Proposed French tax on regulated stablecoins could drive crypto traders offshore

France’s legislators introduced a new proposal to expand its 31.4% crypto capital gains tax to include trades involving European Union (EU)-regulated stablecoins, a move Chanalysis warns could drive investors toward stablecoins outside the bloc’s rules.

The proposal is part of France’s 2027 budget, which lawmakers began debating last week in the National Assembly and have until Dec. 10 to pass.

An amendment adopted by the National Assembly’s finance committee on Oct. 7 would make it a taxable event when investors exchange cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin for stablecoins classified as electronic money tokens under the EU’s MiCA regulation, which came into full force on July 1.

Swapping one crypto for another generally does not trigger capital gains tax in France. The proposed changes would tax swaps into certain EU-regulated stablecoins starting Jan. 1, 2027. France currently applies a 31.4% flat tax to crypto gains when investors cash out or spend their holdings.

The distinction is critical because the proposal targets a category of stablecoins subject to EU rules, potentially incentivizing traders to use alternatives outside that category.

Francois Volpoet, Chainalysis’ CEO for France, warned that the measure could undermine efforts to bring more crypto transactions into the regulated financial system.

“Do we want more taxpayers to declare their assets, or a higher tax rate applied to a base that is increasingly evaded?” Volpoet said in an email to CoinDesk. He said authorities can more easily monitor regulated stablecoin transactions than trades made through decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms or self-hosted wallets.

Another amendment backed by the finance committee on Oct. 9 would require French taxpayers to declare self-hosted crypto wallets holding at least €100,000 ($116,000 approximately) in assets, with fines of up to $11,600 for failing to comply.

Volpoet raised concerns about the security of such disclosures, pointing to a rise in physical attacks targeting crypto holders in France. As of July, Europe recorded 39 of the 52 global incidents, with France alone responsible for 33, or 63.5% of the worldwide total.

Lawmakers also backed a proposal to extend France’s exit tax to crypto holdings worth roughly $900,000. The measure would bring unrealized crypto gains under the tax rules already applied to wealthy shareholders who move abroad.

A separate amendment backed on Oct. 7 would allow investors to carry forward crypto losses for up to 10 years, bringing their tax treatment closer to that of stocks.

The finance committee subsequently rejected the revenue section of the government’s 2027 budget by 31 votes to 3, meaning the crypto amendments must be submitted again for debate in the full National Assembly. Lawmakers are scheduled to vote on the revenue section on October 20.

None of the measures have yet become law.

France’s plans to extend crypto taxation comes as Greece takes the opposite direction. Greece is preparing to impose a 10% capital gains tax (CGT) on cryptocurrency, according to a draft bill published last week for public consultation. The 10% levy puts Greece among EU countries with the lowest taxes on crypto. Germany, France and Italy are setting or planning to set capital gains at over 25%.