France Plans Automatic Reporting Of Foreign Crypto Data

The Senate approved an agreement allowing the automatic exchange of information about cryptos held with foreign providers. This text does not create any new tax, but it mainly gives the tax authority the means to compare taxpayers’ declarations with data received each year from its counterparts.

The Tax Authority Will Receive Data Without Opening a Preliminary Audit

The bill, adopted in first reading on October 27, authorizes France to approve the Crypto Reporting Framework developed by the OECD. This agreement organizes the collection and then the exchange of information between the tax administrations of the participating countries.

Until now, identification of a foreign crypto account largely depended on its declaration by the taxpayer or a targeted request from the tax authority. The new system reverses this logic. Thus, the information will be automatically reported, without an individual audit first being initiated.

The providers concerned must notably transmit :

• The user’s identity and their tax residence ;
• Their tax identification number ;
• Conversions between cryptos and traditional currencies ;
• Exchanges made between different cryptos ;
• Transfers made from or to their accounts ;
• The number, quantity, and total value of the operations.

Data will be aggregated by crypto and by transaction category. They will then be exchanged annually between administrations, at the latest nine months after the end of the relevant period.

The system will therefore not allow the French tax authority to track every movement live. Instead, it will provide an annual summary detailed enough to identify an unknown account, measure exchanged volumes, and spot certain inconsistencies.

Declarations Can Be Cross-Checked on a Large Scale

The real change concerns verification capability. A French taxpayer must already declare certain crypto accounts opened, held, used, or closed abroad. They must also declare taxable operations according to applicable tax rules.

However, the tax authority had limited means to verify this information when the platform was located outside France. With automatic exchange, it will be able to compare foreign data with declared accounts and capital gains mentioned in the income tax declaration.

This comparison will not automatically prove fraud. A difference may arise from a transfer between two crypto wallets belonging to the same person, a non-taxable operation, or a different calculation method. Nevertheless, it may trigger a request for explanation or an audit.

Rapporteur Emmanuel Capus clearly distinguished this cooperation from the tax rules themselves:

We are simply exchanging more information than we already collected.

The text therefore targets detection capabilities, not the tax rate on gains. France has already transposed the European DAC8 directive into the 2025 finance law. Providers must collect transaction information made since January 1, 2026. The first declarations are expected in 2027.

The OECD agreement extends this logic beyond the European Union. Its effectiveness will depend, however, on the number of participating countries and the quality of data provided by their platforms.

The Senate Vote Adds No New Tax and Still Needs to Be Finalized

The text adopted by the senators is not yet a definitively enacted law. It has been forwarded to the National Assembly in an accelerated procedure. Parliament authorizes here the approval of two international agreements signed in Asunción on November 26, 2024.

No new levy is created. The rules determining capital gains taxation remain unchanged, as does the obligation to declare the foreign accounts concerned. The agreement mainly makes omissions easier to detect.

The system also retains limits. It mainly depends on the information held by platforms and other providers subject to reporting obligations. A self-custodied wallet, where the user keeps the keys, cannot directly transmit the owner’s identity. However, data may appear when a transfer passes through a regulated platform.

The concentration of sensitive information finally raises a security issue. Tax data will associate an identity with assets and transaction volumes. The Senate report specifies that France will require confidentiality guarantees from its partners and may refuse exchanges with jurisdictions not meeting its protection standards.

For French holders, the main change will therefore not be a new tax in 2027. It will be the gradual disappearance of the informational advantage some foreign accounts enjoyed. The administration will be able to know their existence even before questioning the taxpayer.