French Lower House Passes Amendment to Tax Crypto-to-Stablecoin Swaps at 31.4%

France’s lower house has passed an amendment that would impose a 31.4% capital gains tax on transactions swapping cryptocurrencies for stablecoins.

CoinDesk reported on October 20 that France’s National Assembly on October 16 approved Amendment I-3898, part of the 2027 budget bill, by a razor-thin margin of 38 votes to 37, with 25 abstentions. The amendment had previously been approved by the finance committee before advancing to the full chamber.

Under current French tax law, crypto-to-crypto trades that do not involve cash settlement qualify for tax deferral. The amendment would eliminate that deferral when assets are exchanged for electronic money tokens as defined under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets, or MiCA, framework — effectively stablecoins. As a result, investors could be required to pay capital gains tax at a 31.4% rate when converting into stablecoins, even if they do not withdraw into fiat currency. The change would take effect on January 1, 2027.

The amendment has not yet become law and could still be revised or removed during the remaining parliamentary review of the budget bill. Public Accounts Minister David Amiel urged lawmakers to withdraw the measure, saying stablecoins should first be defined and that authorities need a system to track and monitor portfolio reallocations. Philippe Juvin, the finance committee’s lead rapporteur, also backed keeping the tax deferral in place because of cryptocurrencies’ high volatility.

Industry participants warned of unintended consequences. Francois Vaufolet, Chainalysis’ head of sales for France, told CoinDesk the measure could push investors toward decentralized finance, or DeFi, platforms, peer-to-peer trading and offshore exchanges outside international tax reporting frameworks.

The amendment also would change how capital gains are calculated. Instead of using a method based on gains and losses across an investor’s entire portfolio, it would shift to a system based on the acquisition cost of the asset sold, with the purchase price of the same cryptocurrency calculated on a weighted-average basis.