France’s National Assembly Finance Committee has approved an amendment that would make exchanges from crypto assets into certain fiat-referenced stablecoins taxable events from Jan. 1, 2027.
The committee adopted amendment I-CF1826 on Oct. 7 during its first-reading review of the 2027 Finance Bill. The measure is not law: it must survive consideration by the full National Assembly and the rest of the legislative process, and its text could change or be removed.
For crypto payment providers, exchanges and wallets serving French users, the proposal is notable because it would place a tax boundary at the point where a user moves from a volatile crypto asset into a payment-oriented token—even when the user does not withdraw conventional currency.
The proposal targets MiCA e-money tokens
The amendment would modify Article 150 VH bis of France’s tax code so that the existing deferral for exchanges between digital assets would not apply when the taxpayer receives an electronic money token, or rights relating to one, as defined by the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation.
Under MiCA, an electronic money token is a crypto asset that seeks to maintain a stable value by referencing one official currency. That definition is narrower than the everyday use of the word “stablecoin,” which can also include tokens tied to baskets of assets or other reference values.
If enacted as written, a covered conversion into an e-money token would require the taxpayer to calculate a gain or loss at the time of the swap. The amendment says the gross result would be the difference between the disposal value and the acquisition price of the crypto assets sold, with documented transaction costs taken into account.
For units of the same crypto asset acquired at different prices, the proposal would use a weighted-average acquisition price. It also contains transition rules for assets acquired before Jan. 1, 2027, allowing taxpayers to use documented historical acquisition values or, through an irrevocable election, allocate the acquisition cost of their portfolio as of Dec. 31, 2026.
A potential operational change for payment platforms
The proposed rule could affect the path users take before making stablecoin payments. A customer who converts another crypto asset into an eligible euro- or dollar-referenced token could trigger a taxable disposal before using that token for a purchase or transfer.
That would raise practical questions for platforms that combine trading, wallet and payment functions. Users may need transaction histories that identify the asset disposed of, the value received, fees and acquisition cost. Providers may also need to explain more clearly when a conversion is distinct from a payment, although the amendment assigns the tax calculation to the statutory framework rather than creating a new payment-provider levy.
The committee text does not establish that every token marketed as a stablecoin would receive the same treatment. Classification under MiCA matters, as does the scope of Article 150 VH bis. Payment companies should therefore avoid applying the headline “stablecoin tax” across all products or customers without legal and tax analysis.
Committee approval is an early legislative step
The amendment’s sponsors described the current treatment as a gap because users can move gains into fiat-referenced stablecoins while retaining the tax deferral available for crypto-to-crypto exchanges. They also cited the ability to use such tokens for payments and further crypto purchases.
That rationale has now won support in committee, but it does not settle the final policy. The Assembly’s official record identifies the amendment as adopted by the Finance Committee in the first reading of the 2027 Finance Bill. Until the budget legislation completes parliamentary review and takes effect, current rules remain in place.
For the payments industry, the immediate task is monitoring rather than implementation. The consequential point is the proposal’s architecture: it would treat a move into qualifying single-currency stablecoins as a realization event, narrowing the tax distinction between entering a stablecoin and cashing out into fiat.