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If you are tax-resident in France and hold cryptoassets as a private individual, report taxable disposals on form 2086 with your annual income-tax return. Carry the resulting net gain to line 3AN of form 2042 C, or the net loss to line 3BN. The €305 test concerns your year’s gross disposal proceeds—not your profit—and form 2086 is still required when proceeds are €305 or less.
This guide follows the Direction générale des Finances publiques (DGFiP) instructions for 2025 income filed in 2026. It covers occasional private activity. Professional trading, mining, staking, company activity, non-residence and unusual DeFi or token arrangements can require a different analysis.
Which French forms cover crypto activity?
French reporting is split between the calculation of disposal gains, the main income-tax return and foreign-account declarations. These obligations are related but not interchangeable.
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|---|---|---|
| 2086 | Lists the information for each taxable digital-asset disposal and calculates the annual net result. | For occasional private disposals, including when gross proceeds are at or below €305. |
| 2042 C, line 3AN | Receives the net taxable gain calculated through the disposal annex. | Use this line when the annual result is a gain. |
| 2042 C, line 3BN | Receives the net result when it is a loss. | Use this line when the annual result is a loss. |
| 2042 C, box 3CN | Express option for the progressive income-tax scale. | Only if you choose the option for the household’s digital-asset gains for that year. |
| 3916/3916-bis | Declares qualifying accounts held with foreign digital-asset platforms. | For qualifying accounts opened, held, used or closed during the year; this is separate from gain reporting. |
The individual guidance also refers to the occasional-disposal route under 150 VH bis. The practical filing action remains the completion of the 2086 annex and transfer of its net result to the appropriate 2042 C line.
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What counts as a taxable disposal?
The key question is whether you exchanged digital assets for something that constitutes taxable consideration. Under the 2026 booklet for 2025 income, the following are taxable disposal events for an occasional private taxpayer:
- A sale for legal currency, such as euros.
- A payment for goods other than digital assets.
- A payment for services.
- An exchange of digital assets that includes a balancing payment.
An exchange of one digital asset for another without a balancing payment is treated as an intermediary operation under tax deferral in the booklet. It is not an immediately taxable disposal under this occasional-private calculation. Keep the transaction in your records so that its later tax treatment and portfolio history can be reconstructed.
Why the balancing payment matters
A swap can look like a crypto-to-crypto trade but still become taxable if one side includes a cash adjustment or other balancing amount. Classify the transaction by what was actually received, not by the platform’s label. If the facts are unclear—for example, a token was exchanged together with a cash top-up—preserve the trade statement and obtain advice before filing.
How the €305 threshold works
The annual threshold is based on the gross proceeds from relevant taxable disposals. It is not a €305 allowance against profit and does not measure your net gain. The 2026 DGFiP notice states that relevant disposal prices up to €305 are exempt, while the 2086 annex is still required.
For the threshold, add the disposal prices of chargeable sales and other consideration-bearing events during the year. Do not count an exchange between digital assets with no balancing payment as a taxable disposal for this test. A year with €300 of proceeds and a large calculated gain is within the threshold; a year with €306 of proceeds is outside it even if the calculated profit is only a few euros.
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Keep the threshold calculation separate from the gain calculation. First identify the events that belong in the occasional-disposal regime, then total their gross proceeds, and only then apply the €305 test.
Records to assemble before opening form 2086
The form requires information for each disposal and portfolio figures at the relevant time. Assemble a complete year file before entering figures:
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- Exchange and wallet statements covering the entire tax year.
- Date and time of every sale, payment, or exchange that may be taxable.
- Asset disposed of, quantity, and the consideration received.
- Value in euros at the time of each disposal.
- Fees and transaction costs shown by the platform, retained with the underlying statement.
- The acquisition history needed to determine the total acquisition price of the digital-asset portfolio.
- The portfolio’s total value at each disposal date, including the assets that were not sold.
- Records identifying whether a crypto-to-crypto exchange had a balancing payment.
- A list of every platform account, with its country and whether it was opened, held, used or closed during the year.
DGFiP’s form instructions require the disposal information, but the material covered here does not prescribe one universal recordkeeping format. Export original statements, retain them in a readable form and keep a reconciliation showing how your totals were obtained.
Calculate each disposal with the portfolio formula
France does not generally calculate the cost of the individual token lot sold. The official 2086 notice uses the overall portfolio. For each taxable disposal, it states:
“Plus ou moins-value brute = Prix de cession – [Prix total d’acquisition x Prix de cession / Valeur globale du portefeuille]” (DGFiP, notice for 2025 income, 2026).
In English, the calculation is:
Gross gain or loss = disposal price − [total acquisition price × disposal price ÷ total portfolio value].
Meaning of the variables
- Disposal price: the euro value of the taxable disposal, before applying the formula.
- Total acquisition price: the acquisition amount for the digital-asset portfolio used by the form’s calculation, based on your documented history.
- Total portfolio value: the value of the entire digital-asset portfolio at the time of that disposal, not merely the asset sold.
- Gross gain or loss: the result for that individual disposal before combining the year’s disposals.
The allocation is proportional. The formula assigns part of the portfolio’s total acquisition cost to the fraction represented by the disposal. This is why subtracting the historical cost of only the coins sold can produce the wrong answer.
Illustrative calculation
Assume, solely as an illustration, that your portfolio’s total acquisition price is €10,000 and its total value immediately before a taxable disposal is €20,000. You dispose of assets for €3,000. The allocated acquisition amount is:
€10,000 × €3,000 ÷ €20,000 = €1,500
The gross result for that disposal is therefore €3,000 − €1,500 = €1,500. A different portfolio value on the same day would change the allocation, even if the disposal price stayed at €3,000. Use your actual statements and the values required by the current 2086 instructions rather than this example.
Handling several disposals
Repeat the calculation for every taxable disposal. Do not merge transactions merely because they occurred on the same day unless the form and your records support that treatment. After calculating each line, combine the results to obtain the annual net gain or loss that moves to 2042 C.
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Complete form 2086 and transfer the annual result
- List the taxable events. Enter each disposal covered by the occasional-private rules, including its date, consideration and the portfolio information required by the annex.
- Exclude deferred exchanges from immediate gain reporting. Mark or retain no-balancing-payment crypto exchanges as intermediary operations rather than taxable disposals, while preserving their records.
- Apply the portfolio formula. Calculate the gross gain or loss for every listed disposal using the total acquisition price and total portfolio value.
- Check the proceeds total. Add the gross disposal prices of the relevant taxable events and compare the total with €305. This is a proceeds test, not a profit test.
- Obtain the annual net result. Combine the individual disposal results in the annex.
- Carry the result to 2042 C. Enter a net gain on line 3AN or a net loss on line 3BN, as applicable.
- Retain the supporting file. Keep statements, valuation evidence, fee records and your calculation so each figure can be traced back to a transaction.
Even when the proceeds threshold means the gain is exempt, follow the 2086 instruction to attach or submit the annex. Do not leave the annex out solely because your proceeds were €305 or less.
How losses are treated
The official booklet states that a loss is offset only against same-nature gains in the same year. It is not carried forward to a later year under this route. Consequently, keep the annual calculation intact even if the result is negative, and place that result on line 3BN rather than trying to use it in a future return.
Declare qualifying foreign platform accounts separately
Gain reporting and account reporting answer different questions. If you had a qualifying digital-asset account with a foreign platform that was opened, held, used or closed during the year, declare it on form 3916/3916-bis alongside the income-tax return.
This declaration does not replace form 2086. A taxpayer can have:
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- A reportable foreign account but no taxable disposal during the year.
- Both obligations in the same return.
Inventory each platform by location and account status before filing. Keep the account-identification information and dates needed by the current 3916/3916-bis edition. The foreign-account annex obligation is separate from the amount of crypto held and separate from the gain produced by a sale.
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Keep mining, staking and professional activity out of the wrong box
Mining and staking
DGFiP guidance describes benefits from mining or staking as benefices non commerciaux (BNC). Do not automatically feed those receipts into the occasional-disposal calculation on 2086. Their classification and reporting route are different from a private sale of acquired digital assets.
Professional activity
The route described here is for occasional private disposals. Whether frequent trading, organized activity or other facts amount to a professional business depends on the circumstances. The available guidance distinguishes professional activity from the occasional private regime but does not decide that classification for every taxpayer.
Before filing, examine the nature of the activity, its organization, frequency and purpose. If you operate through a company, carry on a business, receive compensation in tokens or combine trading with mining, staking or DeFi arrangements, the 2086-only approach may be incomplete.
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Tax rate and the progressive-scale option
For the regime covered by the 2026 notice, gains are taxed at a 12.8% income-tax rate plus social levies. The notice also provides an express, irrevocable option for the progressive income-tax scale, selected through box 3CN on form 2042 C.
The option is global for the household’s digital-asset gains for that year. It is not a transaction-by-transaction choice and cannot be reversed after selection for that year. Compare the consequences with the household’s wider tax position before checking box 3CN; the correct choice depends on facts such as household income and applicable allowances, which are not calculated by the form itself.
Common filing errors and how to correct them
| Error | Why it fails | Better approach |
|---|---|---|
| Treating €305 as a profit allowance | The threshold measures gross disposal proceeds. | Total the relevant disposal prices, then apply the threshold independently of the calculated gain. |
| Using the cost of the specific token sold | The official calculation allocates total portfolio acquisition cost proportionally. | Use total acquisition price and total portfolio value in the 2086 formula. |
| Taxing every crypto-to-crypto swap immediately | A no-balancing-payment exchange is described as an intermediary operation under deferral. | Separate those exchanges from sales, payments and swaps with a balancing payment. |
| Omitting 2086 because proceeds are below €305 | The annex is still required. | Complete the annex and follow the current submission instructions. |
| Putting a foreign account on 2086 | Account declarations and disposal calculations are different obligations. | Use 3916/3916-bis for qualifying foreign accounts and 2086 for taxable disposals. |
| Combining staking or mining receipts with sales | DGFiP describes those benefits as BNC. | Classify and report them through the appropriate income category. |
| Carrying a loss into a later year | The booklet limits the offset to same-nature gains in the same year. | Report the annual loss on 3BN and do not carry it forward under this route. |
| Assuming the progressive option can be undone | The option is express and irrevocable for the year. | Assess the household-wide effect before selecting box 3CN. |
Year-end filing checklist
- Confirm that you are using the edition for 2025 income filed in 2026.
- Export complete wallet and platform histories for the tax year.
- Identify every disposal for legal currency, goods, services or a swap with a balancing payment.
- Mark crypto-to-crypto exchanges with no balancing payment as deferred intermediary operations.
- Value each taxable disposal and record the entire portfolio value at that time.
- Calculate each result with the official portfolio formula.
- Total relevant gross disposal proceeds and test them against €305.
- Complete form 2086 even when the proceeds are at or below €305.
- Transfer the annual gain to 2042 C line 3AN or the loss to line 3BN.
- Decide deliberately whether to elect the progressive scale in box 3CN; the election is household-wide and irrevocable for the year.
- List qualifying foreign accounts and complete 3916/3916-bis separately.
- Classify mining, staking, professional or company activity outside the occasional-disposal workflow.
- Retain statements, valuations, fee records and a reconciliation of every reported figure.
What this framework does not decide
The forms and rules above do not by themselves determine your tax residence, whether an activity is professional, or the treatment of every token, DeFi arrangement or crypto receipt. They also do not provide a universal filing deadline in the material covered here. Check the current calendar for your department and filing method rather than relying on a date from a previous year.
For a later tax year, recheck the form edition, line numbers and instructions: administrative forms can change. If your facts involve business activity, cross-border residence, compensation in tokens, mining, staking or complex arrangements, use a French tax professional familiar with digital assets rather than assuming the occasional-private calculation applies.
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For a French resident’s occasional private crypto activity, the reliable sequence is: identify taxable consideration-bearing disposals, calculate each one with the whole-portfolio formula on 2086, test gross proceeds against €305, transfer the annual result to 2042 C line 3AN or 3BN, and declare qualifying foreign accounts separately on 3916/3916-bis. Keep mining, staking and potentially professional activity in their own tax categories, and verify the current form year before submitting.
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