France files bill to clarify crypto taxes

TLDR

France has introduced a bill to clarify how crypto is taxed, aiming to align digital assets with traditional securities and ease everyday user obligations.

1. The bill would tax airdrops and governance tokens only when sold, allow losses to be carried forward, and exempt small crypto payments from tax.
2. It also adds security protections for Web3 executives, while leaving Frances relatively high flat tax rate on crypto gains unchanged.
3. The measures are not yet law, and sit alongside a separate proposed wealth tax on large crypto holdings that could shape Frances role as a crypto hub.

Deep Dive

1. Key Tax Provisions

French MP Paul Midy and 91 co-signers filed bill number 3090 to resolve specific tax ambiguities around digital assets, based on a legislative hackathon with industry group ADAN. The proposal would:

1. Tax airdropped and governance tokens only upon sale, not at receipt, mirroring how traditional securities are treated.
2. Allow crypto capital losses to be carried forward for 10 years, matching stock market rules.
3. Exempt up to 1,000 per year of crypto payments from taxation, reducing the need to report small everyday transactions, according to the bill text.

This clarifies when tax events occur and how losses and micro-payments should be handled, without changing the overall flat crypto gains tax rate.

2. Impact On Users And Companies

France currently applies a flat tax on crypto gains that was increased to 31.4% in 2026, so the country remains relatively heavy on headline rates even if rules become friendlier. For everyday users, the micro-payment exemption and clearer airdrop treatment would reduce administrative friction and the fear of surprise tax bills on non-cashflow events.

For companies, the bill also tackles security concerns by hiding home addresses of blockchain executives from public registries and obliging firms to fund protection when executives face credible threats, building on earlier responses to kidnapping attempts targeting French Web3 founders.

3. Timeline And Signals

Neither Midys tax-clarification bill nor the separate October 2025 amendment to tax crypto holdings above 2 million at 1% annually as unproductive wealth has become law yet. Both face further debate in the National Assembly and Senate as part of Frances 2026 budget process.

The bill also proposes opening the EUs DLT pilot regime to more French corporate structures (SAS entities), which would widen access to regulated blockchain market infrastructure testing. Together, these moves signal that France is trying to combine investor protection, personal security, and clearer tax rules while still extracting significant revenue from crypto activity.

Confidence: high, because the proposals come from detailed, recent legislative reporting and have not yet been enacted.

Conclusion

Frances new bill would not make crypto tax-light, but it would make crypto tax more predictable, aligning key elements with securities treatment and reducing friction for everyday usage. For crypto users and firms, the next signals to watch are parliamentary debates on this bill, the fate of the proposed wealth tax on large holdings, and how these choices position France within the EUs broader MiCA and DLT pilot landscape.