French Senate to approve OECD crypto data-sharing pact as budget debate targets stablecoin conversions

The French Senate takes up, on Tuesday 27 October from 14:30, a bill authorising France to approve the OECD's Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF), the international mechanism for automatic exchange of information on crypto holdings between tax administrations. The text, Projet de loi n° 921, requires parliamentary approval under Article 53 of the Constitution because it commits France to an international agreement. The government engaged an accelerated procedure when it filed the bill on 27 July, and the Senate's finance committee adopted it without modification on 21 October, in a report numbered 83 drafted by rapporteur Emmanuel Capus. Debate in the chamber is limited to 30 minutes of speaking time split among political groups.

CARF extends to crypto-assets a logic already applied to bank accounts since 2017 through the OECD's Common Reporting Standard. The framework itself was published by the OECD in 2022, and France signed the multilateral agreement implementing it on 26 November 2024 in Asunción, alongside 48 other states and territories. According to the Capus report, 77 jurisdictions had committed to applying CARF as of 14 September 2026. Of these, 46 — including France — will begin exchanges in 2027; 27, including Switzerland and Singapore, will follow in 2028; and four, including the United States, in 2029. The United States has committed to the framework without signing the multilateral agreement, while the broader signatory list for that agreement stands at 56 jurisdictions, including Japan and the United Kingdom. Four jurisdictions — India, El Salvador, Georgia and Vietnam — have made no commitment at all, though the report notes outreach is underway toward New Delhi.

Rapporteur Capus cautioned that commitment and signature do not guarantee implementation. "The mere signature of the agreement is therefore not enough to automatically make the exchanges operational," he wrote, adding that the practical impact of the framework remains "difficult to assess at this stage." France intends to attach an annex specifying data protection requirements; jurisdictions that do not meet them will receive nothing in return. First exchanges involving France and 45 other first-wave jurisdictions are expected in 2027, covering transactions from 2026.

CARF complements the EU's DAC8 directive, under which crypto platforms have been collecting user data since 1 January 2026 following transposition in the 2025 finance law; the DGFiP's first declaration under that regime will cover 2026 transactions. For comparison, the bank-account version of this exchange produced 11.6 million foreign accounts reported to France in 2025, with cumulative balances of €456 billion from 109 jurisdictions — against just 1.16 million accounts in the first campaign a decade earlier. Adan estimated in early 2025 that 10% of French adults held crypto-assets, worth between €21 billion and €26 billion. Individuals who fail to declare a foreign crypto account on form 3916-bis already face fines of €750 per account, rising to €1,500 where balances exceed €50,000 during the year.

A parallel fight over stablecoin conversions

The Senate's vote coincides with continued examination of the 2027 budget in the National Assembly, where the finance committee rejected the revenue section on 9 October and the related social security budget's revenue section was rejected 23 October by 115 votes to 1. The flat tax on crypto capital gains remains unchanged at 31.4%. In session on 16 October, deputies adopted by 38 votes to 37 an amendment from Nicolas Sansu (GDR) making crypto-to-stablecoin conversions taxable from 1 January 2027; by way of illustration, a €40,000 gain converted into a stablecoin would cost €12,560 in tax. The measure applies only to MiCA-defined e-money tokens, meaning USDT is excluded for lack of MiCA authorisation, while USDC falls within scope.

Other proposals remain in play, including an amendment from Charles de Courson (LIOT) that would require declaration — but not taxation — of non-custodial wallets worth over €100,000 held on 31 December, with omission penalties up to €10,000, and two separate exit tax proposals, one from Sansu targeting holders of over €800,000 in crypto and another carried by the Socialist group. The government's own text proposes a €10,000 fine per request for platforms that refuse to transmit documents to tax authorities. Debate on the budget's revenue section is scheduled to run until Monday 2 November, with a solemn vote set for the afternoon of Tuesday 3 November.