France Proposes Tax on Unrealised Gains for Digital Assets and "Non-Productive Assets"

The French Senate recently had a debate with a proposal to replace the existing real estate wealth tax with a broader - and I quote - “unproductive wealth tax” targeting assets deemed inactive or underutilized. This includes unused real estate, luxury goods, and digital assets (they used BTC as an example - many times)

This proposal came up during discussions on the 2025 Finance Bill and again they used Bitcoin as an example to illustrate the tax's potential range. The purpose of the tax is to capture wealth from assets that dont contribute to economic productivity

A preliminary vote (EMPHASIS ON PRELIMINARY) on this amendment was held on November 26 where only supporting senators were in the chamber - the vote passed in this setting but it doesnt represent the final say yet. The amendment still needs to survive more legislative scrutiny before actually becoming law

If this proposal moves forward then EU is risking isolating itself as a continent unable to keep up with innovation - maybe even driving talent and capital elsewhere

Here is the amendment (its in French obviously): https://www.senat.fr/amendements/2024-2025/143/Amdt_I-128.html

https://preview.redd.it/wncswhkmin4e1.png?1916&format=png&auto=webp&s=99f23a0de72e5622cebfb8683d4b181601dfd3c7