French economy minister Bruno Le Maire said on Sept. 12 that French authorities won’t tax crypto-to-crypto trades, but will tax when cryptocurrencies are sold for fiat currency.

Bloomberg Tax reported on Le Maire’s declarations on Sept. 12. Per the report he noted:

“We believe that the moment the gains are converted into traditional money is the right time to assess tax.”

Easier transaction tracking

The author of the report also explains that such an approach to taxing cryptocurrency trading would help with tracking transactions, which he believes to be a common challenge in crypto-to-crypto trading. Le Maire also reportedly addressed Value-Added Tax (VAT) application to cryptocurrencies.

More precisely, he explained that VAT is to be applied to cryptocurrency transactions only when they are used to acquire an asset or a service. France is reportedly already implementing the new approach to cryptocurrency taxation.

Meanwhile, in Portugal

As Cointelegraph reported at the end of August, Portugal’s Tax Authority has clarified that both cryptocurrency trading and payments in crypto will not be taxed in the country.

Also in August, a tax bill seeking to allow the exclusion of gain or loss on like-kind exchanges of virtual currency has been introduced in the United States House of Representatives.