France's Crypto Tax Compliance Crisis: $9.4B Unreported

France's crypto tax compliance has been brought under scrutiny by Chainalysis, which estimates that over $9.4 billion in taxable activity occurred on-chain in 2025. However, only about 24,000 French taxpayers declared €368 million ($427M) in net gains for the 2024 income year.

The discrepancy between reported and actual activity is significant, with Chainalysis suggesting that non-compliance may exceed 90% in some countries. This is not unique to France, as a similar pattern of underreporting was observed in Sweden, where more than 90% of people did not report their crypto activity.

The European Union's DAC8 directive, which takes effect on Sept. 30, 2027, aims to address this issue by requiring crypto service providers to collect detailed identity and transaction data on their users and hand it over to national tax authorities. This will enable automatic information-sharing across borders, similar to the existing banking system.

However, not everyone is pleased with DAC8, as seen in a legal challenge mounted by crypto exchange Bull Bitcoin in France. The challenge seeks to strike down the decree implementing DAC8 in national law.