France's National Assembly adopts amendment ending crypto-to-stablecoin tax deferral

France's National Assembly adopted amendment I-3898 to the 2027 budget on Oct. 16 by a vote of 38 to 37, with 25 abstentions, which would end tax deferral on crypto-to-stablecoin swaps, according to CoinDesk. The vote advances a proposal the finance committee had already approved.

The amendment creates no new rate, but it removes deferral when the asset received is an e-money token as defined by the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets framework. Under current French rules, exchanges between crypto assets without an additional cash payment generally benefit from tax deferral. Deferral would still apply to swaps into other crypto assets.

Gains on private investments otherwise face a default 31.4% rate, though investors can opt for the progressive income-tax scale. The practical effect is that an investor could owe tax on a move into a qualifying stablecoin without withdrawing fiat to a bank account.

The measure is not law; it would apply to transactions from Jan. 1, 2027, but remains subject to remaining parliamentary stages and could still be amended or removed.

Public Accounts Minister David Amiel asked lawmakers to withdraw the amendment and said he would oppose it otherwise. "We first need to define stablecoins, then ensure our ability to monitor and trace reallocations within a portfolio of assets," he told the chamber during the debate. Philippe Juvin, the finance committee's rapporteur general, said he favored keeping the deferral given crypto's volatility.

A second provision in the text would replace France's portfolio-wide capital-gains calculation with one based on the acquisition cost of the assets sold. Units of the same cryptocurrency bought at different prices would use a weighted average. That changes how a taxable gain is computed, separately from the stablecoin question.

Francois Volpoet, Chainalysis' regional sales director for France, told CoinDesk last week the proposal could push investors toward decentralized finance platforms, peer-to-peer transactions and offshore exchanges outside international tax-reporting arrangements.