Crypto tax in France in 2026: form 2086, the 31.4% flat tax and form 3916-bis

• What is taxed: selling for euros, paying for goods or services in crypto, swaps with a cash balance; not crypto-to-crypto swaps without one, and not holding.
• The rate: 31.4% in 2026, whatever the number of transactions, or the progressive income tax scale on option (box 3CN).
• The threshold: exempt if total sale prices for the year do not exceed €305; form 2086 is still attached.
• Losses: offset only against crypto gains of the same year, never carried forward.

French crypto tax confuses newcomers because it does not work like the tax on shares: the gain is not computed token by token but on the whole portfolio, with its own formula. These rules apply to individuals who buy and sell on an occasional basis (article 150 VH bis of the French tax code); activity carried out in conditions similar to a professional's falls under a different regime, non-commercial profits (article 92).

This guide explains when a transaction is taxable, how the gain is calculated, how to fill in form 2086 online, the rate and the option for the progressive scale, how losses work, the declaration of foreign accounts and the legal ways to pay less. The rules come from impots.gouv.fr, the official 2026 income tax guide and the BOFiP.

When a crypto transaction is taxable

The official guide lists as taxable the disposals made in exchange for legal currency, for a good other than a digital asset, for another digital asset with a cash balance, or for a service. Swaps between crypto-assets without a cash balance are intermediate operations: they are neither taxed nor declared, and tax only comes when you move out into euros, goods or services.

How the gain is calculated

The gain on a disposal equals the sale price minus the total acquisition price of the whole portfolio multiplied by the share the sale represents in the portfolio's global value at that moment (French tax code, article 150 VH bis; BOFiP, BOI-RPPM-PVBMC-30-20). In other words: gain = sale price − (total acquisition price × sale price ÷ global portfolio value).

• Total acquisition price: everything paid in euros to buy crypto since the start, plus the value of goods or services exchanged for it, minus the portions already used in past disposals. Without proof, a crypto-asset is deemed acquired for zero.
• Global portfolio value: the value, at the time of the sale, of all the crypto-assets you hold, on every platform and in every wallet.
• Sale price: what you receive, in euros or in the value of the good or service obtained.

The BOFiP example: €1,000 invested in total, a portfolio worth €1,200 on the day of the sale, and €450 sold. The gain is 450 − (1,000 × 450 ÷ 1,200), or €75. For the next sale, the total acquisition price is reduced by the portion already used, here €375, leaving €625.

Another example: €10,000 invested, a portfolio worth €20,000, and €5,000 cashed out. The gain is 5,000 − (10,000 × 5,000 ÷ 20,000), or €2,500, and tax at 31.4% comes to €785. The calculation requires the value of the whole portfolio on the date of each sale: write it down on the day.

Filling in form 2086

1. Open the online income tax return and, at step 3, add annex no. 2086 with the “Déclarations annexes” button.
2. Fill in one column per taxable disposal of the year: date, global portfolio value, sale price, fees, cash balances, total acquisition price and portions of initial capital already used.
3. Let the form compute the gain or loss on each disposal, then the total for the household.
4. The total is carried to box 3AN (gain) or 3BN (loss); on paper, on form 2042 C.
5. Declare foreign accounts at the end of the procedure, on form 3916-bis.

Form 2086 must be attached to the return even when total sales for the year stay below €305: the official 2026 guide says so explicitly. Gains and losses of all members of the tax household are offset against each other.

The rate: 31.4% flat tax or the progressive scale

By default, the year's net gain is subject to the 31.4% flat tax in 2026: 12.8% income tax and 18.6% social charges, whatever the number of transactions, according to impots.gouv.fr. On option, by ticking box 3CN, it is taxed at the progressive income tax scale instead, with social charges still due. The option is express, irrevocable and global: it covers all of the household's crypto gains for the year, and it is separate from the option for dividends and share gains explained in the guide on the French flat tax and box 2OP.

The progressive scale only helps when the household's marginal rate is low, 0% or 11%: income tax then falls below the 12.8% flat rate, but the option adds the gain to taxable income, which can change the bracket. Run both calculations before ticking the box.

Losses

A crypto loss can only be offset against the household's crypto gains of the same year. It cannot be set against share gains or other income, and it cannot be carried forward. A losing year is still declared, in box 3BN, with no effect on later years.

Accounts on a foreign platform: form 3916-bis

Each account opened on a crypto platform based outside France must be declared every year on form 3916-bis, even with no sale during the year. Forgetting costs €750 per account, €1,500 if the value of crypto accounts abroad exceeded €50,000 during the year; a wallet you hold yourself is outside the definition. The guide on form 3916 and 3916-bis details what to report, the fines and the look-back period.

Paying less tax, legally

• Stay in crypto: as long as you swap between crypto-assets without a cash balance, stablecoins included, nothing is taxed; tax comes when you cash out.
• Group your exits: one well-prepared disposal beats many small sales, each of which needs the value of the whole portfolio.
• Offset within the year: a loss only counts in the year it is realized, against the crypto gains of the whole household.
• Consider the progressive scale if your marginal rate is 0% or 11%.
• Keep every purchase record: without proof, the acquisition price is deemed to be zero and the whole sale becomes a gain.

Platforms increasingly share data with tax authorities: the EU's DAC8 directive requires crypto-asset service providers to collect information on their clients' transactions from 2026, for exchanges between administrations afterwards. Not declaring is getting riskier.

This guide is educational and is not personalized tax advice. The rules quoted are those in force for returns filed in 2026, according to impots.gouv.fr, the 2026 income tax guide and the BOFiP.

Frequently asked questions