France Moves to Require Disclosure of Crypto Wallets Above 100,000 Euros
French crypto tax obligations may be about to expand significantly. On 10 October 2026, the National Assembly's Finance Committee backed amendment I-CF821, which would require anyone holding self-custodied crypto assets worth 100,000 euros or more to declare those holdings to the tax authorities each year. The penalty for silence: up to 10,000 euros per failure to declare. The measure is not yet law, but its passage through the Finance Committee signals serious legislative intent, and every French resident holding crypto in a personal wallet should pay attention now.
What the Proposed Rule Actually Says
Amendment I-CF821 targets a specific gap in France's existing crypto tax framework: self-custodied assets. If your crypto sits on a regulated platform, that platform already has reporting duties under French and EU rules. This proposal goes further, reaching directly into personal wallets, hardware devices, and any other storage arrangement that sits outside a licensed crypto-asset service provider.
The key details of the threshold and valuation
The trigger is a portfolio value of 100,000 euros (roughly $112,000 at the time of writing), measured as of 31 December each year. That date matters: it's a snapshot obligation, not a transaction-by-transaction one. If your total self-custodied holdings exceed the threshold on the last day of the calendar year, you'd be required to disclose. Holdings that fall below the line on that date would not trigger the duty under the current proposal text.
Penalties for non-compliance
Failure to declare qualifying wallets could result in a fine of up to 10,000 euros. The amendment does not appear to link the penalty to the value of undisclosed assets, making it a flat administrative sanction rather than a percentage-based one. That said, undisclosed holdings that are later discovered could also attract the usual tax fraud penalties under France's general tax code, which are considerably steeper.
Why Lawmakers Introduced This Now
The sponsors of amendment I-CF821, Charles de Courson, Jean-Pierre Bataille, and Michel Castellani of the LIOT parliamentary group, were explicit about their motivation. They pointed to a parliamentary inquiry into the taxation of high-net-worth individuals, which found that crypto capital gains reached 3.5 billion euros in 2021, while declared crypto holdings amounted to only 400 million euros in the same year. That gap, if accurate, represents a substantial shortfall in what the tax authority could see and verify.
The broader context of crypto tax evasion concerns
Self-custody has always been the harder problem for tax administrations. Centralised exchanges can be compelled to report under frameworks like DAC8 (the EU's eighth Directive on Administrative Cooperation) and the OECD's Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF). Personal wallets leave no automatic trail for authorities to follow. Requiring holders themselves to declare the existence and approximate value of those wallets is a relatively low-tech solution to a technically complex surveillance challenge. It shifts the burden of disclosure onto the individual, with a financial penalty to back it up.
Four Other Crypto Amendments Passed at the Same Time
The wallet disclosure measure was one of five crypto-related amendments the Finance Committee adopted together. Two others are worth understanding in detail, because they affect a wider group of French crypto holders.
Exit tax on large crypto holdings
A separate amendment would impose an exit tax on cryptocurrency holdings exceeding 800,000 euros when a French taxpayer moves their tax residence abroad. Exit taxes on financial assets already exist in French law for securities; extending the concept to crypto would close what critics have described as a loophole allowing wealthy holders to relocate before realising gains and thus avoid French capital gains tax entirely.
Ending stablecoin conversion deferrals
A third amendment would end the tax deferral currently available when crypto is converted into fiat-backed stablecoins. Under current French rules, swapping one crypto asset for another can in certain circumstances defer a taxable event. Treating a conversion into a euro-backed stablecoin as a disposal for tax purposes would bring France closer to the position taken by several other European jurisdictions and would likely generate taxable events for DeFi users in particular.
Where the Amendments Stand Now: A Critical Caveat
Here's the part that matters most for planning purposes. After passing the Finance Committee on Friday 10 October, the same committee subsequently voted to reject the revenue section of the broader 2027 budget bill by 31 votes to 3. Under French parliamentary procedure, this means the amendments do not automatically carry forward. When the National Assembly begins debating the revenue section of the budget on Tuesday, it starts from the government's original draft text, not the committee-amended version.
What needs to happen for this to become law
Each of the five crypto amendments, including I-CF821, would need to be resubmitted and approved during the full parliamentary session. That is not guaranteed. French budget debates are often lengthy and contentious, and individual amendments can fall away, be modified substantially, or be replaced by government counter-proposals. It's also possible the government introduces its own crypto disclosure measure with different thresholds or timelines. Until a final text is adopted and published in the Journal Officiel, nothing here is binding.
The practical takeaway is this: the legislative trajectory is clearly toward tighter disclosure of self-custodied crypto, but the exact form that takes, and when it takes effect, remains open. The most defensible position is to prepare as if the rule will pass in a recognisable form, while monitoring the parliamentary proceedings closely.
What This Means for Your Crypto Tax Position in France
Whether you're an occasional buyer or a serious holder, the direction of travel for crypto tax in France is toward more transparency, not less. The existing regime already requires you to report your crypto accounts held with foreign providers and to pay flat tax (Prélèvement Forfaitaire Unique, or PFU) of 30% on realised gains. This proposal adds a layer on top: an annual snapshot declaration of the total value sitting in wallets you control directly.
Practical steps to take before year-end
Even while the amendment is still working through parliament, there are sensible things you can do now. First, compile a complete inventory of every wallet address you control and the assets held at each address. Second, note the market value of each asset as of 31 December, since that is the valuation date specified in the proposal. Third, check whether your combined self-custodied holdings exceed 100,000 euros on that date. If they do, you should discuss the declaration requirement with a tax adviser, even before the law is finalised, so you're not scrambling in the weeks after it passes.
An accurate crypto tax report covering your full holdings history, including unrealised positions in self-custodied wallets, will also be essential if the exit tax amendment passes, since calculating the taxable base on departure requires knowing the acquisition cost of every asset. Getting your records in order now serves multiple purposes simultaneously. A reliable crypto compliance and reporting process is no longer optional for French holders at any meaningful scale.
How this interacts with existing French crypto tax rules
It's worth being clear about what this proposal does not change, at least in its current form. The 30% flat tax on realised capital gains remains the core of how crypto is taxed in France. The new wallet disclosure rule is a separate administrative obligation, not a new tax on wealth or unrealised gains. You wouldn't owe tax simply because your wallet crosses the 100,000 euro threshold; you'd owe a penalty if you fail to declare the fact that it does. The distinction is important, but it doesn't make the obligation trivial. A 10,000 euro fine for a missing declaration is a real cost, and it comes on top of any tax legitimately owed on disposed assets.
For context on how other European jurisdictions are tightening crypto reporting at roughly the same time, the approach developing in France sits alongside similar moves elsewhere on the continent, driven in part by the EU's DAC8 framework and the OECD's CARF standard, both of which are pushing member states toward more granular crypto data collection.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the 100,000 euro threshold apply to each wallet separately or to total holdings?
The amendment refers to total self-custodied holdings, not individual wallets. So you'd add up the value of everything you hold across all personal wallets and hardware devices, then compare that combined figure to the 100,000 euro threshold as of 31 December.
What about crypto held on a French or EU-regulated exchange?
Assets held with a licensed crypto-asset service provider are already subject to platform-level reporting obligations. The new amendment specifically targets assets that sit outside those providers, so exchange-held crypto appears to fall outside the scope of this particular declaration requirement.
When would the rule first apply?
No implementation date has been confirmed. The amendment still needs to pass through the full National Assembly as part of the 2027 budget process. If it passes and is applied to the 2026 tax year, the first declaration would relate to your 31 December 2026 holdings. Watch for updates as parliamentary debates progress.
Is the 10,000 euro fine the only risk for non-disclosure?
The 10,000 euro administrative fine is the penalty set out in the amendment itself. However, if undisclosed holdings are later linked to unreported capital gains, standard tax fraud penalties under French law could apply on top of that. Those penalties can be considerably larger, particularly for amounts deemed to involve deliberate concealment.
Does this affect non-resident French crypto holders?
French tax obligations generally apply to French tax residents. Non-residents are typically taxed only on French-sourced income. That said, the exit tax amendment, which targets those leaving French tax residency with more than 800,000 euros in crypto, is specifically aimed at people who try to change residency to avoid French tax on large holdings. If you're planning a move, take advice before you go.
Source: Cointelegraph