Cryptocurrency in France: regulation, taxes and licences
In short. France taxes crypto at one flat rate and ignores the trades in between. Swap bitcoin for ether as often as you like and you owe nothing until you cash out to euros or spend the coins. Then 31.4% applies, up from 30% since January 2026. Sell under 305 euros in a year and you pay nothing at all. Platforms need a MiCA licence, and the old French regime closed on 30 June 2026.
- FLAT RATE
- 31.4%since January 2026, was 30%
- COIN FOR COIN
- Not taxedyou owe nothing until you reach euros
- ANNUAL EXEMPTION
- 305 €total disposals below that are free
- ALTERNATIVE
- Progressive scaleworth checking if your income is modest
- PLATFORM LICENCE
- MiCA, mandatorynational regime closed 30 June 2026
- LICENSED IN FRANCE
- 31 providerssecond largest count in the EU
The rule that makes France different
Most countries tax you the moment one coin becomes another, and France holds off until you reach euros.
Article 150 VH bis of the tax code puts crypto in a category of its own, the digital asset, and taxes the gain when you leave that category. Convert to euros and you owe. Buy a laptop with bitcoin and you owe. Trade ether for solana and back again forty times, and none of it reaches your tax return.
Rebalancing a portfolio costs you nothing in tax here, which changes how an active holder can work. The tax office measures your gain against the whole portfolio at the moment you cash out rather than against each trade.
What you pay when you do cash out
The single flat levy, the prélèvement forfaitaire unique, now takes 31.4%.
That figure splits into 12.8% of income tax and 18.6% of social contributions. It sat at 30% for years until the 2026 social security financing law lifted the main social levy from 9.2% to 10.6%, which pushed the total up in January 2026. The increase reached every kind of investment income, so crypto took the same rise as dividends and share sales.
You can pay less than that in two situations. Keep your total disposals for the year under 305 euros and the gain is exempt. Tick the box for the progressive income scale instead of the flat rate and you come out ahead when your overall income stays low enough to put your marginal rate under 12.8%.
Occasional investor or professional trader
The flat rate belongs to occasional investors, which covers most people.
Trade with the tools, frequency and organisation of a professional and the tax office moves you to the industrial and commercial profits regime, where your ordinary income rates apply. Nobody wrote a volume into that border. The assessors judge how you operate, which leaves you without a number to measure yourself against.
Foreign accounts have to be declared
Hold an account with a platform outside France and you declare that it exists, as a filing of its own alongside any gain.
The obligation applies whether or not you traded, and the penalty for silence is a fixed fine per undeclared account. From 2026 the European reporting directive also has EU platforms sending your details to tax authorities without waiting to be asked, which narrows the gap between what you declare and what the tax office already knows.
The French regime closed in June 2026
For seven years France ran its own system. The PACTE law of 2019 created the digital asset service provider, a registration the AMF granted and supervised, and other European countries watched it as a model.
MiCA took its place. Providers holding a French registration had until 30 June 2026 to obtain a MiCA licence, and from 1 July the European rules applied to everyone without exception. Firms that never applied had to put an orderly wind-down plan in place by 30 March 2026.
The AMF has authorised 31 providers, against 283 across the European Union, which makes France the second most common home for a licensed platform. A licence from any of the 27 member states now works in all of them.
What this means if you are moving there
By European standards the rate sits in the middle, and the timing rule is where France pulls ahead.
Trade often and withdraw seldom, and France treats you better than most of its neighbours, because the tax waits for the exit. Someone who lives off regular withdrawals pays 31.4% on each one and might do better in Germany or Portugal, where a holding period buys an exemption. Check the AMF register before you deposit anywhere, since the transition swept out the firms that never qualified.
Allowed
- Trade one crypto asset for another without triggering tax
- Cash out under 305 euros a year with no tax on the gain
- Choose the progressive income scale instead of the flat rate
- Use any platform licensed under MiCA in any EU country
Restricted
- Cashing out to euros or spending crypto, both of which trigger the 31.4%
- Holding an account abroad without declaring its existence
- Trading with professional organisation while claiming the occasional-investor rate
- Dealing with a provider that lost its status when the transition closed
How the rules took shape
The PACTE law creates the French digital asset service provider regime, supervised by the AMF.
Article 150 VH bis sets the flat rate for occasional investors and exempts crypto-to-crypto trades.
Providers that never applied for a MiCA licence must have an orderly wind-down plan in place.
The flat rate rises from 30% to 31.4% as social contributions increase.
The transitional period ends. MiCA authorisation becomes the only way to serve French clients.
Worth knowing
Paris is home to Ledger: making hardware wallets since 2014, it became a unicorn in 2021 and claims to secure more than a fifth of all crypto assets worldwide.
Common questions
Do I pay tax when I swap one coin for another?
No. France taxes the gain when you convert to euros or pay for something with crypto. Trades between crypto assets stay outside the calculation.
What is the rate now?
31.4%, made up of 12.8% income tax and 18.6% social contributions. It rose from 30% in January 2026 when the main social levy went from 9.2% to 10.6%.
Is there a tax-free amount?
Yes. If your total disposals for the year come to 305 euros or less, the gain is exempt.
Can I pay less than the flat rate?
Sometimes. You may opt for the progressive income scale, which helps when your income is low enough that your marginal rate falls below 12.8%.
Can my exchange still serve me?
Only with a MiCA licence. French registrations under the old regime expired on 30 June 2026, and the AMF has authorised 31 providers so far.
Sources
Related reading
Other countries
Updated 20.08.2026 · this is reference material, not investment or tax advice