Crypto: The French tax authorities could receive data from foreign platforms

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

The tax authorities will receive the data without opening a prior check

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

Until now, the identification of a foreign crypto account has largely depended on its declaration by the taxpayer or a targeted request from the tax authorities. The new device reverses this logic. In this way, the information will be sent automatically, without an individual check having to be undertaken first.

The service providers concerned must in particular transmit:

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

The data will be grouped by crypto and transaction category. They will then be exchanged each year between administrations, no later than nine months after the end of the period concerned.

The system will therefore not allow the French tax authorities to monitor each movement live. Rather, he will provide an annual summary sufficiently detailed to identify an unknown account, measure the volumes exchanged and spot certain inconsistencies.

Declarations can be cross-checked on a large scale

The real change is in verification capacity. A French taxpayer must already declare certain crypto accounts opened, held, used or closed abroad. He must also declare his taxable transactions according to the applicable tax rules.

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

This comparison will not automatically prove fraud. A difference may arise from a transfer between two crypto wallets belonging to the same person, from a tax-free transaction or from a different calculation method. It may nevertheless trigger a request for explanation or an inspection.

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

We are simply exchanging more information than we already collect.

The text therefore targets detection capabilities, and not the tax rate on gains. France has already transposed the European directive DAC8 into the finance law for 2025. Service providers must collect information relating to transactions carried out since January 1, 2026. The first declarations are expected in 2027.

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

Senate vote adds no taxes and still needs to be finalized

The text adopted by the senators is not yet a definitively promulgated law. It was transmitted to the National Assembly as part of an accelerated procedure. Parliament here authorizes the approval of two international agreements signed in Assomption on November 26, 2024.

No new direct debit is created. The rules determining the taxation of capital gains remain unchanged, as does the obligation to declare the foreign accounts concerned. Above all, the agreement makes omissions easier to discover.

The system also has limits. It mainly depends on the information held by platforms and other service providers subject to reporting obligations. A standalone wallet, for which the user keeps the keys themselves, cannot directly transmit the identity of its owner. Data may nevertheless appear when a transfer goes through a regulated platform.

The concentration of sensitive information finally raises a security issue. Tax data will associate 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 that do not respect 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 information advantage from which certain foreign accounts benefited. The administration will be able to know of their existence even before questioning the taxpayer.