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If you were tax-domiciled in France in 2025 and used an account abroad with a provider that habitually receives digital assets in deposit, you will generally need to report that account with form 3916-3916 bis when filing your 2026 French income-tax return. The test concerns the account relationship and your activity during the year—not simply whether you own cryptocurrency. Self-custody and decentralized arrangements are not conclusively classified in the official guidance, so unusual cases require confirmation from the French tax authority or a qualified adviser.
The rule in one sentence
French tax residents generally report qualifying foreign digital-asset accounts opened, held, used or closed during the relevant year on form 3916-3916 bis, filed with the annual income or results return. For the 2026 filing season, the relevant activity is activity during 2025. The account must be abroad and held with a person or entity that habitually receives digital assets in deposit.
This is an account-reporting obligation. It is separate from calculating tax on sales or exchanges of digital assets. A person can have to report an account even when no taxable gain resulted, and can have taxable disposals even when no foreign account is reportable.
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1. Establish your French tax residence
The foreign-account rule applies to individuals domiciled in France under Article 4 B of the French General Tax Code. Citizenship, nationality or having a French bank account does not by itself decide residence. Residence depends on the tax rules and your personal circumstances, such as your home, main activity and centre of economic interests.
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The same guidance covers certain non-commercial entities. If you are checking an account for a company, association or other entity, do not assume the individual rules answer the question; verify the entity’s filing obligations separately.
2. Identify the account and the provider
Look for an account or customer relationship with a foreign person or entity that habitually receives digital assets in deposit. The provider’s custody or deposit role is central. The rule is not triggered merely because a blockchain address is visible on a public ledger.
Gather the provider’s legal name, address and, where relevant, website. You will also need the account designation or type, how it is used, and opening and closing dates. Use the legal entity named in your agreement or account records rather than only a trading brand or mobile-app name.
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3. Check activity in the year being filed
For the 2026 return, check the period from 1 January through 31 December 2025. An account can be relevant if it was opened, held, used or closed at any point in that year. “Used” is broader than making a profitable sale: logging in, depositing, withdrawing, transferring or otherwise operating the account can establish activity.
If an account was opened and closed within 2025, retain both dates. If it existed for only part of the year, it can still fall within the reporting test.
4. Determine who held or controlled it
French guidance addresses account holders and proxy holders. It also discusses joint holders, economic beneficiaries and beneficial owners. Check each relationship rather than assuming that the person who physically operates an account is the only relevant declarant.
- Sole holder: the person in whose name the account is maintained.
- Joint holder: each holder may need to consider the reporting requirement.
- Economic or beneficial owner: a person who benefits from or ultimately controls the account can be relevant even when another person is the nominal holder.
- Proxy holder: authority to operate someone else’s account can create a separate reporting question.
Keep documents showing the ownership and authority arrangement. They are especially important where an employer, family member, trustee or business partner appears on the account.
5. Use the form and filing route for the correct year
The 2026 income-tax brochure directs taxpayers with applicable foreign digital-asset accounts to box 8UU and form 3916-3916 bis. Online filers complete the information within the online annual-return procedure. Paper filers should follow the signed-form and submission instructions for that filing year.
Form editions, online screens and box references can change. Always select the form and instructions for the return you are actually filing, rather than reusing a saved form from an earlier year.
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What the account definition means in practice
Custodial accounts with a foreign provider
A hosted account is the clearest case. The provider maintains the customer relationship and habitually receives digital assets in deposit. If the provider is established abroad and you were a French tax resident during the year, the account is likely within the reporting framework when the other conditions are met.
Do not infer the provider’s location solely from the language of an app or the country of its marketing site. Check the contracting entity, account agreement, statements and regulatory disclosures. A group may operate several entities in different countries.
Self-custody wallets
A self-custody wallet controlled directly by you is not expressly classified in the official material reviewed. The guidance describes an account held with a person or entity that habitually receives digital assets in deposit; it does not clearly state that every wallet address is reportable or that every self-custody arrangement is exempt.
For a conventional self-custody setup, record how the keys are controlled, whether any third party can hold or move assets, and whether you also maintain a hosted account. If a service provides recovery, pooled custody, staking or other control over assets, the facts may differ from a wallet whose keys are exclusively yours. Ask the tax authority or a French tax adviser for a position on a fact pattern that does not fit the ordinary custodial model.
Decentralized protocols and smart-contract interfaces
Decentralized protocols can blur the line between an account and a software interface. The official guidance does not conclusively resolve every arrangement involving smart contracts, liquidity pools, bridges or non-custodial interfaces. Identify the legal counterparty, if any; who can receive or control the assets; and whether a foreign service provider maintains a customer account.
Do not convert uncertainty into a blanket “yes” or “no.” Preserve the protocol terms, transaction history and explanations of control, then request advice that addresses those precise facts.
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The rule is aimed at French-domiciled individuals and certain non-commercial entities with qualifying foreign digital-asset accounts. The relevant status is determined for the filing year and the account activity during that year.
| Question | Why it matters | Evidence to keep |
|---|---|---|
| Are you domiciled in France? | The foreign-account guidance is tied to French tax residence under Article 4 B. | Residence analysis and annual tax records. |
| Is the account abroad? | The reporting rule concerns foreign accounts. | Contracting entity, address and account terms. |
| Does a provider habitually receive assets in deposit? | This custody/deposit relationship is part of the official description. | Terms of service, custody disclosures and statements. |
| Was it opened, held, used or closed during the year? | Any of these activities can bring the account into the annual check. | Opening/closing notices and transaction or access records. |
| What is your role? | Holders, joint holders, economic or beneficial owners and proxy holders can be relevant. | Ownership documents, mandates and authorisations. |
How to file for the 2026 season
Information to assemble
Before opening the online return, prepare one set of details for each potentially reportable account:
- Provider’s legal name and address.
- Website, where the form requests it.
- Account designation, type and use.
- Opening date and closing date, if closed.
- Your status as holder, joint holder, proxy holder, economic beneficiary or beneficial owner.
- The relevant tax year and dates of activity.
Use statements or account exports to reconcile the dates. If a provider changed its legal entity, keep records for each entity and the date of the change.
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Online filing
- Start the annual French income-tax return for the 2026 filing season.
- Declare the existence of a qualifying foreign digital-asset account in the section that includes box 8UU.
- Complete form 3916-3916 bis for each account and provide the provider, account and ownership details requested by the current form.
- Review every date and legal name against your account records before submitting.
- Save the filing acknowledgement and a copy of each completed form.
The exact screen labels can change. Follow the current online instructions displayed for your return rather than relying on screenshots from another year.
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If you are permitted or required to file on paper, complete the edition of form 3916-3916 bis specified for the filing year, sign it and send it using the submission instructions for the annual return. Keep a complete copy and proof of submission.
Penalties stated for the 2025 reporting year
The 2026 income-tax brochure states that an omission or inaccuracy can result in a fine of €750 per undeclared digital-asset account or €125 per omission or inaccuracy, capped at €10,000 per declaration. It states that the amounts rise to €1,500 per undeclared account and €250 per omission or inaccuracy when the value of relevant foreign-held digital-asset accounts exceeded €50,000 at any time during the year.
Those are the brochure’s figures for the covered reporting year. Penalties and thresholds are time-sensitive; verify the rules for a later filing year instead of carrying these numbers forward automatically.
An error can concern more than a missing form. A wrong provider entity, incomplete account list or inaccurate opening or closing date may be treated as an omission or inaccuracy. Correct mistakes promptly through the procedure available for your return and keep evidence of the correction.
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Form 3916-3916 bis answers whether a qualifying foreign account must be identified. It does not calculate the tax on your digital-asset disposals.
For individual disposals, the tax authority describes a separate process that can include form 2086 and reporting the resulting gain or loss where applicable. The guidance also states a €305 annual gross-disposal-price threshold for exemption from tax in specified individual cases. That threshold concerns disposal taxation; it is not a safe-harbour threshold for omitting a reportable foreign account.
| Issue | Form or test | What it answers |
|---|---|---|
| Foreign account identification | 3916-3916 bis, including box 8UU in the 2026 brochure | Whether qualifying foreign digital-asset accounts must be reported. |
| Tax on individual disposals | Separate disposal reporting, including form 2086 where applicable | Whether disposals create a reportable gain or loss and related tax. |
| €305 figure | Disposal-tax guidance | A stated gross-disposal threshold for specified individual exemptions, not an account-reporting limit. |
For example, an account with no sale can still require form 3916-3916 bis, while a sale made through a non-reportable arrangement can still require disposal reporting.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Compare two wallets or services without guessing
When two arrangements look similar, apply the same five questions to each. The result may differ because the provider, location or control structure differs.
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| Comparison axis | Arrangement A | Arrangement B |
|---|---|---|
| French tax residence | Determine for the user and filing year. | Determine for the user and filing year. |
| Foreign location | Identify the contracting provider and address. | Identify the contracting provider and address. |
| Custody/deposit | Does a person or entity habitually receive assets in deposit? | Does a person or entity habitually receive assets in deposit? |
| Year activity | Opened, held, used or closed during the relevant year? | Opened, held, used or closed during the relevant year? |
| User role | Holder, joint holder, beneficiary, beneficial owner or proxy? | Holder, joint holder, beneficiary, beneficial owner or proxy? |
| Unresolved boundary | Note any self-custody or decentralized uncertainty. | Note any self-custody or decentralized uncertainty. |
Do not let a familiar brand name, a French-language interface or the absence of a French office decide the result. The legal entity and custody relationship are the facts to verify.
CARF and DAC8: related infrastructure, different question
The tax authority’s CARF/DAC8 information-transfer page, modified 20 July 2026, lists General Tax Code Articles 1649 AC bis through 1649 AC sexies and Decree No. 2025-1276 of 19 December 2025 on crypto-asset service-provider reporting and due diligence.
That framework concerns information transfers and provider due diligence. The reviewed page does not establish that it changes the personal form 3916-bis applicability test described above. Treat provider reporting and your own annual account declaration as separate compliance questions.
Common situations and the safest next step
You are unsure whether France is your tax residence
Do not use citizenship or a French bank account as a shortcut. Apply the Article 4 B residence analysis and obtain advice if your home, work and economic interests span countries.
The provider moved you to another legal entity
Check statements and contract notices for the entity that held the account during 2025. Record the dates of any migration and assess each entity’s location and custody role.
You closed the account before filing
Closure does not erase activity during 2025. Keep the closure confirmation and report the account if it met the conditions at any time in that year.
You only used a wallet whose keys you control
The official material does not conclusively classify every self-custody arrangement. Document how control works and seek a fact-specific answer, particularly if a third party provides recovery, staking, pooled custody or transaction services.
You made only small disposals
The €305 figure belongs to the separate disposal-tax analysis. It does not remove an account-reporting obligation that otherwise applies.
Records to retain
- Provider contracts, terms and legal-entity notices.
- Statements showing account number or designation, opening and closing dates, and activity.
- Evidence of your tax residence for the year.
- Ownership, joint-holder, beneficiary and proxy documents.
- Copies of form 3916-3916 bis, box 8UU entries and filing acknowledgements.
- Separate disposal records used for any form 2086 calculation.
- Technical and contractual material explaining self-custody or decentralized arrangements.
Retain these records according to French tax recordkeeping requirements and keep them accessible if the provider later changes name, jurisdiction or service model.
When to obtain professional confirmation
Get advice before filing when residence is disputed, several people share control, an entity rather than an individual owns the account, a provider’s legal location is unclear, or a self-custody/decentralized arrangement includes third-party control. Provide the adviser with the exact account terms, entity names, dates and control facts; a generic description such as “crypto wallet” is not enough to resolve the legal classification.
For straightforward custodial accounts, the practical route is to identify every foreign account active in 2025, complete the current 3916-3916 bis information with the annual return, and handle disposal taxation separately.
