French Committee Backs Stablecoin Swap Tax and Crypto Exit Tax, Then Rejects the Budget

The committee votes, which took place this week, represent the latest maneuver in France’s ongoing efforts to integrate digital assets into its broader fiscal framework. However, the immediate practical impact of these votes remains uncertain. Following the committee’s actions, the panel rejected the entire revenue section of the national budget by a vote of 31 to 3. Consequently, when the full National Assembly convenes for floor debates beginning October 13, proceedings will start from the government’s original text, effectively stripping out the committee’s crypto amendments unless their backers formally re-table them for consideration.

Closing Legislative Loopholes on Stablecoins

The stablecoin amendment was spearheaded by Nicolas Sansu, a lawmaker representing the left-wing GDR group, alongside 16 co-signers. According to the proposal’s authors, the measure is designed to close what they characterize as a significant hole in existing French tax legislation.

Under current French tax law, swapping one cryptocurrency for another—such as trading Bitcoin for Ethereum—does not immediately trigger a taxable event. Similarly, exchanging a volatile cryptocurrency for a stablecoin, which is a token pegged to the value of a single official fiat currency like the dollar or euro, currently incurs no tax liability. The French state traditionally collects capital gains taxes only when crypto holdings are converted back into regular fiat currency or used directly to purchase goods and services.

The proposed amendment seeks to alter this paradigm by aligning with the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, the landmark rulebook governing the bloc’s digital asset sector. The text covers electronic money tokens as defined under MiCA, a category that encompasses the vast majority of mainstream single-currency stablecoins. Under the committee’s proposal, beginning January 1, 2027, the act of swapping any cryptocurrency into a qualifying stablecoin would be legally classified as a sale. The resulting capital gain would be measured against the original acquisition cost of the initial digital asset.

While the amendment does not stipulate a specific tax rate, it defers to France’s established flat tax regime. Following the passage of the 2026 social-security financing law, which lifted the social-charge portion of capital gains from 17.2% to 18.6%, France’s overarching flat tax on capital rose to 31.4% on January 1. The authors of the amendment maintain that they are not introducing a new tax burden, but rather enforcing existing tax laws against a loophole that allowed certain capital gains to bypass taxation.

In their explanatory notes, the lawmakers argued that stablecoins function as fully fledged investment and transactional vehicles, capable of being utilized to purchase other tokens or execute transactions with crypto service providers. Consequently, they contend that the current tax deferral on swaps into stablecoins lacks justification and unfairly permits unrealized-style liquidity to escape the flat tax.

Extending the Exit Tax to Digital Assets

In addition to the stablecoin rule, Sansu filed a second amendment that would extend France’s traditional exit tax framework to cover digital assets. The exit tax is a fiscal mechanism designed to levy taxes on unrealized capital gains when a resident taxpayer decides to transfer their tax residency abroad.

If enacted for moves occurring from January 1, 2027, the crypto exit tax would apply when a designated tax household holds a combined cryptocurrency portfolio—including assets managed through third-party custodians—valued at more than 800,000 euros. Furthermore, the taxpayer must have maintained French tax residency for at least six of the preceding ten years. This monetary threshold mirrors the existing rules governing traditional equities, and the framework borrows established payment deferral mechanisms from the traditional stock market regime.

Importantly, the proposal clarifies that pure peer-to-peer or portfolio-to-portfolio cryptocurrency swaps conducted without a cash component would not be treated as taxable sales for exit tax purposes. However, to comply with the proposed regulation, taxpayers would be legally required to submit a comprehensive statement detailing all cryptocurrency held on the date of their departure. This mandate would cover all assets, including those stored abroad or maintained via self-custody in private wallets controlled directly by the individual without the intermediation of an exchange.

Proponents of the measure argued that holding digital assets directly allows high-net-worth individuals to bypass an exit tax that would automatically apply to traditional shares of equivalent value. They also emphasized the inherent mobility of digital assets, noting how easily cryptocurrencies can be transferred across international borders compared to traditional financial instruments or real estate.

Balancing Measures and Broader Fiscal Context

Amid the stricter measures proposed by the committee, another amendment introduced by lawmaker Daniel Labaronne successfully gained approval. This provision would introduce a loss-carryforward mechanism for crypto investors, allowing them to offset future capital gains by carrying unused cryptocurrency losses forward for up to ten years. Currently, French law does not permit crypto investors to carry over unused losses from year to year, a restriction that does not apply to traditional stock market investments.

The latest parliamentary maneuvers arrive against a backdrop of evolving and sometimes contentious crypto taxation debates in France. In late October 2025, the Assembly adopted another crypto-inclusive tax measure during its first reading, voting 163 to 150 in favor of an amendment establishing a 1% annual levy on unproductive wealth exceeding 2 million euros. That measure grouped digital assets alongside luxury items like gold and yachts, drawing sharp criticism from legal experts. At the time, attorney Burçak Ünsal remarked to industry publications that taxing early-stage token holders through such mechanisms was economically unjust.

At the same time, the broader regulatory landscape for stablecoins is shifting rapidly. Coinbase announced in October 2024 that it would delist non-compliant stablecoins for European customers by December 30 of that year to align fully with the incoming MiCA framework, directing European users toward compliant alternatives such as USDC and EURC.

With the revenue section of the budget rejected in committee, the stablecoin and exit tax amendments face an uncertain path. Proponents must reintroduce the measures ahead of the floor debate on the budget’s revenue section, which opens on October 13, followed by a scheduled formal vote on October 20. Should the provisions manage to survive the legislative process and be enacted into law, the new stablecoin swap and crypto exit tax rules would take effect on January 1, 2027.