Key Notes
- France’s finance committee backed taxing gains on swaps into MiCA-defined electronic money tokens, with January 2027 proposed as the starting date.
- The 31.4% figure is the existing default rate on private crypto capital gains, not a charge on the full value of every swap.
- The proposal remains pending in the full Assembly, alongside measures for ten-year loss carry-forwards and a crypto exit tax.
France is considering making crypto-to-stablecoin swaps taxable disposals, potentially bringing gains realized when investors exchange Bitcoin or other tokens for fiat-pegged stablecoins into its 31.4% capital-gains regime. The proposal has cleared a National Assembly committee vote, but it is not law.
The finance committee adopted Nicolas Sansu’s amendment on October 7. A version refiled for the full Assembly, I-3898, remains listed as awaiting discussion. Its proposed start date is January 1, 2027.
The distinction is important for traders who move into stablecoins without withdrawing money to a bank. Under the proposed approach, receiving the relevant type of stablecoin could crystallize a gain even though the investor remains entirely within digital assets.
The Proposal Changes When Gains Become Taxable
France’s tax authority currently says exchanges between cryptoassets without a cash balancing payment benefit from tax deferral. A conversion into another token therefore does not ordinarily trigger immediate taxation under the private-investor regime.
Taxable private crypto gains are subject to a default flat rate of 31.4%, comprising 12.8% income tax and 18.6% social contributions. Individuals may instead elect the progressive income-tax scale under the conditions described in the official guidance.
The amendment does not create a 31.4% charge on the entire amount exchanged. It would change the treatment of the disposal, bringing the resulting capital gain into taxation. Describing it simply as a tax on every euro of a stablecoin purchase would overstate the proposal.
The existing guidance also distinguishes management of personal wealth from activity conducted under conditions comparable to professional trading. The headline flat rate should not be treated as a universal rule covering every business, professional activity or taxpayer.
Sansu’s explanatory statement presents stablecoin conversion as a gap in the current regime: investors can move from volatile cryptoassets into tokens linked to conventional currencies without the tax event associated with cashing out. That is the proposal’s stated rationale, rather than a finding that using the existing deferral is unlawful.
MiCA’s Token Definition Matters More Than the Label
The operative text references electronic money tokens under Article 3 of the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation. That category concerns tokens seeking a stable value by reference to one official currency, such as the euro or dollar.
The wording is more specific than a tax on every instrument called a stablecoin. French law firm ORWL’s analysis distinguishes these single-currency tokens from instruments backed by gold or a basket of assets.
It also calls for care with the claim that only licensed stablecoins would be taxed. The amendment uses a MiCA token definition; it does not publish a list of authorized issuers or state that a non-compliant token automatically creates a tax exemption.
CoinDesk reported a warning from Chainalysis’s François Volpoet that the proposed treatment could push activity toward less-monitored offshore channels. That is a forecast about how traders might respond, not evidence that a migration has already occurred.
The commercial concern is that tax treatment and regulatory policy could pull users in different directions. A token can be permitted for distribution under EU rules while its use in a particular exchange creates a French tax event; the two questions concern different obligations.
CoinScreamer’s earlier ESMA coverage examined restrictions on authorized platforms’ services involving non-compliant stablecoins. Those market-access rules are separate from the French proposal, and neither makes an offshore venue a general exemption from a resident’s tax obligations.
Loss Relief and an Exit Tax Are Also on the Table
The wider debate includes a proposal to carry crypto losses forward for ten years. The committee backed Daniel Labaronne’s I-CF798, and a broader plenary amendment, I-3653, would allow eligible losses to offset gains across tax years.
That would change the current treatment, under which losses can offset gains of the same nature within the same year but cannot ordinarily be carried into subsequent years. It remains a proposed relief, rather than an existing entitlement created by the committee vote.
A separate exit-tax amendment would reach unrealized crypto gains when qualifying taxpayers leave France. Its committee text sets a portfolio threshold above €800,000 and requires French tax residence for at least six of the preceding ten years.
The budget process remains unsettled. After voting on individual amendments, the committee rejected the overall revenue section on October 9, as LégiFiscal documented. The Assembly’s legislative file records the start of plenary consideration on October 13.
The refiled swap-tax text still needs to survive that process and subsequent legislative scrutiny. January 1 is its proposed application date, not a confirmed change to the rules investors face today.
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