France’s National Assembly Votes 38 to 37 to Tax Crypto-to-Stablecoin Swaps From 2027

France’s National Assembly voted 38 to 37 on Friday to end the tax deferral on swaps from crypto into stablecoins, starting January 1, 2027.

That vote adopted amendment I-3898 to the 2027 budget bill, with 25 abstentions among 100 votes cast. The amendment targets the deferral that lets a crypto-to-crypto trade postpone any gain until the investor sells for euros or spends the coins.

It removes that deferral when the investor receives an e-money token, as defined in Article 3 of the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA). Gains on those swaps would then fall under the 31.4% flat tax France has applied to crypto disposals since January.

That definition covers a token pegged to one official currency and says nothing about whether the issuer holds an EU authorization. Circle’s USDC is the first such token classified as significant under MiCA.

Government Asked for Withdrawal

Nicolas Sansu, a deputy from the Democratic and Republican Left group, filed the amendment on October 10, after the finance committee backed the same text on October 7. Sansu told the chamber that converting crypto into euros triggers the flat tax while converting into a stablecoin does not, and called that a gap in the law.

David Amiel, Minister for Public Action and Accounts, asked Sansu to withdraw the amendment and opposed it when he refused. Amiel said France would first need to define stablecoins, then build the ability to trace reallocations inside a portfolio.

Philippe Juvin, the finance committee’s rapporteur general, said the committee backed the amendment but he personally favored keeping the deferral because of crypto’s volatility.

Deputy Charles de Courson backed the principle and cited figures from a parliamentary inquiry he co-wrote. He said 20,000 taxpayers declared 400 million euros in taxable crypto gains for 2021, against an estimated 3.5 billion euros realized.

Cost Basis Changes Too

The amendment also rewrites how French investors compute a gain. Today that gain runs off the whole portfolio’s value and its total acquisition cost at each sale. The new method takes the sale price minus the acquisition cost of the specific assets sold, with a weighted average for units bought at different prices. Holders of pre-2027 coins would choose once, irrevocably, between actual cost per asset and a pro-rata share of portfolio cost at December 31, 2026.

In the same sitting, deputies rejected a 10-year carryforward of crypto losses by 75 votes to 18. The amendment is not law yet. It sits in the budget’s revenue section, which was due for a floor vote on Tuesday. That vote was postponed with 2,828 of 3,396 amendments still unexamined, according to parliamentary channel LCP.

The amendment’s start date falls in the same month licensed EU firms must finish winding down non-MiCA stablecoins under ESMA’s October opinion.