French lawmakers have moved to tighten the tax net around the country's wealthiest digital-asset holders. The National Assembly's Finance Committee has approved amendments to the 2027 budget bill that would extend France's exit tax to households holding more than €800,000 in cryptocurrency when they relocate abroad. A second change would treat crypto-to-stablecoin swaps as taxable sales. Both measures are slated to take effect on January 1, 2027 — provided they survive the rest of the legislative process.

That caveat carries weight. The budget's revenue section was rejected on October 9, 2026, meaning the amendments must be reintroduced on the Assembly floor before they can become law. Until then, the current rules — under which directly held crypto portfolios sit outside the exit tax — remain in force.

What the Amendments Would Do

Lawmakers adopted the measures in committee in early October 2026. Sponsors framed the changes as an effort to bring crypto taxation closer to how France already treats traditional financial assets, while closing what they view as loopholes in the current law. The package follows a single logic: matching the treatment of digital assets to rules long applied to conventional portfolios.

The exit tax provision, Amendment I-CF1822, targets households whose combined crypto holdings top €800,000 at the time they move their tax residence out of France. The change operates through article 167 bis of the French tax code, which governs exit taxation. Provisions of this kind are designed to keep gains built up during a taxpayer's years as a French resident within the tax net, even if the person moves abroad before selling. The proposal borrows heavily from the rulebook for stocks, applying the same €800,000 threshold and similar residency requirements already used for traditional securities. Departing taxpayers would also gain access to payment deferral mechanisms modeled on the stock regime.

The second measure, Amendment I-CF1826, adopted on October 7–8, 2026, would make swaps of crypto into regulated stablecoins taxable starting January 1, 2027. The change runs through article 150 VH bis, the provision covering capital gains on digital assets by individuals. Stablecoins — tokens designed to hold a steady value against a reference asset, typically a fiat currency — are commonly used by traders as a parking spot without fully exiting the market. Under the amendment, that maneuver would count as a disposal, locking in a taxable value even though the proceeds never leave the crypto sphere.

One carve-out stays in place: crypto-to-crypto swaps without any cash component would not trigger the tax under article 150 VH bis rules.

A Sweetener for Losses

A related amendment would let investors carry forward realized crypto losses for up to 10 years, mirroring how losses on stocks are handled. The alignment puts digital-asset losses on the same footing as securities losses when offsetting future gains — a symmetry that could matter to anyone realizing losses in a downturn.

The Legislative Road Ahead

Committee approval is only the first gate. Because the budget's revenue section was rejected on October 9, the amendments do not automatically carry forward. They must be brought back during the floor debate, which was set to begin on October 13, 2026. A vote is scheduled for October 20, 2026. Those dates are the ones to watch: only if the measures are reintroduced and cleared on the floor would the January 1, 2027 effective dates firm up.

Until then, every element described here remains a proposal, not law.

What This Means for Crypto Holders

The most direct impact falls on high-net-worth individuals with substantial crypto portfolios. Previously, directly held cryptocurrency portfolios were not subject to France's exit tax, creating a disparity between crypto and traditional financial assets. These amendments would narrow that gap considerably. For households above the threshold, a change of tax residence would trigger the same exit-tax considerations that already apply to portfolios of traditional securities.

The stablecoin rule could prove more disruptive for active traders. If every move into a regulated stablecoin counts as a sale, routine portfolio maneuvers would begin generating taxable events. The rule targets swaps into regulated stablecoins specifically, while crypto-to-crypto swaps without cash components stay outside the trigger.

The 10 loss carryforward softens the blow. Investors who take losses in a downturn could bank them against future gains.