French lawmakers back stablecoin swap tax amendment by one vote

France's National Assembly adopted amendment I-3898 to the 2027 budget by a single-vote margin on Friday, according to the Assembly's voting record. The amendment would make cryptocurrency swaps into MiCA-regulated stablecoins taxable from January 1, 2027. Of the 100 deputies who participated, 38 voted for the amendment, 37 opposed the amendment and 25 abstained. The 75 votes cast put the measure exactly at the 38 needed for a majority.

Holders in France can currently exchange cryptocurrencies without owing tax as long as no euros change hands. Tax becomes due when holders cash out or spend cryptocurrency. The amendment would treat swaps into electronic money tokens under the European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation, known as MiCA, as sales. That category covers stablecoins pegged to a single official currency, including euro or dollar stablecoins.

The taxable gain would equal the value of the stablecoins received minus the purchase cost of the cryptocurrency surrendered. France's flat tax would apply to the gain. The flat tax rose from 30% to 31.4% after France's 2026 social security financing law increased social charges on capital income from 17.2% to 18.6%.

The amendment would replace a single portfolio-wide cost calculation with a purchase cost for each coin sold. The purchase cost would be averaged when the same coin was bought more than once. Investors with holdings bought before 2027 would make a one-off, irrevocable choice between documenting each asset's actual cost and allocating total portfolio cost across holdings on December 31, 2026.

The amendment's authors, led by Nicolas Sansu of the left-wing GDR group, argue that stablecoins can be "entirely conventional investment vehicles". The authors say stablecoins can be used to pay crypto service providers or buy other tokens. The authors argue that gains transferred into stablecoins escape the flat tax through a gap in legislation. The authors say the United Kingdom and Italy have already legislated along similar lines.

The government opposed the measure. CoinDesk reported that Public Accounts Minister David Amiel requested withdrawal of the amendment. According to CoinDesk, Amiel argued that stablecoins first needed a legal definition and that the state needed to trace reallocations within portfolios.

The Assembly's finance committee had already backed Sansu's stablecoin amendment earlier this month. The committee also backed another Sansu proposal extending France's exit tax to crypto held by households worth more than €800,000. The committee then rejected the budget's entire revenue section by 31 votes to 3. The rejection returned the floor debate to the government's original text and required lawmakers to table the stablecoin measure again.

A separate committee amendment would require holders to declare self-custodied crypto worth €100,000 ($112,000) or more at year-end. The proposal provides fines of up to €10,000 for failure to declare those holdings. Crypto figures objected that collecting the data would put holders at risk. France has experienced a series of crypto kidnappings, including the 2025 abduction and mutilation of Ledger co-founder David Balland.

None of the measures is law yet. The Assembly is due to vote on the full revenue section on Tuesday. The budget then passes to the Senate.