France's Assembly Backs 31.4% Tax on Crypto-to-Stablecoin Swaps, Still Three Votes From Law

Published October 17, 2026, 19:45 PKT. Based on the Assemblée nationale amendment record for amendment I-3898 (primary source), TokenPost's October 17, 2026 coverage (secondary source), and Journal du Coin's reporting via CoinGabbar (secondary source).

France's National Assembly voted on October 16, 2026 to close a tax loophole that let crypto investors swap Bitcoin and other crypto assets into regulated stablecoins without triggering a tax bill, adopting an amendment that would make those swaps a taxable event from January 1, 2027 at the country's 31.4% flat capital-gains rate.

Amendment I-3898 and the hole in the legislation

The amendment, numbered I-3898 and filed by MP Nicolas Sansu of the GDR group with 16 co-signers, edits Article 150 VH bis of France's General Tax Code. Today, crypto-to-crypto swaps enjoy a tax deferral: no bill arrives until gains are cashed out in euros or spent on goods and services. The amendment's authors called that deferral "a hole in the legislation," arguing that regulated stablecoins function as ordinary investment vehicles that can be used for payments or further crypto purchases, according to reporting by CryptoTimes.

The 31.4% rate and how it is computed

The amendment sets no rate of its own. It defers to France's flat tax on private investors' capital gains, which rose to 31.4% on January 1 after the social-charge portion climbed from 17.2% to 18.6%. The tax would apply to the gain, not the full value of the swap. Gains would be computed from acquisition cost, using a weighted average for holdings of the same token bought at different prices, according to CryptoWatchDaily's reading of the amendment text. Journal du Coin illustrated it with a simple example: swap Bitcoin worth 10,000 euros into a stablecoin with a 4,000-euro gain, and the bill comes to about 1,256 euros, even though no euro was ever received.

USDC in, USDT out: which coins are caught

Only electronic money tokens as defined by the EU's MiCA regulation are caught, which makes this a MiCA tax rather than a blanket levy. USDC and EURC fall inside the net; USDT sits outside it, according to Chainalysis analysis cited by Journal du Coin. Chainalysis warned the gap could push volumes toward on-chain and non-EU stablecoins, creating a headwind for the expansion of Europe's compliant stablecoin sector. France is not the first to move: the amendment's authors noted that the United Kingdom and Italy already treat similar conversions as taxable.

Losses denied, exit tax still pending

The Assembly rejected a related floor amendment that would have let investors carry realized crypto losses forward for 10 years, as stock investors already can, TokenPost reported. Still pending are two more budget proposals: extending France's exit tax to household crypto holdings above 800,000 euros for taxpayers who were French residents at least six of the previous 10 years and move abroad, and requiring year-end reporting of directly held crypto assets worth at least 100,000 euros.

Three votes stand between the amendment and law

None of this is law yet. The amendment remains part of the proposed 2027 budget, which is still under consideration. Journal du Coin listed the path ahead: a solemn vote on the revenue section on October 20, examination of the whole 2027 draft budget bill on November 17, and afterwards review by the Senate. The Assembly must complete its budget votes by December 10.

This article is news reporting and is not investment advice.

Sources

• Assemblée nationale, amendment I-3898 to the 2027 budget bill (projet de loi de finances pour 2027), adopted October 16, 2026, primary source: the amendment text editing Article 150 VH bis of the General Tax Code so that crypto swaps into MiCA electronic money tokens lose their tax deferral from January 1, 2027; filed by MP Nicolas Sansu (GDR) with 16 co-signers
• TokenPost, October 17, 2026, secondary source: the Assembly adopted the budget amendment on October 16; the 31.4% rate applies to the gain, not the swapped value; the exit-tax and wallet-reporting proposals remain pending; the Assembly rejected the loss-carry-forward amendment
• Journal du Coin via CoinGabbar, October 17, 2026, secondary source: the October 16 adoption of amendment I-3898; the 10,000-euro BTC swap example producing a 1,256-euro bill; Chainalysis analysis placing USDT outside the measure's scope; the October 20, November 17 and Senate steps still ahead
• CryptoWatchDaily, October 2026, secondary source: amendment I-CF1826 adopted by the Finance Committee on October 7; the 31.4% flat tax composition of 12.8% income tax and 18.6% social contributions