France Crypto Gift Tax

Gifting crypto in France has a feature that turns it from a transfer into a genuine planning lever: the gift purges the latent capital gain. The donor pays no 31.4% PFU on the unrealised gain, and the donee takes a stepped-up basis at the gift-date value. Paired with the €100,000 / 15-year direct-line abatement, that makes it one of the cleaner French crypto strategies, with specific traps around dons manuels and valuation. This article is the inter-vivos counterpart to the inheritance-tax piece (the same latent-gain extinction, applied during life); the France crypto tax guide gives the income-tax baseline.

How a crypto gift works

• The donee pays droits de donation on the gift-date fair-market value, after abatements.
• The direct-line abatement is €100,000 per donor-donee pair, renewable every 15 years; the scale runs 5% to 45% above it.
• The gift purges the donor's latent gain: no PFU for the donor on the unrealised gain.
• The donee's new cost basis is the gift-date value; future PFU/150 VH bis applies only to gains from there.
• A don manuel is taxed on revelation (declaration, a significant amount, or an audit), not on the transfer itself.

Who pays, and on what

A crypto gift is a donation. The donee (recipient) is liable for droits de donation, computed on the fair-market value of the crypto on the transfer date, after the legal abatements. The progressive direct-line scale (5% up to 45%) applies above the abatement; the donor is not taxed on the latent gain (see the purge below). The relationship between donor and donee sets the abatement and the scale — direct line is the most favourable.

The latent-gain purge — the lever

This is the core planning point. Gifting crypto is neutral for the donor's latent gain:

• The donor does not pay PFU/income tax on the unrealised gain at the time of the gift.
• The donee's acquisition value resets to the value on the gift date.
• The donee is later taxed under the normal PFU / 150 VH bis regime only on the gain from that new, higher basis.

So the pre-gift latent gain is effectively wiped. Contrast the two routes for transmitting value:

For a holder sitting on a large unrealised gain, gifting the crypto directly avoids the 31.4% PFU the donor would pay on a sale (the same logic as the inheritance-tax latent-gain extinction, but inter vivos). The donee assumes market risk and a stepped-up basis — model both with a notaire.

The €100,000 / 15-year abatement

In the direct line, each parent can gift each child up to €100,000 free of gift duties, and the abatement renews every 15 years. Practical consequences:

• Value can be staged across 15-year cycles to transmit duty-free within the abatement each cycle.
• The abatement is per donor-donee pair — both parents to each child multiplies it.
• Other relationships (siblings, unrelated) have smaller abatements and harsher scales.

Confirm current abatement amounts and the 15-year mechanics with a notaire — the figures are set by law and the relationship matrix is detailed.

The don manuel trap

A crypto transfer without a notarial deed is a don manuel (informal hand-to-hand gift). Its tax timing is unusual: it becomes subject to gift duties on revelation to the administration, not on the transfer itself. Revelation occurs notably when:

• The gift is declared (e.g. to use the abatement formally);
• The amount is significant (a ~€15,000 threshold is commonly cited for certain declaration rules);
• It is revealed by a tax audit.

The trap: an undeclared don manuel discovered in a DGFiP audit is taxed at revelation, potentially with the value taken at the revelation date and penalties — worse than a properly declared gift. With DAC8 surfacing transfers from 2026, the "informal and invisible" assumption is weaker. Declare deliberately rather than rely on non-revelation.

Practical guidance

1. Use the purge: gifting crypto avoids the donor's 31.4% PFU on the latent gain.
2. Plan within the €100,000 / 15-year direct-line abatement (per donor-donee; both parents multiply it).
3. Declare the don manuel deliberately — do not rely on non-revelation; audits and DAC8 surface transfers.
4. Value at the gift date accurately — it sets both the duty base and the donee's new cost basis.
5. Coordinate with a notaire — abatement strategy, valuation evidence, and the donee's future PFU position.

Where a tool fits

Waltio and Koinly help establish gift-date valuations and the donee's reset cost basis for future disposals. They do not handle the donation declaration or the abatement strategy, which are a notaire matter. Use a tool for valuation evidence and the donee's forward basis.

Where Wag3s fits

Wag3s Folio establishes accurate gift-date valuations and tracks the donee's reset cost basis for future PFU/150 VH bis disposals: the figures a notaire needs for the donation and the donee needs going forward. Structuring the gift, declaring the don manuel, and timing the 15-year abatement cycle are a notaire's; Wag3s supplies the valuation and basis records that work sits on. See the Folio product page.

Further reading

• France Crypto Tax Guide 2026
• France Crypto Inheritance Tax
• France Crypto and the IFI
• DGFiP Crypto Tax Audit
• Crypto Capital Gains Calculation France (150 VH bis)
• DAC8 Impact on Individuals

Sources

• BOFiP — ENR, donations : abattements (BOI-ENR-DMTG-20-30-20-20): the direct-line €100,000 abatement and the 15-year renewal mechanics.
• BOFiP — ENR, donations : taux applicables (BOI-ENR-DMTG-20-30-20-30): the donation rates, identical to the succession scale.
• BOFiP — ENR, transmissions successives entre les mêmes personnes (BOI-ENR-DMTG-10-50-50): the rappel of prior gifts and the 15-year clock.
• Légifrance — Article 150 VH bis CGI: the donee's post-gift disposal regime on the gift-date basis.