exit tax rules would take effect on Jan. 1, 2027.
