French Committee Backs, Then Drops, Bitcoin Swap and Exit Tax Plans

A committee of France's National Assembly approved amendments to tax swaps from Bitcoin and crypto into stablecoins and to extend the country's exit tax to Bitcoin and crypto holders. The Finance Committee then rejected the 2027 budget's revenue section as a whole by 31 votes to 3, so both crypto amendments dropped out of the text.

The stablecoin swap tax amendment, I-CF1826, was tabled by National Assembly lawmaker Nicolas Sansu. Neither measure is law, and backers would have to table them again for the full Assembly floor debate scheduled to open Oct. 13.

Two Taxes, One Committee

The first amendment would tax swaps from Bitcoin and crypto into stablecoins. The stablecoin swap amendment names no rate of its own and defers to France's existing flat tax.

The second amendment would extend France's exit tax to Bitcoin and crypto holders. The exit tax extension would apply to moves abroad from Jan. 1, 2027 when a tax household's combined crypto holdings are worth more than €800,000 and the taxpayer was a French tax resident for at least six of the previous 10 years.

Together, the two amendments would tax Bitcoin and crypto holders in France twice over: once when they swap into stablecoins, and again when a tax household above the €800,000 threshold moves abroad.

Why the Amendments Fell Out

The committee adopted the stablecoin swap amendment and the exit tax extension before rejecting the revenue section of the 2027 budget bill. The Finance Committee vote against that revenue section was 31 to 3, and the committee's amendments do not carry over to the text that goes to the floor.

Neither measure is law, and both still have to get through the rest of the legislative process. Their backers would have to table them again for the full Assembly floor debate. If the full Assembly passes them, both measures would take effect on Jan. 1, 2027.

Why It Matters

A French budget committee backed a tax on swaps from Bitcoin and crypto into stablecoins and an exit tax on Bitcoin and crypto holders, and we read both as one policy instinct: charge savers a toll when they move value and another when they leave. The amendments dropped out only because the committee rejected the 2027 budget's revenue section as a whole, so their backers can table them again, and the incentive to tax every exit from the fiat system has not gone anywhere. We read that toll as the state's own wrench attack on savers. An exit tax that follows Bitcoin and crypto holders out of France is the clearest argument for self-custody, because bitcoin you hold with your own keys is the exit no committee can vote on.