French MPs push exit tax on crypto above €800,000 and fines for undeclared wallets

The committee supported several changes that would bring crypto closer to the tax treatment of shares and other securities. The central proposal would extend France’s exit tax to crypto-assets from 1 January 2027. That could affect wealthy residents who leave France with substantial unrealised crypto gains.

Another proposal would require taxpayers to declare self-custody wallets worth at least €100,000 combined at year-end. Failing to comply could bring fines of up to €10,000. MPs also backed taxing swaps from crypto into stablecoins, rather than waiting until crypto is spent or converted into cash.

The committee supported additional changes. Investors could offset crypto losses against gains for ten years. A planned fine for ignoring tax authority document requests would rise from €10,000 to €50,000 per request. However, these measures are not law yet. They must be re-tabled and approved during the wider budget process.

An exit tax is a rule aimed at preventing people from escaping tax by moving abroad before selling appreciated assets. France already applies it to shares and other securities. It taxes paper gains when qualifying residents leave, even though they have not actually sold the assets.

Under the proposed change, crypto would be treated similarly from 1 January 2027. A person who had lived in France for at least six of the previous ten years and moved abroad with qualifying crypto could face tax on the increase in value. The proposal covers tokens held on foreign platforms and in self-custody wallets.

The proposed crypto rule uses the same €800,000 household threshold as the existing securities regime. Payment would be deferred for moves within the European Union and some other countries. The tax would be cancelled if the assets were kept for two to five years, but the amendment does not specify a rate.

Two different thresholds sit at the centre of the proposals. The crypto exit tax would use the existing €800,000 threshold for a household’s qualifying assets. It would apply when crypto holdings reach that value alongside the other conditions for France’s exit tax.

The wallet-reporting proposal has a lower threshold. Taxpayers would have to declare self-custody wallets worth €100,000 or more in total at year-end. The rule concerns wallets owners control directly, rather than only accounts held with overseas crypto platforms. Ignoring that reporting duty could lead to a fine of up to €10,000.

The article does not state a specific exit-tax rate for crypto. It also does not say whether social charges would apply. For comparison, departing shareholders currently face a 31.4% levy, including 18.6 percentage points of social charges, but the proposed crypto amendment leaves its treatment unclear.

The proposed consequences depend on the action. A wealthy crypto holder moving abroad could face France’s exit tax on gains that exist only on paper. The tax would apply without a sale if the person and household meet the residence and value conditions. The amendment does not state the crypto rate.

A taxpayer with self-custody wallets worth at least €100,000 combined would have to report them at year-end. Failure could lead to a fine of up to €10,000. Separately, swapping crypto for a stablecoin would become a taxable event from 2027 under the existing 31.4% flat tax on crypto gains.

Currently, tax is due when crypto is cashed out or spent, not when it is swapped for a stablecoin. The proposals still face further votes. The committee’s amendments were discarded when the budget’s revenue section was rejected and must be re-tabled before the Assembly considers them again.

The main argument is equal treatment. France already applies an exit tax to shares and other securities when wealthy residents move abroad. Sponsors say crypto assets of similar value should not receive a more favourable treatment simply because they are digital tokens.

Communist MP Nicolas Sansu and 16 left-wing colleagues argue that crypto’s different treatment invites tax avoidance. Supporters of wallet reporting cite a parliamentary inquiry that identified crypto as a fraud risk. They say French investors made an estimated €3.5 billion in crypto gains in 2021 but declared only €400 million in holdings.

France’s Court of Audit challenged that comparison, saying the €400 million figure was actually declared gains. Crypto advocates oppose a broad data register because information could leak and endanger holders. Their concern comes amid more than 40 crypto-linked kidnappings in France between January and mid-April, compared with about 30 during all of 2025.

The finance committee’s vote was only an early step. The full National Assembly must debate and vote on the government’s 2027 budget bill. If the bill survives there, the Senate will consider it afterward. The French Parliament has until 10 December to pass the budget.

The committee’s amendments did not automatically survive because MPs rejected the budget’s revenue part by 31 votes to 3. France’s constitution requires the full Assembly to debate the government’s original budget. Normally, committee changes are presented as amendments, but none carried over after that rejection.

The crypto proposals must therefore be re-tabled from Tuesday. MPs are due to vote again on the revenue section on 20 October and on the whole bill on 17 November. Last year, MPs rejected the revenue section by 404 votes to 1, wiping out their changes. If Parliament misses the deadline, the government can enact the budget by ordinance.

Cryptocurrencies are digital assets that can be held, transferred, or exchanged. A self-custody wallet is a wallet controlled directly by its owner, rather than an account managed by a crypto platform. A stablecoin is a token designed to stay pegged to a currency, such as the US dollar.

Direct control matters for reporting because the assets may sit outside the overseas accounts that French taxpayers currently must declare. The proposed rule would therefore require declarations of self-custody wallets worth at least €100,000 combined. It would also treat a crypto-to-stablecoin swap as taxable from 2027.

The article links direct control to a public-safety concern as well. Crypto advocates warn that a register of wallet ownership could leak and expose holders. Police counted more than 40 crypto-linked kidnappings in France between January and mid-April. The article does not explain the technology behind wallets or tokens in further detail.