Cryptocurrency taxation scares many investors. Yet in France, it rests on a surprisingly precise framework: for an individual who is a French tax resident, the essentials are contained in a single article of the General Tax Code, 150 VH bis. Its updated version came into force on July 1, 2026, notably in connection with the European MiCA regulation — the framework governing crypto-asset markets at the European Union level —, as Légifrance reminds us. Let's go over everything, step by step, from complete beginner to advanced.
The golden rule: no exit, no tax
First, remember a simple idea: as long as your cryptos stay in your digital wallet, you owe nothing to the tax authorities. Tax is only triggered when you leave the digital world. Think of a shopping cart: the fruit you keep inside is not taxed; you only pay when you go through the checkout.
In practice, you realize a taxable gain — what is called a capital gain, in other words the difference between what you paid and what you receive — only when you transfer crypto-assets for consideration. Translation: when you sell them for "real" currency (euro, dollar…) or when you use them to buy a good or a service. Three situations, therefore, trigger taxation:
- selling your cryptos for euros (or a traditional currency);
- paying for a good or service directly in cryptos;
- using your cryptos in a context comparable to a disposal.
Conversely, simply holding, keeping, or watching the value of your tokens rise or fall triggers no tax. Taxation applies to the realized gain, never to the theoretical value of your portfolio.
Exchanges between cryptos: a welcome tax neutrality
Here is a rule that many ignore and that changes everything on a daily basis: according to Article 150 VH bis of the General Tax Code, referenced on Légifrance, exchanges between crypto-assets benefit from a tax deferral. Exchanging Bitcoin for Ethereum, for example, triggers nothing. It's like swapping an apple for a pear in your basket: as long as you don't turn your fruit into hard cash, the administration claims nothing.
This neutrality has a major practical consequence: you can rebalance your portfolio, arbitrate between several digital assets, without triggering taxation on every move. This is a genuine point of flexibility in the French framework, often misunderstood. Be careful, however: this neutrality concerns crypto-to-crypto exchanges. As soon as a traditional currency enters the transaction, we fall back within the scope of taxation.
The small-amount exemption: €305
The legislature has provided a tolerance for small transactions: if the total of your taxable disposals over the year does not exceed €305, you are fully exempt. A threshold designed so that every micro-transaction does not become a reporting headache.
But beware of the classic trap: as soon as this threshold is crossed, it is the entire gain that becomes taxable, and not only the portion above €305. A concrete example: you sell for €400 and generate a €100 gain. You will not be taxed on €95 (400 − 305), but on the entire €100. The threshold applies to the amount of sales, never to the gain. This is one of the most frequent confusions, and one of the most costly when filling out your return.
How much does it cost? The 30% "flat tax"
The rate applied is the same as for traditional stock market investments: the "flat tax", or single flat-rate withholding (PFU). It amounts to 30% in total, broken down as follows:
- 12.8% for income tax (Article 200 C of the CGI);
- 17.2% for social contributions.
Let's make the figure concrete: on a gain of €1,000, you pay €300 to the tax authorities and keep €700. On a gain of €100, you have €70 left. Another way to look at it: the tax authorities take a little less than a third of your gain, and you keep a little more than two thirds.
Important nuance: if your overall income is modest, you may, under certain conditions, opt for the progressive scale of income tax — a calculation method where the rate rises with your income — when this proves more advantageous for you. This choice is made at the time of filing and deserves careful simulation, case by case. There is no universal answer: it all depends on your personal situation.
The overall calculation: the portfolio viewed as a single basket
This is where crypto taxation clearly differs from the traditional stock market. The gain is not calculated transaction by transaction. The law imposes a formula (still Article 150 VH bis) that relates the price of your sale to the total purchase price of your entire portfolio at the time of that sale.
The most accurate image: the tax authorities consider your crypto portfolio as a single large basket. Each time you sell part of its contents, the sale price is compared to a fraction of the total cost of everything you have bought. In practice, this means that the average purchase price of all your cryptos counts, and not the purchase price of the single token you are selling. This method has a sometimes counterintuitive effect: selling an asset bought very low can generate a high taxable gain, even if you have also suffered losses on other lines — because everything is aggregated.
Practical consequence, and this is a methodological tip, not investment advice: carefully keep the complete history of all your purchases in euros (dates, amounts, quantities). Without this tracking, the formula becomes impossible to apply correctly and the return turns into a nightmare. This is precisely where a rigorous tracking tool makes the difference: the investment journal of JARVIS Trading Institut (section /investir), which covers stocks, ETFs and crypto with prices and a weekly report, helps keep a clear record of your transactions. And for traders, the trading journal in the member area — screenshots, result, mini psychological test — makes it possible to document every move methodically.
Loss: what you can (and cannot) do
Crypto-asset markets experience periods of decline. If you record a loss — a capital loss — during the year, it can only be deducted from gains realized on other cryptos in the same year. In other words, it is offset only within the same "family" of gains, in the same tax year.
Unlike traditional stocks, it is impossible to:
- carry these crypto losses forward to subsequent years;
- deduct them from your other income (salary, rental income…).
This is a major difference to internalize: a loss suffered in a year without a gain in the same year is definitively lost for tax purposes. Hence the importance of a clear view of your transactions and their timing. Regular tracking is better than reconstructing from memory at the end of the year.
The return, step by step
When filling out your income tax return, the process unfolds in three parts:
- Form 2086: the details of your disposals, transaction by transaction, with the calculation of gains and losses.
- Return 2042 C: the reporting of the overall amount from the 2086.
- Form 3916-bis: to be completed if you hold digital asset accounts opened with actors located abroad (for example Binance or Kraken).
Forgetting the 3916-bis is one of the most penalized errors: it is intended to list accounts held outside France, regardless of their activity, even if no movement took place during the year. An account that is open but inactive must still be declared.
Also think about income from staking (locking up cryptos to secure a network and receive a reward) or lending (lending your cryptos in exchange for interest): this income may be treated differently from disposal gains and deserves particular attention when filing. If in doubt, an accountant familiar with these topics remains the right person to talk to.
💡 Concrete case
Let's take a numerical example, purely for illustration (amounts are orders of magnitude, to be verified according to your situation). You gradually invest €10,000 in cryptos over the year. In December, you sell part of your portfolio for €4,000, which corresponds, according to the formula in 150 VH bis, to a taxable gain of €1,500. Here is what happens:
- Your total sales for the year (€4,000) far exceed the €305 threshold: the gain is therefore taxable.
- The tax authorities apply the 30% flat tax to the €1,500 gain: that is approximately €450 in tax.
- You are therefore left with approximately €1,050 net on this gain.
Another scenario, more subtle: you sell for €4,000 but generate €0 in gain (or even a slight loss). In that case, no taxation on this sale — but the €305 threshold only "protects" you if your total sales remain below that amount. As soon as it is exceeded, it is the real gain that counts, not the amount sold. This case illustrates why you need to track your average purchase price, and not just your sales.
The traps to avoid (the truth, even if it is uncomfortable)
Let's be direct: most crypto tax errors do not come from dishonesty, but from improvisation. Here are the most common traps, and our stated position on each.
- Confusing the threshold and the gain. The €305 threshold applies to the amount of sales, not to the gain. Once crossed, the entire gain is taxable. This is mistake number one.
- Forgetting foreign accounts. Even with no sale at all, an account on a platform outside France must be declared via the 3916-bis. Forgetting it exposes you to penalties. Our view: don't look for the small saving on reporting, it always costs more later.
- Neglecting the average purchase price. Since the calculation is global, approximate tracking distorts everything. Keep a record from the very first purchase, not in April of the following year.
- Using unregulated platforms. Exchanges on actors without a legal presence in Europe seriously complicate your situation. The MiCA regulation, which came into application to harmonize rules at the European level, aims precisely to regulate these actors and clarify everyone's obligations. Choosing a serious actor is first and foremost a matter of peace of mind, not of fashion.
Our educational conviction, and it is firm: taxation is not an administrative detail to be dealt with at the end. It is a full component of managing a portfolio. An investor who ignores their tax rules makes decisions blindly — and sometimes discovers the bill too late. Conversely, understanding the framework allows you to act calmly, without stress or unpleasant surprises. It is not a question of "what to buy", but of method and rigor.
Structuring your practice, beyond taxation
Taxation is only one piece of the puzzle. What durably sets an investor apart is method: discipline, risk management, rigorous tracking. To progress step by step, the complete training of JARVIS Trading Institut offers a structured path (with bootcamps, mentoring and events), which relies notably on the JARVIS METHOD as an analytical framework. On the tools side, the member area brings together progress tracking, an orientation test, a trading journal and a "Mon Trading" hub with statistics. The mindset coaching component (discipline, emotion management) and "Ma forme" (the trader's lifestyle habits) complete the whole, because the mind matters as much as the technique.
To stay informed on a daily basis, the Telegram assistant offers a plan of the day, a morning market brief, a news watch and targeted reminders. The comparative directories (brokers and prop firms, with practical info such as withdrawal times) help you choose a serious working framework. And to go deeper into the economic context, the daily blog, the "Lectures JARVIS", the glossary and the country fact sheets offer useful reference points. Finally, for long-term investors, the investment journal (/investir) makes it possible to track stocks, ETFs and crypto with prices and a weekly report — a good habit so as not to lose any of your history, taxation included.
Educational reminder: this content is strictly educational in nature and does not constitute tax, investment or financial advice, nor a recommendation to buy or sell. No price forecast is made in it. Trading and investing in crypto-assets involve a risk of capital loss. For any personal situation, turn to an accountant or an authorized professional.