France stablecoin tax: MPs vote to tax swaps at 31.4%

On Friday 16 October the French National Assembly adopted, by 38 votes to 37, an amendment that makes swapping crypto for stablecoins such as USDC and EURC taxable. At present such a swap qualifies for tax deferral in France. From 1 January 2027 the gain would already be taxed at the moment of the swap itself, at the standard French rate of 31.4%. It is not law yet: the Assembly votes on the entire tax part of the budget on 20 October and on the whole budget on 17 November, after which it is the Senate’s turn.

The French stablecoin tax in short

• What: amendment I-3898 to France’s draft budget for 2027, tabled by Nicolas Sansu and sixteen other MPs from the left-wing GDR group.
• Result: 38 in favour, 37 against. Of the 577 MPs, 100 took part in the vote.
• What changes: a swap from crypto into an e-money token under the European MiCA law, such as USDC or EURC, counts as a sale. The gain is then taxed immediately.
• Rate: the amendment does not mention a rate. The gain falls under the standard French rule for crypto: 31.4%, made up of 12.8% income tax and 18.6% social contributions.
• Start date: sales and swaps from 1 January 2027.
• Also new: the gain is calculated per coin, using a weighted average purchase price, and no longer across the whole portfolio.
• Government against: Public Finance Minister David Amiel asked Sansu to withdraw the amendment.

What exactly the Assembly decided

The current rule in France is that anyone who swaps crypto for other crypto without paying anything on top gets tax deferral. That is what the French tax authority’s website says. The gain is only taxed when, for example, you move into euros. According to the amendment’s authors, that deferral currently also applies to a swap into a stablecoin, a cryptocurrency that tracks the value of an ordinary currency. You can read what a stablecoin is in our explainer on stablecoins.

The amendment changes Article 150 VH bis of the French tax code on two points:

1. No more deferral for e-money tokens. The deferral does not apply to a swap in which you receive an e-money token ‘au sens du point 7 du paragraphe 1 de l’article 3’ of MiCA. Under MiCA, a token is an e-money token if it aims to keep its value stable by referencing one official currency, such as the dollar or the euro.
2. A new calculation for all sales. The gain is the sale price minus the purchase price of the coins sold. If you bought the same coin at different prices, the weighted average counts. At present France calculates using the value and the purchase price of the entire portfolio.

For coins you bought before 2027, you choose once: your actual purchase price per coin, or the total purchase price of your portfolio on 31 December 2026, allocated according to the value of each coin on that day. That choice is final.

The sums

An example, ignoring fees. You live in France and in January 2027 you buy bitcoin for 6,000 euros. In June you swap that bitcoin for USDC worth 7,000 euros.

Under the current rules, the gain only counts when you later move into euros. With the amendment, you pay 314 euros straight away on a gain of 1,000 euros. Your USDC then get a purchase price of 7,000 euros, so the same gain is not taxed again later. If you opt for the progressive rate, the amount will be different.

Why USDC and EURC in particular, and maybe not USDT

The amendment does not name any coin. It refers to the MiCA definition of an e-money token, which does not ask whether the issuer is authorised. Interpretations differ on this point.

The French law firm Kohen Avocats, citing the business magazine Capital, writes that USDC and EURC are covered and USDT and DAI in principle are not. Cryptoast reads it differently: because the legal definition is what counts, not whether a coin complies with MiCA, USDT could be covered too. In the debate, Sansu himself used Tether’s stablecoin as an example of a swap in which a large price gain currently goes untaxed.

What is certain is that Circle Internet Financial Europe, supervised by the French ACPR, is listed with USDC and EURC in ESMA’s interim MiCA register (updated on 16 October 2026). For those coins there is little doubt. More background: USDT is leaving European exchanges and Stablecoins under MiCA.

In the debate, Minister Amiel said the measure in its current form is too complicated to implement. In his view, it first has to be clear what a stablecoin is and how the tax authorities can track swaps within a portfolio. Rapporteur Philippe Juvin considers the deferral itself sensible, because crypto fluctuates so sharply. MP Charles de Courson supported the idea, but first wants a reporting obligation for crypto holdings. According to him, French taxpayers declared 400 million euros of crypto gains for 2021, while some 3.5 billion was made.

What happens next

The dates come from the Assembly’s timetable of 29 September. According to Cryptoast, the government can force the budget through using Article 49.3 of the constitution and then choose for itself which amendments stay.

What does this mean for you as a European investor?

France. The amendment applies to anyone liable to tax in France, and only to swaps from 1 January 2027. If the text survives, every swap into an e-money token becomes a moment at which you realise and declare a gain or loss. A swap such as bitcoin to ether keeps the deferral.

Netherlands. Crypto falls into box 3: you declare its value on 1 January. According to the Dutch tax authority, a private individual does not need to declare the proceeds from trading. A swap into USDC during the year therefore does not lead to a separate tax; what counts is what you own on 1 January.

Germany. There, a swap from crypto into other crypto already counts as a sale, the German Federal Ministry of Finance writes. A gain can be taxable if you held the coin for no more than a year, and that period starts again after every swap.

Belgium, Spain, Portugal and Poland. The rules for each country are in our overview of crypto tax in Europe.

Latvia is going the other way. On 15 October the Latvian parliament approved, in its final reading, an investment account for crypto. There, you only pay tax when you withdraw more than you have put in, not per transaction. You can open such an account with a provider holding a European authorisation.

Do you use Coinbase? Coinbase is asking customers in the European Economic Area to withdraw USDT, PYUSD and DAI, among others, by 30 October 2026. Whatever is still in the account on that day, Coinbase will convert into USDC or, where that is not possible, into another coin. Coinbase itself writes that such a conversion may be taxable in some countries, and it does not give tax advice. On 8 October ESMA asked the national supervisors to ensure that authorised platforms wind down positions in stablecoins that do not comply with MiCA within three months.

What is not certain yet

• Whether it becomes law. The amendment has to survive the votes of 20 October and 17 November and the Senate. The government is against it and the majority was one vote.
• Whether USDT is covered. The text only refers to the MiCA definition. Kohen Avocats and Capital say no; Cryptoast says it could be. Coinbase writes that the stablecoins it is delisting, including USDT, are e-money tokens or asset-referenced tokens under MiCA.
• The rate. The amendment does not mention a rate. The 31.4% is the current rate; Kohen Avocats points out that the final amount depends on the text that eventually becomes law.
• The new calculation. The per-coin method applies to all crypto sales and is just as uncertain.
• Monitoring. How the tax authorities will track swaps within a portfolio is not set out in the amendment.

This article is not tax advice and not investment advice. If in doubt, ask a tax adviser in your own country. Crypto can fall sharply in value and you can lose your entire stake.

Frequently asked questions

Is swapping crypto for a stablecoin taxed in France?

Not immediately, for now: a swap between cryptocurrencies without any extra payment qualifies for tax deferral. Under the amendment the National Assembly adopted on 16 October, a swap into an e-money token such as USDC or EURC will be taxed from 1 January 2027. That is not law yet.

How much tax do you pay on crypto gains in France?

31.4%: 12.8% income tax and 18.6% social contributions. You can also opt for the progressive rate. If all your sale prices in a year add up to no more than 305 euros, you are exempt.

Is USDT covered by the French stablecoin tax?

That is unclear. The text names no coins, only the MiCA definition of an e-money token. French sources read it differently.

When will we know whether the French rule goes ahead?

Not before 17 November, when the National Assembly votes on the whole budget. The Senate follows after that.

Sources

Read on 19 October 2026.

• National Assembly: amendment I-3898, adopted on 16 October 2026.
• National Assembly: record of the second sitting of 16 October 2026, debate and voting result.
• National Assembly: amendment I-CF1826, committee, 7 October 2026.
• National Assembly: timetable for the budget debate, 29 September 2026.
• French tax authority: capital gains and losses on digital assets, updated on 17 July 2026.
• EUR-Lex: MiCA, Regulation (EU) 2023/1114, Article 3(1), point 7.
• ESMA: interim MiCA register, e-money tokens, updated on 16 October 2026.
• ESMA: opinion on stablecoins that do not comply with MiCA, 8 October 2026.
• Dutch tax authority: crypto holdings.
• German Federal Ministry of Finance: BMF letter on crypto assets, 6 March 2025, paragraphs 54 and 55.
• Saeima: press release on the Latvian crypto tax, 15 October 2026.
• Coinbase Help: MiCA non-compliant stablecoins.
• Kohen Avocats, 18 October 2026.
• Cryptoast, 16 October 2026.