On Oct. 9, the finance committee of France's National Assembly (the lower house) adopted an amendment that would require people to declare to tax authorities crypto kept in personal wallets rather than with an exchange, if it is worth €100,000 (about $112,000) or more as of Dec. 31. Failing to declare could bring a fine of up to €10,000 (about $11,200).
It is easy to assume that once coins move to a personal wallet, the government has no way of knowing how much is there, so taxes do not come into it.
But the real point lies elsewhere. The businesses the EU has required, since 2026, to send crypto information to tax authorities are crypto service providers such as exchanges. This amendment aims to bring in coins that no provider holds, meaning crypto in personal wallets. If it becomes law, whether wallet crypto must be declared will depend on "how much you hold," not on "is it off an exchange."
- What does the French amendment require people to declare?
The amendment is numbered I-CF821. It creates a new reporting duty for crypto not held by a crypto service provider, meaning coins in a personal wallet (a digital wallet where the owner keeps the coins directly). It would add a provision to France's general tax code.
The test is a single amount. If holdings are worth €100,000 or more as of Dec. 31, they must be declared. If the amendment becomes law, someone with about $150,000 in a personal wallet would be covered, while someone with about $75,000 would not (illustrative math at Oct. 12 exchange rates).
It is like being told to report how much cash you keep in a home safe once it reaches a certain amount. The difference: this amendment does not create a new tax. It is a duty to disclose how much you hold.
- Why target personal wallets now?
The amendment was filed by Charles de Courson, Jean-Pierre Bataille and Michel Castellani, members of the LIOT (Liberties, Independents, Overseas and Territories) group in the National Assembly. They said the measure is meant to fight tax evasion.
They cited a parliamentary inquiry into the taxation of wealthy individuals. Crypto capital gains in France reached €3.5 billion (about $3.9 billion) in 2021, while only €400 million (about $447 million) in crypto holdings were declared to tax authorities that year. Dollar figures use Oct. 12 exchange rates.
Put simply, the crypto wealth visible to tax authorities was far smaller than the money made from crypto. Gains and holdings are not the same yardstick, but the sponsors looked to personal wallets for that gap.
- Who reports the crypto held on exchanges?
Starting Jan. 1, 2026, the EU put ‘DAC8’ (the EU’s rule for sharing crypto tax information) into effect. Crypto service providers such as exchanges collect information on users’ crypto transactions starting with 2026 trades and send it to their own country’s tax authority the following year. Information on users who live in another EU country is exchanged with that country’s tax authority.
So the chain runs like this: exchanges report their customers' transactions → but that system does not report how much sits in a personal wallet right now → the French amendment would have the coin owners declare those holdings themselves.
Think of parcels: leave one in an apartment parcel locker and there is a record, but things you bring inside your home have no list. The amendment would require a list of what is inside the home once it reaches a set value. The difference: it asks for the value of the coins you hold, not the money you made.
- Did the committee target other crypto gaps too?
The wallet reporting proposal was one of five crypto-related amendments the finance committee adopted last week. Another would impose an exit tax (a tax on unrealized gains on assets when a person moves to another country) on crypto holdings above €800,000 (about $894,000) when taxpayers move abroad.
Another would scrap the tax deferral on converting crypto into fiat-backed stablecoins (coins pegged to government money such as the dollar). Personal-wallet holdings, moving abroad and stablecoin swaps: together, these proposals go after places where crypto taxes could be collected late or not in full.
- Why it is not law yet
After adopting the amendments, the finance committee rejected the entire revenue section of the 2027 budget bill by 31 votes to 3. The full National Assembly is scheduled to begin debating the revenue section on Tuesday, Oct. 13, starting from the government's original draft.
So the crypto amendments would need to be submitted again and approved during the parliamentary proceedings to become law, Cointelegraph reported, citing French tech publication Clubic. They have cleared the committee, but for now they are still proposals.
A similar earlier step is DAC8. The EU wrote exchange reporting into law and began applying it in 2026. The difference: DAC8 puts the reporting duty on providers, while the French amendment would put a declaration duty directly on the individuals who hold the coins.
- BITPRESS Insight
Read this only as one country's tax news and you miss something. Since 2026, the EU has been collecting crypto transactions on exchanges through provider reports, and France now wants to add personal-wallet holdings beyond that. Crypto taxation is trying to widen from exchange records to personal wallets.
If the amendment becomes law, moving coins to a personal wallet will no longer be enough on its own to stay outside the reporting duty. Someone holding about $150,000 in a personal wallet would also have to declare it, and failing to do so could bring a fine of up to €10,000.
Whether wallet crypto has to be declared would come down to "is it worth more than the threshold on Dec. 31," not "it's off an exchange." A personal wallet is becoming a choice of how to store coins, not a way to skip reporting.
Sources
https://cointelegraph.com/news/french-lawmakers-back-reporting-rule-for-crypto-wallets-over-112k
https://taxation-customs.ec.europa.eu/taxation/tax-transparency-cooperation/administrative-co-operation-and-mutual-assistance/directive-administrative-cooperation-dac/dac8_en
https://www.ecb.europa.eu/stats/eurofxref/eurofxref-hist-90d.xml
Glossary
personal wallets — A digital wallet in which the coin owner holds the password (private key) and stores the coins directly, rather than leaving them with an exchange.
Amendment — A change or addition that lawmakers propose to a bill; it becomes law only if it also passes the full chamber.
DAC8 — EU rules in force since 2026 that require crypto service providers to report users' crypto transactions to tax authorities.
Exit tax — A tax on gains in assets a person has not yet sold, charged when the person moves to another country.
Stablecoin — A coin designed to keep its value equal, one for one, to government money such as the U.S. dollar.
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