France Wants to Tax Crypto Before You Sell
The proposal would also affect wallets and stablecoin swaps, as France lines up with stricter EU reporting under DAC8. The measure is still part of the 2027 budget debate.
Key Takeaways
- French lawmakers are discussing a proposal to tax crypto on unrealized gains once a holder leaves France, even without selling.
- The measure would apply to holdings above €800,000 and would also include personal wallets and foreign wallets.
- A second proposal would treat swaps from Bitcoin into dollar-pegged stablecoins as a sale starting in January 2027.
French lawmakers are discussing a proposal to tax crypto on unrealized gains once a holder leaves the country, even if the coins have not been sold yet. The measure would apply to holdings above €800,000 and is part of the 2027 budget debate. The plan is not final yet and could still be dropped in the debate starting Tuesday.
How the Exit Tax Works
The proposal comes from left-wing lawmaker Nicolas Sansu and was submitted as an amendment to France's 2027 budget. According to a Paris law firm, the National Assembly's finance committee approved the plan on October 8. France already charges a departure tax like this on stocks for wealthy residents, but crypto had been exempt until now.
The new rule would focus on unrealized gains. For example, someone who bought €200,000 worth of coins and later sees them rise to €1 million would have a taxable gain of €800,000 when leaving, even without selling. The tax would apply to people who were tax residents of France for at least six of the past ten years.
Wallets and Exchanges Too
Notably, the measure would not only affect coins on a crypto exchange. Holdings in a personal crypto wallet would also count, even if that wallet is located abroad. Taxpayers leaving France would also have to report all of their crypto positions on their tax return.
With this, lawmakers are trying to close a gap between crypto investors and stockholders with similar wealth. The sponsors say that someone leaving France with millions in crypto can now avoid a tax that does apply to stock owners.
Stablecoins Are Getting Attention Too
Alongside the exit tax, Sansu has another proposal on the table. It targets stablecoins, tokens tied to assets like the dollar or the euro. Under the proposal, a swap from Bitcoin into a dollar-pegged token would count as a sale starting in January 2027 and would therefore be taxed at the French rate of 31.4%.
For European crypto watchers, the big takeaway is that France is joining a broader trend of tighter tax oversight. The EU will roll out DAC8 rules starting in 2026, requiring crypto platforms to collect customer and transaction data and report it to tax authorities starting in 2027. At the same time, France's 2027 budget is leaning hard on higher taxes to get public finances back under control. Pressure on crypto holders is also rising in other European countries: Greece, for example, is working on a tax on crypto gains.
