The Finance Committee of the French National Assembly adopted amendment I-CF821 on Friday to extend tax oversight to private crypto wallets. Under the draft measure, taxpayers holding self-custodied crypto assets worth at least €100,000 (around $112,000) would be required to declare their holdings to the tax authority. Holders who fail to comply face potential fines of up to €10,000.
Regulatory scrutiny is now shifting from licensed crypto exchanges to users’ self-custody storage.
Specific Target on Private Wallets
The reporting obligation has strict boundaries. The measure does not target assets stored with licensed crypto-asset service providers (CASPs), but specifically focuses on private wallets and hardware wallets. Qualifying asset owners would be required to declare their balances as of December 31 each year.
Charles de Courson, Jean-Pierre Bataille, and Michel Castellani of the LIOT (Liberties, Independents, Overseas and Territories) parliamentary group sponsored the amendment. The lawmakers introduced the measure following findings from a parliamentary investigation into the taxation of high-net-worth individuals. That inquiry exposed a massive reporting discrepancy in 2021: while capital gains from crypto assets in France reached €3.5 billion, total crypto holdings reported to the tax office that year amounted to just €400 million.
Amendment I-CF821 was not the only crypto tax measure cleared by the committee. Throughout the same week, the Finance Committee passed five digital asset amendments into the draft legislation. The proposed package includes an exit tax on crypto holdings exceeding €800,000 if a taxpayer relocates abroad, as well as ending tax deferrals on transactions converting crypto into fiat-backed stablecoins.
Why the Rule May Not Take Effect
Approval at the committee level does not automatically translate the proposal into law. Right after passing the crypto amendments, the Finance Committee rejected the revenue section of the broader 2027 budget bill in a 31 to 3 vote.
The rejection of the core budget draft means the approved amendments must be reintroduced on the assembly floor. The French National Assembly is scheduled to begin plenary debates on the draft bill on Tuesday. Without approval from lawmakers across subsequent legislative stages, neither the penalty clause nor the reporting mandate for self-custody wallets carries legal force.
For crypto asset owners in France, the parliamentary trajectory reflects a clear push to tighten scrutiny on personal storage. However, as long as budget deliberations remain unresolved on the assembly floor, no binding legal requirement yet applies to their wallets.
Reported by Cointelegraph.
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Disclaimer: This article is for informational and educational purposes only, not financial advice. Cryptocurrency assets are highly volatile and carry significant risk. Always do your own research (DYOR) and never invest more than you can afford to lose.
