France's parliament approves vote to hit stablecoin trades with 31% capital gains tax

French parliamentarians narrowly passed a proposal on October 16 to impose a 31.4% capital gains tax on trades involving stablecoins, bringing such transactions under the country's existing tax regime. The National Assembly voted 38 to 37, with 25 abstentions, to adopt amendment I-3898 to the 2027 budget. This proposal, previously approved by the finance committee, would apply to exchanges between cryptocurrencies and stablecoins from January 1, 2027.

The amendment aims to remove the tax deferral currently granted to certain private investments, which typically enjoy a 31.4% capital gains rate. However, the proposal would instead tax gains when investors acquire qualifying stablecoins, even if they do not withdraw the funds to a bank account.

Finance Minister David Amiel expressed concerns about the amendment's implementation, requesting its withdrawal. He sought to define stablecoins, establish monitoring and tracing mechanisms for asset reallocations, and calculate capital gains based on the weighted average cost of acquired units of the same cryptocurrency.

Supporters of the proposal, including Chainalysis' regional sales director for France, warn that the tax could lead investors to seek alternative platforms, peer-to-peer transactions, or offshore exchanges outside international tax-reporting arrangements. The amendment also seeks to replace the current portfolio-wide capital-gains calculation with one based on the weighted average acquisition cost of acquired assets.