How to deduct a crowdlending loss from your taxes: the rules for each type of investment

A mechanism that depends first on the type of investment

The crowdlending, in other words lending between individuals or professionals via a platform, belongs to a broader family: crowdfunding, which also covers donations, equity stakes, and bond investments.

These four variants are subject to distinct tax regimes, including for the treatment of a loss.

The rule found everywhere on the web in fact applies to only one of these categories.

Crowdfunding en capital and donations: two separate cases

Before going into the details of lending, two cases deserve to be set aside right away, as they are sometimes confused with the subject.

The crowdfunding en capital, where you become a shareholder in a startup, follows the general regime for capital gains on securities.

A loss on this type of security does not fall under article 125-00 A : it is offset against gains of the same nature, with a possible carryforward over ten years, not five. It is a regime that is broader in time, but which applies only against capital gains, never against interest.

The don, for its part, gives rise to no deduction for losses, for a fairly logical reason: legally, there was never any claim to recover, and therefore no capital loss to record. Only the réduction d'impôt IR-PME, when it applies to a donation with securities in return, follows its own rules, unrelated to the subject at hand here.

That leaves lending, in its two forms.

Prêts participatifs and minibons: the article 125-00 A regime

Since 2016, article 125-00 A of the CGI has allowed an individual to deduct a capital loss incurred on a prêt participatif, or on a minibon, from interest of the same nature received in the same year or during the following five years.

The cap is €8,000 per year and the filing is done through box 2TT, provided that you obtain a certificate of irrecoverability from the platform.

This mechanism is reserved for individuals acting in the management of their private assets, not in the context of a professional activity. It covers lending in the strict sense, not just any product sold under the crowdfunding label.

In practical terms : an investor who receives €3,500 in interest on their prêts participatifs during the year, and who at the same time incurs a definitive loss of €2,000 on one of them, will be taxed only on €1,500 of net interest. If the loss had been €5,000, only €3,500 would have been offset that year, with the remaining €1,500 carried forward against interest in subsequent years, within the five-year limit.

Bonds and real estate crowdfunding: a more uncertain rule

The vast majority of real estate crowdfunding does not operate through direct lending, but through bonds. From a tax standpoint, that changes a great deal: offsetting a loss on bonds follows a markedly more restrictive rule, limited to the interest generated by that same bond, received in the same year, with no carryforward possible from one year to the next.

And the doctrine itself is far from unanimous! Some practitioners attach these bonds to the regime of article 125-00 A, with its cap and its five-year carryforward. Others, including several platforms in their own help centers, apply the stricter rule specific to conventional bonds, in the absence of administrative doctrine explicitly settling the case of real estate crowdfunding.

The result: two investors, two platforms, two different answers to the same question…

Before counting on a deduction, you therefore first need to know which category you fall into: prêt participatif or bond?

The case of a platform that is neither French nor European

Second condition, equally decisive: the regulatory location of the platform itself.

What changes with a platform outside the European Union

Article 125-00 A covers minibons governed by French law, as well as loans granted through a crowdfunding service provider authorized at European level, under the ECSP.

regime. A platform that falls under neither, typically a platform based outside the European Union, is in principle outside the scope of the arrangement.

In that case, the interest received remains taxable like any other foreign-source income from movable capital, reported in box 2TR. The loss, however, does not reduce any taxable base. It is a dead loss from a tax standpoint, even if the loan itself was fully compliant and secured by solid guarantees.

The example of a Swiss platform such as Maclear

If the platform is Swiss (as is the case for Maclear), it is supervised by the self-regulatory organization PolyReg, outside the European Union's regulatory framework.

The loans it offers are indeed loans in the strict sense, secured by real assets, with a risk assessment carried out project by project.

In form, these are therefore classic crowdlending loans. Except that the platform itself does not fall within the geographic scope covered by Article 125-00 A. A loss recorded on such a loan remains, in principle, non-deductible for a French tax resident, even though the interest received is indeed still taxed under the prélèvement forfaitaire unique, raised to 31.4% as of January 1, 2026.

The full details of this taxation, apart from the question of losses, are covered in our article on the taxation of crowdlending.

Swiss tax resident: a reversed principle

For a Swiss tax resident, the logic changes entirely in nature. And the outcome, almost ironically, remains just as unfavorable to deduction, for a strictly opposite reason.

Exempt gains, non-deductible losses

In Switzerland, capital gains realized on private movable assets are, in principle, exempt from tax. This is article 16, paragraph 3 of the LIFD and it constitutes a real advantage for a private investor.

This regime works both ways, however: theexemption of gains has as its logical counterpart the non-deductibility of losses. Interest received remains taxable as income, but a capital loss on the loan itself does not reduce that taxable income in any canton, whatever the platform concerned, Swiss or foreign!

In concrete terms: on 3,000 CHF of interest received during the year, a loss of 800 CHF on a defaulting project will reduce neither your taxable income nor your wealth tax calculated as of December 31.

The exception of professional trader status

One way out exists, reserved for a minority of situations: the status of professional trader, granted according to five combined criteria, including the holding period, the share of gains in total income, the volume of transactions and the use of leverage.

Under this status, gains and losses shift into self-employment income, taxable on one side, deductible on the other.

Appealing on paper... except that this change applies to the entire portfolio, not to a single losing position, and that it entails consequences in terms of AVS that far exceed the tax saving sought on a single loan!

The cross-border worker's case: which tax residence applies?

An investor who works in Geneva and lives on the French side, or the reverse, legitimately asks the question: which regime applies, the French or the Swiss one?

The answer depends neither on the place of work nor on nationality, but on tax residence, determined by the usual criteria: permanent home, center of vital interests, length of stay… This is not the subject of the article here, but if you are in doubt, look into this question precisely.

Bilateral tax treaties, in particular the one that links France and Switzerland, set out specific rules for settling situations where both countries could, on paper, claim residence.

Once this tax residence has been established, it is that residence, and it alone, that determines which of the two regimes described above applies to your crowdlending losses, regardless of where you work.

How to check your own situation before filing

Three checks, in this order, before filling in a single box.

First, the exact legal nature of your investment: prêt participatif, minibon, or obligation.

This information is normally found in the contract or in the project's general terms and conditions, not only in the platform's marketing presentation.

Next, the platform's regulatory status: French, authorized as an ECSP at the European level, or neither. This is often mentioned in the site's footer, or in the legal notices.

Finally, if the first two conditions are met, ask the platform for an attestation d'irrécouvrabilité for the project concerned. Without this document, no deduction is possible, even when the regime applies in theory!

Keep in mind that this attestation is not issued at the first late payment; it presupposes that the claim is definitively compromised: liquidation judiciaire of the borrower, closure for insufficient assets, or a formal finding of irrecoverability by the platform after all collection avenues have been exhausted.

A simple three-month delay, however worrying it may be, is not enough to trigger the deduction: the loss must be definitive, not merely probable.

For significant amounts, or a situation involving several platforms and several countries, the advice of an expert-comptable remains the only real safeguard before counting on a deduction.

The common case: several losses, across several platforms

Most active crowdfunding investors do not limit themselves to a single operator.

A portfolio spread across three or four French and European platforms, with a mix of prêts participatifs and bonds, is nothing unusual.

In this case, the right approach is to sort line by line before filing, rather than adding up gains and losses on an overall basis. A loss on a prêt participatif is offset against interest of the same nature, across all operators provided they fall under the same regime. A loss on a bond, by contrast, remains confined to that specific bond.

Mixing the two in a single overall calculation is the most frequent error noted by accountants specializing in this type of portfolio.

The solution to this problem is fairly simple: it is enough to keep a table, by investment line, with the nature of the product, the platform, its regulatory status and the amount at stake, in order to avoid this kind of confusion when completing the tax return, often several months after the fact.

The €8,000 cap that everyone cites does indeed exist, but it covers only part of crowdfunding: prêts participatifs and minibons, French or authorized at European level. Bonds follow a different and debated rule. A platform outside the European Union, and Switzerland as a whole for its own residents, remain outside any deduction logic.

FAQ

Are all crowdfunding losses deductible?

No. Only losses on prêts participatifs or minibons governed by French law, or from a platform authorized as ECSP at the European level, fall under the regime of article 125-00 A. Other cases follow different rules, often less favorable ones.

Does an investment in real estate crowdfunding bonds follow the same rule as a prêt participatif?

No, not necessarily. Commentary remains divided on this point, but the most commonly applied rule limits the offset to interest from the same bond received in the same year, with no carry-forward possible.

Does a Swiss platform such as allow a loss to be deducted in France?

No, in principle. Article 125-00 A covers French minibons or platforms authorized as ECSP in Europe. A Swiss platform, outside this framework, remains excluded from it, even when the loan itself is structurally identical to a standard prêt participatif.

Can a Swiss tax resident deduct a crowdlending loss?

No, in principle. Since private capital gains are exempt from tax in Switzerland, private losses are symmetrically non-deductible, unless one is recognized as a professional trader by the tax authorities.

The tax deduction of crowdlending losses does exist, but it is narrower than what most guides found at the top of search results suggest. Before your next investment, do you already know whether yours falls within this framework?

The content of this article is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It does not constitute investment, financial, tax, or legal advice. Peer-to-peer (P2P) lending and crowdlending investments carry a risk of partial or total loss of capital. Past performance does not predict future results. Liquidity on a secondary market is not guaranteed. Readers are encouraged to conduct their own research and consult qualified advisors before making any financial decisions. The availability of products and services may be restricted in certain jurisdictions.