Tax advisor
France

In addition to our regulated accounting services missions, we offer tax advisory services as well, and fulfil your tax obligations in France. Remember that our firm is an accounting firm, not a tax optimization firm. Our mission is to support your economic development on our territory and facilitate it :

On the one hand, our duty to advise dictates that we inform you on the accounting-tax-social guidelines that would be more favourable to you,

On the other hand, our Code of Ethics remind us to « respect the law and have it respected ».

What are the taxes to be paid
in France ?

From the second or third year on, we manage up to 50 tax returns per year for you, half of them are statistical but mandatory declarations (customs declarations, annual tax return, declaration of fees paid, etc.) and half of them are taxes due to be paid.

What is
the corporate tax rate ?

The portfolio of clients we support consists of structures with sales of less than €8 million in our territory, and for which the tax rate (in 2020) will be :

15% up to 38 K euros of pre-tax income
28% beyond

The condition for benefiting from these rates is to have more than 75% of the share capital owned by natural persons, at the level of the French structure or even at the level of a structure in the world owning the French structure.

If this condition is not fulfilled or if the entity in France is not a subsidiary but a branch, the rates become :

28% up to 500 K euros of pre-tax income
31% above

Corporate tax is payable by four quarterly instalments plus one balance.

What is the VAT rate
in France ?

Let us remind that France being a member of the EU European Union, the European VAT rules apply for the supply of goods, services, international transactions and exceptions on certain products or services.

The normal rate is 20% in France. Reduced rates exist on certain products, services, destinations: 10%, 5.5%, 2.1%, etc.

Normally, VAT is paid monthly (but it is possible to pay quarterly or annually if certain thresholds are not reached).

What is the Business Tax
(namely CET) ?

The CET is a right to have an economic activity, calculated partly on a property value (CFE tax) and partly on the value added produced (CVAE tax). A minimum Business Tax is decided according to the municipality of location and usually amounts to 400 euros.

The CET is also payable by 3 instalments then balances.

What are the obligations in terms of
customs declarations ?

Except in the case of certain stock accounts, customs declarations (intra stat) are merely statistical, but compulsory, every month even at nil.

What are the transfer prices allowed
in France ?

The 5 OECD methods are accepted in France :

The preferential method is that of the Comparable Price (Price at which the French subsidiary would purchase from a third-party supplier, or price at which the mother/sister would sell to a third party);

The Resale Price method consists in leaving the French subsidiary a margin on resale to the end customer, comparable to the margins applied at arm’s length;

The Cost Plus (cost+) method makes it possible to re-invoice to the mother all the operating costs of the French subsidiary, plus a mark-up;

The Profit Sharing method implies a sharing of the overall margin (end-customer selling price, less cost of products at source), in the case of joint operations within the Group and indissociable;

The Net Margin method, one of the most widely used in France, assumes that the Group companies charge France in such a way that France can have a comparable operating result to a competing distributor.

Raphael Provenzano

CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT // AUDITOR

Raphael provenzano

Raphael is our director, he is in charge of foreign companies on French territory.

Tax advisor France

What are the taxes to be paid in France ?

What is the corporate tax rate ?

What is the VAT rate in France ?

What is the Business Tax (namely CET) ?

What are the obligations in terms of customs declarations ?

What are the transfer prices allowed in France ?