Since 2019, France has been imposing capital gains tax on cryptocurrencies through a specific tax regime, the Flat Tax, also known as the Prélèvement Forfaitaire Unique (PFU). This tax amounts to 30%: 12.8% income tax and 17.2% social contributions.
But beware: this flat tax is not always set in stone. Several legal strategies allow you to reduce, defer, or even completely avoid this tax. The key is to understand the current tax rules and carefully monitor your transactions. We’ll explain everything below 👇
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📌 Why the standard flat tax is often not the right calculation
Many investors still make a classic mistake:
👉 “I invested €5,000, my portfolio is worth €7,000 today, so I will have to pay 30% on €2,000.”
❌ Wrong. This reasoning overlooks a crucial concept: past losses. If you have sold cryptocurrencies at a loss during the year, you can deduct these losses from your gains. However, without precise tracking of your history, you are likely to overpay taxes.
📉 Example: you make a €2,000 profit on a sale at the end of the year, but you had €1,200 in losses on another token a few months earlier.
➡️ If you do not declare these losses, you will pay 30% on €2,000 instead of 30% on €800.
And these losses are not carry-forward to the next year, so if you do not use them, they are lost.
👉 This is why a tool like Waltio is essential to accurately track your gains and losses and only pay what you owe.
🧠 Optimizing your crypto tax: 5 simple (and legal) strategies
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1. Declare all losses to offset gains
As mentioned earlier, every loss incurred during the year is deductible from gains. However, it is essential to identify and declare them on form 2086, transaction by transaction.
💡 Tip: at the end of the year, it may be wise to sell some tokens at a loss to reduce the tax impact of your gains. This strategy, known as “loss harvesting,” has long been used by stock market investors.
⚠️ To make this strategy work, closely monitor the overall value of your portfolio, which Waltio enables with a few clicks.
2. Stay below the €305 annual disposal threshold
This threshold is one of the few cases of total exemption in France: if your disposals (in euros or crypto purchases) do not exceed €305 in a year, you are not liable for taxes, even with capital gains.
📌 Note: this refers to the sales amount, not the net gain.
👉 If you are an occasional investor, it might be useful to split your sales or postpone some transactions to the following year to stay below this limit.
3. Avoid taxation by staying within the crypto realm
The tax authority only taxes sales in fiat currency or using crypto for a purchase. Conversely, crypto-to-crypto transactions are tax-neutral. Examples:
- BTC → ETH: not taxable
- SOL → USDT: not taxable
- ETH → NFT: be cautious, if the NFT is considered a good, this transaction may be taxable
➡️ By holding your gains in stablecoins or reallocating your assets without converting to euros, you can avoid triggering taxes.
4. Choose the progressive scale instead of the flat tax
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Since 2023, individuals can reject the flat tax and opt for the progressive income tax scale. This option may be beneficial if:
- Your Marginal Tax Rate is less than 12.8%
- You have few or no other capital income
- You are in an overall deficit on your investments
⚠️ This choice applies to all your capital income, not just crypto, so it requires careful consideration. Waltio allows you to simulate the tax impact based on your options.
5. Make crypto donations
Donating crypto to a loved one is a non-taxable operation for the donor. The recipient receives the assets at market value at the time of donation, which becomes their acquisition cost.
💡 This can transfer unrealized gains without paying tax, as long as the donation rules are followed.
🧾 How to properly declare your cryptos (and avoid errors)
France requires two mandatory declarations for crypto investors:
- Form 3916-bis: to declare all foreign custodial accounts (Binance, Bitpanda, Kraken, etc.)
- Form 2086: to report all taxable transactions, one by one.
👉 These declarations can be extremely time-consuming and technical, especially if you use multiple platforms or have conducted hundreds of transactions. This is where Waltio becomes invaluable.
🚀 Why use Waltio to declare your crypto?
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Waltio is the leading tax tool for crypto investors in France, with over 80,000 users. It allows you to:
- ✅ Automatically connect to +700 CeFi and DeFi platforms (Binance, Coinbase, Bitpanda, MetaMask…)
- ✅ Generate your complete tax report in less than 4 minutes
- ✅ Calculate your gains, losses, and exact tax amount to be paid
- ✅ Download your tax documents in a few clicks
- ✅ Simulate your taxation with or without flat tax
- ✅ Track your performance and plan strategic year-end sales
🎯 In short: Waltio helps you avoid overpaying taxes, safeguard your wealth, and comply with French tax laws.
✅ Summary
📬 Need assistance with accurate reporting?
Waltio guides you from data import to tax form generation. And with the code COINACADEMY10, enjoy a 10% discount on your 2025 declaration.
