France Delays 2027 Budget Vote Again After Crypto Exit Tax Defeat
The French National Assembly delayed its 2027 budget revenue vote again with 758 amendments pending and a November 17 deadline. Two crypto exit tax amendments failed, while self-custody reporting and a stablecoin-swap tax remain in play.
French lawmakers returned on Tuesday to debate, not decide, the revenue section of the 2027 budget. The National Assembly has postponed that vote for a second time, with 758 amendments still pending, days after rejecting two proposals to extend the exit tax to crypto holdings.
An end-of-session notice issued after Monday's sitting showed that debate on the revenue provisions would continue on Tuesday, November 3. The first postponement came on October 20, when more than 2,000 amendments remained unresolved, according to French newspaper Le Monde.
The clock and the stakes
The Assembly has until midnight on November 17 to finish its first reading. If the revenue section is rejected, the government's original text goes to the Senate without the amendments MPs have adopted so far, including any crypto measures. The broader budget process faces a constitutional deadline of December 17.
An unnamed source close to the minister responsible for parliamentary relations told Le Monde:
"The government must provide France with a budget."
Exit tax proposals fail
Both exit tax amendments were rejected on Friday, October 30.
Amendment I-3904, introduced by Nicolas Sansu, would have brought eligible crypto assets into the existing exit tax. It fell with 27 votes for, 55 against and one abstention.
Amendment I-3432, from Mickaël Bouloux, targeted unrealized gains on household crypto holdings above €800,000 (about $897,000) for people who had been French tax residents for at least six of the previous 10 years. It was rejected 60 to 31. The Assembly's official voting records for the two amendments are published here and here.
Other crypto measures still open
The defeats do not close the file. Two proposals remain under debate: a requirement to report self-custodied crypto worth at least €100,000 (about $112,000) to tax authorities, and an exemption from tax on crypto payments for goods and services totaling up to €1,000 a year. The self-custody reporting measure could carry penalties of up to €10,000, and committee approval did not make it law.
On October 16, the Assembly approved an amendment to tax gains when crypto is converted into fiat-pegged stablecoins. It is not law, though the stablecoin-swap tax remains in the provisional budget text. BCA previously covered how that measure passed by a single vote.
What it means
For market participants, the outcome hinges on procedure as much as policy. With 758 amendments queued and a November 17 cutoff, a rejected revenue section would send the government's original text to the Senate and drop the amendments MPs have adopted, the stablecoin-swap tax among them. French policymakers are also weighing crypto rules on other fronts: BCA reported on October 22 that the Treasury, AMF, central bank and ACPR proposed liability for platforms offering DeFi access as part of suggested MiCA changes.
