France Assembly Backs Proposal to End Tax Deferral on Some Crypto Swaps

France’s National Assembly adopted an amendment Friday that would end tax deferral on some crypto-to-stablecoin swaps from 2027, while leaving any applicable tax rate unspecified.

Lawmakers approved the measure 38-37, with 25 abstentions, during the first reading of the 2027 budget bill. The bill remains under parliamentary review, so the amendment has not taken effect.

Amendment I-3898, filed by Nicolas Sansu and 16 other deputies, covers exchanges in which an investor receives an electronic money token, as defined by the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), or rights linked to one. MiCA defines the category as crypto-assets designed to maintain a stable value against one official currency. The amendment does not name specific tokens.

Under current French rules, exchanges of crypto-assets without a cash adjustment receive tax deferral. Private investors currently pay a 31.4% flat rate on digital-asset gains, comprising 12.8% income tax and 18.6% in social contributions. They may instead opt for progressive income-tax rates. The earlier coverage of the vote discussed the 31.4% figure; that is the current flat rate, not a rate specified in I-3898.

If enacted, the amendment would apply to disposals and exchanges from Jan. 1, 2027. It would calculate a gain by subtracting the acquisition price of the asset sold from its disposal price. For assets of the same type acquired at different prices, the proposal uses a weighted average acquisition price.

For assets acquired before 2027, investors could use documented acquisition prices for each asset or allocate the portfolio’s total acquisition cost as of Dec. 31, 2026, among the assets held then according to their value. The choice would become irrevocable for the portfolio when the investor files the first qualifying return.

Public Action and Accounts Minister David Amiel said lawmakers still needed to define which tokens would qualify and determine how to track portfolio reallocations. He described the work as complex and called for further study. The proposed start date is Jan. 1, 2027, if the measure becomes law.