Crypto-assets 2026: capital gains tax for individuals

Quick answer. For an individual disposing of crypto-assets on an occasional basis in 2026, the capital gain falls under article 150 VH bis of the French Tax Code and is subject to the single flat-rate levy of 31.4% (12.8% income tax plus 18.6% social levies). It is reported on form 2086, then carried over to form 2042 C.

You sold part of your crypto-currency portfolio this year, received euros into your bank account, and you are wondering what you need to report. This is a practical, not a theoretical, question: an omission can be costly, and so can a sloppy return. This article addresses the case of the individual managing private wealth who disposes of crypto-assets on an occasional basis. It does not cover corporate holdings, habitual trading, or mining, which follow other regimes that we point to in our dedicated pages.

For the accounting and tax treatment of crypto held by a company, see instead our analysis of crypto-asset accounting for businesses and the French GAAP treatment under the 2026 ANC regulation. The present guide stays focused on the individual investor.

The disposal for valuable consideration of digital assets (crypto-currencies, tokens) by an individual, as part of private wealth management and on an occasional basis, falls under article 150 VH bis of the French Tax Code. The taxable event is the disposal, meaning the transaction that turns part of your portfolio into available value.

Two operations must be distinguished from the outset, because confusing them is the source of most reporting errors.

In other words, as long as you stay within the crypto universe, you are not taxed. Taxation only arises on the exit into euros or when buying a good or service paid in digital assets. This is the central mechanism to internalise.

The rate: 31.4% flat tax or the progressive-scale option#

The annual net capital gain is in principle subject to the single flat-rate levy (PFU) of 31.4%, which breaks down as follows for 2026:

One point of attention: a rate of 30% is still frequently quoted. That figure corresponds to the former social-levy rate of 17.2%. For 2026 taxation, the social-levy rate is raised to 18.6% by the 2026 Social Security Financing Act (Act no. 2025-1403 of 30 December 2025), giving an overall flat tax of 31.4%. Use this rate for your simulations.

The taxpayer may waive the flat tax and opt for the progressive income tax scale by ticking box 3CN on the return. This option, available since the taxation of 2023 income (Finance Act no. 2021-1900 for 2022, article 79), is global: it applies to all digital-asset capital gains for the year.

Hayot Expertise tip. The progressive-scale option is only worthwhile in specific situations, for instance a low marginal tax bracket. It should be simulated with figures in hand before ticking the box, since it applies to all your digital-asset gains for the year. Our firm, registered with the Île-de-France Chartered Accountants' Board, performs this comparative calculation as part of a tax advisory engagement.

The calculation is not simply "sale price minus purchase price of the line sold". The law reasons at the level of the overall portfolio of digital assets. At each disposal, the gain is determined as follows:

Capital gain = disposal price reduced by a fraction of the total acquisition price of the portfolio. That fraction equals the ratio between the disposal price and the overall value of the portfolio of digital assets at the time of the disposal.

Concretely, the process for one year unfolds in several steps.

1. List all taxable disposals of the year (sales in euros, purchases of goods or services paid in crypto).
2. For each disposal, determine the overall value of the portfolio at the time of the transaction.
3. Apply the fraction-of-total-acquisition-price formula to obtain the gain or loss for that operation.
4. Add them up to obtain the annual aggregate gain or loss.
5. Carry that aggregate result onto form 2086, then onto the main return.

This calculation method has a strong practical consequence: it requires complete traceability of acquisitions and of the portfolio valuation at each disposal. This is precisely where files become complicated.

The underestimated risk#

The risk individuals underestimate is not the rate, it is reconstructing the history. When you have spread activity across platforms, tokens and crypto-to-crypto exchanges over several years, recovering the total acquisition price of the portfolio and its value at each disposal becomes painstaking work. An incomplete export, a closed platform, undocumented wallet transfers, and the calculation base becomes fragile.

Reporting relies on two or three forms depending on your situation.

The annual aggregate gain or loss is entered on the appendix form no. 2086, then carried over to the 2042 C return in box 3AN if positive, or 3BN if negative. The progressive-scale option, where applicable, is expressed via box 3CN.

What the tax authority looks at#

The tax authority has cross-referenced information, notably through provider declarations and bank flows. The points it examines first are the consistency between euro receipts and the declared gain, and above all the declaration of foreign accounts. It is on this last point that the penalties are most mechanical.

A few situations call for specific treatment. They are what separate a correct return from an exposed file.

The EUR 305 exemption threshold#

Where the total disposal prices for the year do not exceed EUR 305, the capital gain is exempt (article 150 VH bis of the French Tax Code). This threshold is assessed on the total of disposal prices, not on the gain. In practice it concerns very small one-off exits. Above it, the entire gain becomes taxable again.

Crypto-to-crypto exchange#

This is the point that most reassures investors, rightly so. The exchange between digital assets without a cash adjustment is not a taxable event (article 150 VH bis, II). You can reallocate your portfolio from one token to another without triggering tax. The deferral ends and taxation only arises on conversion into euros or on the purchase of a good or service.

Accounts held abroad#

Digital-asset accounts opened with platforms located outside France must be declared via form 3916-bis, together with the income tax return, whether or not you made disposals. The penalty set out in article 1736 of the French Tax Code is a fine of EUR 750 per undeclared account (or EUR 125 per omission or inaccuracy, capped at EUR 10,000 per return). These amounts rise to EUR 1,500 and EUR 250 respectively where the value of the accounts exceeds EUR 50,000 at any point during the year. It is the oversight that most often costs the most.

The occasional / habitual boundary#

The regime of article 150 VH bis covers occasional disposal. If the buying-and-selling activity becomes habitual, the gains fall under non-commercial profits (BNC) since the taxation of 2023 income, and no longer under the individual capital-gains regime. Mining also falls under BNC. The boundary between occasional and habitual depends on the factual circumstances (frequency, means, organisation). This is a major point of vigilance for very active profiles, which warrants a personalised analysis.

• MiCA is not tax law. The European MiCA regulation governs crypto-asset service providers: former PSAN become licensed CASPs. It is a regulatory framework that does not change the tax regime for individual capital gains. Do not confuse platform compliance with the treatment of your tax.
• The 30% rate is outdated for 2026. Set your simulations at 31.4%.
• Foreign accounts remain the leading source of reassessment through oversight.
• The portfolio history must be reconstructed before the filing season, not during it.

In the files of individual crypto holders, the most frequent sticking points are not the tax rate, which is clear, but the quality of the data. Recently, an individual investor consulted us after several years of transactions across three different platforms: calculating the annual aggregate gain required far more reconstruction work on acquisition prices and valuations than the return itself. The lesson we draw is simple: individual crypto taxation is prepared upstream, through rigorous record-keeping, not at the moment of filling in form 2086.

This is also a dimension of wealth management for company directors when digital assets are part of a broader wealth strategy, to be articulated with other capital-gains exemptions where relevant. For investors structuring a more intensive activity, the sector page chartered accountant for crypto-currency details the regimes beyond the occasional case alone.

To prepare your next return calmly, here is a concrete procedure.

1. Export the full history from all your platforms, including those you no longer use.
2. Identify the taxable disposals of the year (sales in euros, purchases paid in crypto).
3. Check whether the sum of your disposal prices exceeds EUR 305.
4. Reconstruct the total acquisition price of the portfolio and its value at each disposal.
5. Calculate the annual aggregate gain or loss and carry it onto form 2086.
6. Carry the result onto form 2042 C (box 3AN or 3BN), and consider the scale option (3CN) if it benefits you.
7. Do not forget form 3916-bis for each account held abroad.

This sequence fits into the wider calendar of the 2026 income tax return, and takes into account the measures of the 2026 Finance Act that may affect your capital income.