By Elena Vasquez

French lawmakers are considering a 31.4% capital gains tax on swaps from cryptocurrencies into stablecoins regulated under the EU's MiCA framework, starting Jan. 1, 2027. An amendment adopted by the National Assembly's finance committee on Oct. 7 would make such exchanges a taxable event for the first time. None of the measures have yet become law.

The proposal sits inside France's 2027 budget, which lawmakers began debating in the National Assembly last week and must pass by Dec. 10. France currently applies its 31.4% flat tax to crypto gains only when investors cash out or spend their holdings; swapping one crypto asset for another generally does not trigger the levy.

Which stablecoins would trigger the tax?

The amendment targets stablecoins classified as electronic money tokens under MiCA, the EU regulation that came into full force on July 1. The design is deliberate, and its incentive effects are the core of the controversy: tokens inside the MiCA category would become tax triggers, while alternatives outside it would not.

Francois Volpoet, Chainalysis' CEO for France, warned the measure could undermine efforts to bring crypto transactions into the regulated financial system. "Do we want more taxpayers to declare their assets, or a higher tax rate applied to a base that is increasingly evaded?" Volpoet said in an email to CoinDesk. He noted that authorities can monitor regulated stablecoin transactions more easily than trades on decentralized finance platforms or through self-hosted wallets.

The claim is plausible but untested. No jurisdiction has yet taxed one subset of stablecoins by regulatory status, so the behavioral response — migration to offshore or non-MiCA tokens — remains a forecast, not an observed outcome.

What else is in the package?

A second amendment, backed by the finance committee on Oct. 9, would require French taxpayers to declare self-hosted crypto wallets holding at least €100,000, roughly $116,000, with fines of up to $11,600 for non-compliance.

Volpoet raised security concerns about mandatory disclosures, citing a rise in physical attacks on crypto holders. As of July, Europe recorded 39 of 52 global incidents; France alone accounted for 33, or 63.5% of the worldwide total. That figure comes from Chainalysis' own incident tracking, and it has not been independently verified.

Lawmakers also backed:

• Extending France's exit tax to crypto holdings worth roughly $900,000, bringing unrealized gains under rules already applied to wealthy shareholders who move abroad
• Allowing investors to carry forward crypto losses for up to 10 years, aligning tax treatment closer to that of equities

Has any of this passed?

No. The finance committee rejected the revenue section of the government's 2027 budget by 31 votes to 3, forcing the crypto amendments to be resubmitted for debate in the full National Assembly. A vote on the revenue section is scheduled for Oct. 20.

That procedural detail matters more than the headline rate. Committee backing signals intent, but the full chamber has already declined once to accept the revenue framework that carries these measures.

How does France compare in Europe?

Greece is moving in the opposite direction. A draft bill published last week for public consultation proposes a 10% capital gains tax on cryptocurrency, placing Greece among the EU's lowest-tax jurisdictions for the asset class. Germany, France and Italy are setting or planning rates above 25%.

A 21.4-point gap between Athens and Paris is large enough to matter for relocating traders, though relocation costs and enforcement reach limit how much behavior actually shifts.

The takeaway in plain words: France may tax the safest stablecoins hardest, and traders may answer by leaving the regulated perimeter. The National Assembly vote on Oct. 20 will show whether the proposal survives its first real test.