Understanding Crypto Taxation in France — Educational Guide 2025

Since 2019, capital gains on digital assets are taxable in France. Whether you sold Bitcoin, exchanged Ethereum for euros, or used crypto to purchase goods, you must declare these transactions. Here are the general principles to know for the 2025 declaration (2024 income).

1. Who must declare?

Every French tax resident who made at least one disposal of digital assets during the year must file. A disposal includes:

• Selling crypto for euros (or any fiat currency)
• Purchasing goods or services with crypto
• Exchanging crypto for crypto with fiat consideration

Exception: crypto-to-crypto exchanges without fiat involvement are not taxable (e.g., swapping BTC for ETH).

2. Form 2086 (Cerfa 15252)

This is the income tax annex dedicated to digital assets. For each disposal, you must report:

• Box 210 — Date of disposal
• Box 211 — Disposal price
• Box 212 — Disposal fees
• Box 214 — Total acquisition cost (FIFO method)
• Box 215 — Total portfolio value at time of disposal
• Box 217 — Capital gain or loss

3. FIFO Method (First In, First Out)

The official method for calculating acquisition cost is FIFO: the first units purchased are the first ones sold.

Practical example:

• January 2024: buy 0.5 BTC at 40,000 EUR (cost: 20,000 EUR)
• March 2024: buy 0.3 BTC at 50,000 EUR (cost: 15,000 EUR)
• June 2024: sell 0.4 BTC at 60,000 EUR (proceeds: 24,000 EUR)

Under FIFO, the 0.4 BTC sold come from the first lot: acquisition cost = 0.4 × 40,000 = 16,000 EUR. Capital gain = 24,000 - 16,000 = 8,000 EUR.

4. Tax rate

Two options since 2023:

• Flat tax (PFU): 31.4% — 14.2% income tax + 17.2% social contributions. This is the default.
• Progressive scale — Optional, useful if your marginal rate is below 14.2%. Social contributions (17.2%) still apply.

5. Thresholds and exemptions

• 305 EUR threshold — If total annual disposals are below 305 EUR, the gain is tax-exempt (but you must still declare).
• Foreign accounts — You must declare any crypto account held abroad (Binance, Kraken, etc.) via form 3916-bis.

6. 2025 calendar

• April 2025 — Online declaration opens
• May-June 2025 — Deadline depending on department (zone 1, 2, 3)
• September 2025 — Tax notice

7. Common mistakes to avoid

• Forgetting to declare foreign crypto accounts (750 EUR fine per account)
• Confusing taxable vs non-taxable crypto-to-crypto exchanges
• Not converting amounts to EUR at the rate on disposal date
• Using a method other than FIFO without justification
• Forgetting fees in the gain calculation

8. How KRYPTFOLIO helps you prepare your declaration

KRYPTFOLIO provides indicative calculation tools to help with your preparation:

• Import your transactions (Binance, Kraken, Bybit or CSV)
• FIFO calculation based on the method described in art. 150 VH bis of the CGI
• Indicative capital gains summary generation
• Per-asset summary and gain/loss breakdown

The detailed summary is available with the Pro plan (12.99 EUR/month) or per summary (14.99 EUR per tax year). That is 5-20x cheaper than specialized tools like Koinly (49-199 EUR/year).

This summary is an indicative calculation tool. It does not replace the advice of a qualified professional.