TLDR
France is advancing a crypto tax bill that would make day to day usage and long term investing more attractive while keeping headline tax rates intact.
- The bill would tax airdrops and governance tokens only on sale, allow 10 year loss carryforwards, and exempt up to 1,000 in annual crypto payments.
- These changes align crypto with traditional securities, reduce paperwork for small users, and improve after tax planning for active investors and companies despite a still high flat tax rate.
- The reforms are not yet law, sit alongside a proposed wealth tax on large holdings, and their impact will depend on how Parliament and the Senate resolve the broader 2026 budget.
Deep Dive
1. Core Tax Changes
French MP Paul Midy has introduced bill 3090, backed by 91 co signers, to clarify how digital assets are taxed for individuals and firms in France. The bill would tax airdropped and governance tokens only when they are sold, not when they are received, aligning them with how traditional securities are treated. It also proposes allowing crypto capital losses to be carried forward for 10 years and exempting up to 1,000 per year in crypto payments from taxation, easing reporting for small transactions and everyday spending.
Beyond tax, the bill includes executive security measures and opens the EUs DLT pilot regime to more French corporate structures, but the investor friendly label largely rests on those three tax changes.
2. Practical Impact For Investors
France currently applies a flat tax on crypto gains that has risen to about 31.4 percent, and this bill does not lower that rate, but it makes the rules more usable. Deferring tax on airdrops until sale helps users avoid surprise tax bills on illiquid tokens, while long loss carryforwards let active traders offset future gains more effectively over a decade. The 1,000 annual exemption for crypto payments would reduce friction for small retail users, especially for low value transfers or spending, by cutting down reporting and minor tax liabilities.
For French based investors, the reforms would mostly improve timing and admin around tax rather than cutting the overall burden, but they make holding and transacting in crypto structurally less painful.
3. Legislative Status And Risks
Midys investor friendly bill sits alongside an October 2025 amendment that would tax digital asset holdings over 2 million as unproductive wealth at 1 percent annually, which industry groups see as punitive. According to current reporting, both the investor friendly reforms and the wealth tax proposal remain pending as France finalizes its 2026 budget, and neither has yet become law. The final outcome will depend on negotiations between the National Assembly and the Senate, and could still blend more supportive day to day rules with tougher treatment for large balance sheet holders.
Crypto users in France should watch whether the tax timing and exemption measures pass without being offset by wealth style levies, because that mix will determine whether France is genuinely friendlier for long term crypto capital.
Conclusion
Frances proposed reforms would make crypto taxation more predictable and closer to traditional securities, especially on airdrops, losses and small payments. The bigger question is whether these investor friendly changes are balanced or undermined by wealth tax proposals on large holdings, which will be decided in the upcoming budget and will shape how attractive France looks as a crypto hub within the EU.
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