French Cryptocurrency Taxation: The Complete 2026 Guide

Buying, holding or swapping cryptos for one another triggers no tax: what is taxed is cashing out into legal tender, or spending crypto on goods or services. What remains is knowing what is taxable, how to calculate it, what to file and which mistakes to avoid. That is what this guide is about.

01Applicable legal texts

Here are the texts underpinning the current regime, with their official references. The links lead to Légifrance, the BOFiP and impots.gouv.fr (the French tax administration), all in French.

Links checked in October 2026. Box numbers on Form 2042-C sometimes change from one filing campaign to the next: always check the label shown in your personal account when you file.

02How taxation works

Article 150 VH bis of the CGI (French Tax Code) treats crypto-assets as digital movable property. Tax arises on a disposal for consideration: you obtain legal tender, goods or a service in exchange for your crypto.

The €305 exemption threshold

If the total of your taxable disposals for the year does not exceed €305, you are exempt. The threshold is assessed on all disposals of the year, across all wallets and for the whole tax household, not per transaction. It applies to the amount sold, not to the gain. Keep a record of your operations anyway: in an audit, it is up to you to prove the total was not exceeded.

Which regime for which activity

The rate: the flat tax rises to 31.4%

For an individual carrying out occasional transactions, the gain is subject to the flat-rate withholding tax (PFU). The rate changed on 1 January 2026: the 2026 Social Security Financing Act raised the CSG on capital income from 9.2% to 10.6%. Social charges therefore go from 17.2% to 18.6%, and the overall flat tax from 30% to 31.4% (12.8% income tax + 18.6% social charges).

The calculation: the global portfolio method

Unlike a share, the gain is not calculated line by line: neither FIFO nor LIFO. The legal formula is based on the total value of the portfolio at the time of each disposal, with a weighted-average acquisition cost recalculated at every operation.

This is much more subtle than "sale price minus purchase price", because the calculation takes in the whole history since the wallet was opened. Hence the near-universal use of a dedicated tool (Waltio, Koinly, Divly, CoinTracking…) rather than calculating by hand.

Capital losses

A loss can only be set against gains of the same kind realised in the same year. It cannot be carried forward to later years, or set against other income.

Occasional or habitual: where is the line?

If the tax administration considers your activity habitual, it falls outside Article 150 VH bis. Article 92 of the CGI targets operations carried out "in conditions similar" to a professional's: the administration looks in particular at how sophisticated the operations are (often numerous) and at the size of the gains relative to your other income. There is no official numerical threshold: it is a bundle of indicators, assessed case by case. High frequency, large volumes, leverage or time devoted to the activity are all signals.

Staking, mining, airdrops

These are not "disposals" within the meaning of Article 150 VH bis. Tokens received as rewards are taxed as BNC when received. Only when they are resold does any capital gain enter the 150 VH bis calculation.

NFTs: a moving target

An amendment examined in late 2025 proposes taking NFTs out of the scope of Article 150 VH bis, since that text only covers crypto-assets covered by MiCA, which itself excludes NFTs. The gain would then be taxed under the regime of the good or right the NFT represents. If you hold NFTs, check the text definitively applicable to the tax year before filing: the topic is not settled.

03Points of caution: the mistakes that cost the most

According to tax law firms, most crypto-related reassessments do not come from deliberate fraud, but from methodological errors. Here are the most common ones.

1. Calculating the gain transaction by transactionSubtracting the purchase price from the sale price, operation by operation, is legally incorrect: the law requires the global portfolio. The mistake can make you overpay, or trigger a reassessment for under-reporting.
2. Forgetting Form 3916-bisFor an account held with a foreign custodian, this is one of the most cited mistakes, including among taxpayers who filled in their 2086 correctly. The fine applies even with no gain at all.
3. Forgetting crypto-card paymentsPaying for groceries with a crypto card is a taxable disposal, just like a sale. The gesture "doesn't look like" a sale, hence the oversights.
4. Misreading the €305 thresholdIt applies to total sales, not net gain. You can have a small gain and still be well above the threshold.
5. Confusing staking/mining with capital gainsTwo regimes, two income categories: BNC when received, 150 VH bis on resale. Mixing them skews the calculation both ways.
6. Omitting your lossesThey can be set against the same year's gains, provided they appear correctly on Form 2086. Forgetting them means paying more than necessary.
7. Waiting to correct an errorA voluntary correction, before any audit, generally limits the penalties. If you spot an error on a past return, fix it without delay.

04Example filing procedure

Here is a typical path for an individual who made taxable disposals during the year, during the following spring's filing campaign on impots.gouv.fr.

1. Gather the full historyCollect the histories of all your platforms, French and foreign: purchases, sales, swaps, dates, amounts, fees. Without the history since the wallet was opened, the global portfolio calculation cannot be rebuilt.
2. Calculate the overall gain or lossWith a crypto tax tool, or by hand using the legal formula. This is where errors concentrate: re-read the previous section before finalising your figures.
3. Log in to the online returnIn your personal account on impots.gouv.fr, start your income tax return (campaign generally open from mid-April to early June).
4. Tick the necessary annexesAt the annex declarations step, tick the one for gains and losses on digital-asset disposals (2086) and, if needed, the one for digital-asset accounts held abroad (3916-bis).
5. Fill in Form 2086, disposal by disposalFor each taxable disposal: date, disposal price, total portfolio value at that moment, total acquisition cost. The annex calculates the gain or loss of each operation, then the total.
6. Check the carry-over to Form 2042-COnline, the total is carried over automatically. Check the label of the box shown rather than relying on a remembered number: they sometimes change between campaigns.
7. Declare foreign accounts (3916-bis)One 3916-bis per account opened, held, used or closed abroad with a custodial provider (Binance, Kraken, Coinbase…), even if inactive or closed during the year. A self-custody wallet is not concerned.
8. Keep your supporting documentsExchange exports, screenshots, CSV files: keep them for several years. The limitation period can run up to 10 years for undeclared foreign assets.

Penalties for errors or omissions

05Legal platforms in France

This area has seen a major and very recent change, worth knowing before you use a platform.

1. 2019 · the PSAN statusThe PACTE Act creates France's national status for digital-asset service providers, registered with the AMF (the French financial markets regulator).
2. 30 December 2024 · MiCAThe EU regulation applies and creates a unified status across the Union: the crypto-asset service provider (CASP, or PSCA in French). An 18-month transition period gives PSANs time to obtain authorisation.
3. 1 July 2026 · end of the transitionOnly providers holding a MiCA-compliant authorisation, issued by the AMF or by another European authority through the EU passport, can legally provide crypto-asset services in France.

In practice, players that did not obtain authorisation in time had to stop or restrict their services to French residents. Providing crypto services without authorisation is a criminal offence (up to 2 years' imprisonment and a €30,000 fine).

06Gifting and inheriting crypto-assets

An often-overlooked point: crypto-assets are part of one's estate and follow the usual transfer rules.

• A gift or inheritance of crypto-assets is subject to gratuitous-transfer duties, after the allowances provided for the family relationship, as with any other asset.
• On a French platform, assets held at death are returned to the heirs. For a self-custody wallet, the private key or recovery phrase must be transferable, otherwise the funds are lost for good.
• If the beneficiary later resells, the acquisition price used for the capital gain depends on the value retained at the time of the transfer: have the applicable rule for your case confirmed by a notary.

07Risk prevention

The European supervisory authorities (banking, markets, insurance) have issued a joint warning about how risky and speculative crypto-assets are.

• Extreme volatility: prices can move by tens of percent within hours. Only invest what you can afford to lose.
• No guarantee: unlike a bank account (guaranteed up to €100,000 by the deposit guarantee fund), no scheme covers crypto held on a platform.
• Unregulated or fraudulent platforms: guaranteed returns, unrealistic performance and pressure to invest fast are classic scam signals. Check CASP status before any deposit.
• Technical risk: if you hold your own private keys, losing them means losing your funds irreversibly. There is no "forgot password".
• Phishing and social engineering: fake sites, fake support, fake airdrops. Never share your recovery phrase.
• Leverage: it amplifies gains and losses, sometimes beyond the capital invested.

Before investing, also read the AMF's leaflet "Investing in crypto-assets" (in French).

08What to do depending on your situation

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This article is for information only and is not tax, legal or investment advice. Rates, thresholds, forms and rules change: check the texts in force on Légifrance and impots.gouv.fr before filing, and consult a chartered accountant or tax lawyer for your personal situation. It applies to French tax residents.