France’s National Assembly has postponed another vote on the revenue section of its 2027 budget, days after rejecting two proposals to tax unrealized cryptocurrency gains when investors move abroad.
Summary
- France has postponed the vote on its 2027 budget revenue section for a second time, with 758 amendments still pending.
- Lawmakers rejected two proposals that would have taxed unrealized cryptocurrency gains when eligible investors moved abroad.
- One proposal received 27 votes in favor and 55 against, while the second was defeated by 31 votes to 60.
- Other cryptocurrency tax proposals remain under consideration, including reporting requirements for self-custody wallets and changes to stablecoin taxation.
- The National Assembly faces a November 17 deadline to complete its first reading of the budget.
A parliamentary notice issued after Monday’s session showed that lawmakers would continue examining the revenue provisions on November 3. The Assembly still had 758 amendments awaiting debate, leaving the planned vote delayed for a second time.
The decision follows an October 20 postponement, when more than 2,000 amendments remained unresolved. Lawmakers resumed examining the revenue provisions on October 27 after spending the previous week discussing social security financing.
France rejects two cryptocurrency exit-tax proposals
The budget debate has already produced a setback for lawmakers seeking to extend France’s existing exit tax to cryptocurrency holdings.
On October 30, the National Assembly rejected amendment I-3904, introduced by Nicolas Sansu, which would have included eligible crypto assets within the country’s existing exit-tax framework.
The official voting record showed 27 lawmakers supporting the amendment, 55 opposing it and one abstaining.
France currently applies exit-tax rules to certain financial holdings when eligible taxpayers transfer their tax residence outside the country.
Sansu’s proposal sought to include cryptocurrencies held directly, through exchanges or in self-custody wallets.
It would have covered qualifying unrealized gains, meaning profits that exist on paper even though investors have not sold their assets.
The proposed rules would have applied to eligible taxpayers relocating from January 1, 2027.
Another amendment, I-3432, submitted by Mickaël Bouloux, faced a similar outcome.
According to the second voting record, lawmakers rejected the measure by 60 votes to 31.
The proposal targeted unrealized gains on household cryptocurrency holdings exceeding €800,000, equivalent to roughly $897,000.
It would have applied to investors who had been French tax residents for at least six of the previous 10 years before moving abroad.
Both proposals failed during the current parliamentary examination, leaving them outside the budget provisions approved so far.
Budget delay leaves other crypto tax changes unresolved
Although lawmakers rejected the exit-tax amendments, several other cryptocurrency proposals remain part of the budget discussions.
One measure would require individuals holding at least €100,000, or approximately $112,000, in self-custodied cryptocurrencies to report those assets to French tax authorities.
The proposal concerns holdings stored outside regulated cryptocurrency service providers, including personal wallets.
Earlier in October, crypto.news reported the proposed wallet reporting requirement, which could carry penalties of up to €10,000 for eligible taxpayers who fail to declare their holdings.
However, committee approval did not establish the requirement as law, and the measure remains subject to parliamentary consideration.
Another proposal would exempt cryptocurrency payments for goods and services from capital gains taxation when the total qualifying payments do not exceed €1,000 during the tax year.
Lawmakers have separately considered changes to the treatment of cryptocurrency conversions into fiat-backed stablecoins.
On October 16, the National Assembly approved an amendment that would make certain conversions into qualifying stablecoins taxable transactions.
The proposal would change existing rules that generally allow eligible exchanges between cryptocurrencies without immediately triggering capital gains taxation.
Earlier stablecoin tax proposals included changes to capital losses, with one amendment seeking to allow qualifying crypto losses to offset gains over a 10-year period.
The stablecoin measure has not become law, and its final wording remains subject to the budget’s passage through Parliament.
France faces November 17 budget deadline
The continuing delays leave lawmakers with limited time to finish examining the government’s revenue proposals.
The National Assembly must complete its first reading by midnight on November 17, according to the parliamentary timetable.
Under the existing parliamentary process, rejection of the revenue section would prevent amendments adopted during that stage from accompanying the government’s original text to the Senate.
The budget would then proceed through further parliamentary examination before any final legislation could take effect.
The timetable has already changed once. French newspaper Le Monde reported on October 19 that the government postponed the original revenue vote because more than 2,000 amendments still required discussion.
An unnamed source close to the minister responsible for parliamentary relations told the newspaper, “The government must provide France with a budget.”
The source said the government’s objective remained to reduce the public deficit to 5% of gross domestic product.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu’s government had previously acknowledged difficulties meeting its fiscal targets, while the draft budget faced opposition from lawmakers across the political spectrum.
The Assembly’s September timetable had scheduled a formal vote on the complete budget for November 17, following the government’s presentation of its financial proposals.
The constitutional deadline for completing the broader budget process falls on December 17.
