Bitcoin Tax Being Pushed In France

Published 5 years ago on November 08, 2018

In France, regulators are looking over the taxes imposed on holders of Bitcoin and other digital currencies. The finance commission in the country supported plans yesterday which will see capital gains tax applied to cryptocurrencies brought in line with other capital gains tax. All the profits that are gained from owning digital currencies are currently taxed at a rate of around 36%. Another non-real estate assets are taxed at about 30%.However, this amendment is not yet legally binding, it’s simply being pushed through parliament in an attempt to become law. In order for this happen, it must be approved in the final update of the budgets bill and if this bill goes forward will be enacted from the first of January this year. As said by The Next Web:

“Previous reports in April this year suggested that French regulators were considering dropping capital gains tax on Bitcoin from 45 percent to as low as 19 percent.”

At the moment, the exact amount that a holder will have to pay depends on their annual income and if they are casual traders of crypto or if they do it for business purposes. Nevertheless, if this amendment is accepted, capital gains tax will become a flat rate of 30% which will be great for some but not for everyone. For those of you that don’t know, to be liable for the capital gains tax, you have to first make a capital gain. For example, “Let’s say you own one Bitcoin, currently valued at $6,500, if that digital asset appreciates in value to $7,000 in a years time and you sell that asset making a $500 profit, you have made a $500 capital gain.”Looking at it this way, the capital gains tax is relatively simple. You pay a percentage of that profit made, as tax, to the government. If the new amendment in France goes through then crypto investors will have to pay 30% of any capital gains in tax which is a drop of 6.2%.French politicians have been active on regulating and engaging in the crypto space. In September this year, regulators in France went out of their way to protect the countries users from a scam ICOs, despite there being calls for a united European access. What are your thoughts? Let us know what you think down below in the comments!

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Robert Johnson

Robert first came across Bitcoin in 2016 during a meetup in Belgium, and has been hooked ever since. With a background in Economics, you can find Robert frequently looking at the Twitter feed of the SEC for any regulatory updates relating to Bitcoin and Crypto in general.