1. An income tax reduction is introduced for taxpayers domiciled in France within the meaning of Article 4 B who invest in Guadeloupe, Guyana, Martinique, Mayotte, La Réunion, Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, New Caledonia, French Polynesia, Saint-Martin, Saint-Barthélemy, the Wallis and Futuna Islands and the French Southern and Antarctic Territories, between the date of promulgation of the loi n° 2003-660 du 21 juillet 2003 de programme pour l’outre-mer and 31 December 2017 for the investments mentioned in a to d, f and g of 2 and between the date of promulgation of the aforementioned loi n° 2003-660 du 21 juillet 2003 and 31 December 2023 for the investments mentioned in e of the same 2.
2. The tax reduction applies:
a) Within the limit of a habitable surface area of between 50 and 150 square metres and set by decree according to the number of people intended to occupy the home on a principal basis, to the cost price of the acquisition or construction duly authorised by a building permit of a new building located in the departments or collectivities referred to in 1, which the owner undertakes to allocate upon completion or acquisition if later to his or her principal residence for a period of five years;
b) The cost price of the acquisition or construction, duly authorised by planning permission, of a new property located in the départements or collectivities referred to in 1, which the owner undertakes to rent free of charge within six months of completion or acquisition if later, for at least five years to persons, other than his or her spouse or a member of his or her tax household, who use it as their main residence;
c) The subscription price of units or shares in companies whose real purpose is exclusively to build new homes located in the départements or collectivities referred to in 1 and which they let on a bare-rent basis for at least five years from completion to people, other than the company’s members, their spouse or members of their tax household, who use them as their main home. These companies must undertake to complete the foundations of the buildings within two years of the close of each annual subscription. Subscribers must undertake to hold the units or shares for at least five years from the date of completion of the buildings;
d) Subscriptions to the capital of non-trading companies authorised to make a public offer of financial securities, other than the offers mentioned in 1° or 2° of Article L. 411-2 of the Monetary and Financial Code or Article L. 411-2-1 of the same code, where the company undertakes to allocate all the proceeds of the annual subscription, within six months of the end of the subscription period, to the acquisition of new housing located in the départements or local authorities referred to in 1 and allocated for at least 90% of their surface area for residential use. These companies must undertake to rent the empty homes for at least five years from the date of their completion or acquisition, whichever is later, to tenants other than the company’s members, their spouse or members of their tax household, who will use them as their main residence. Subscribers must undertake to hold the units for at least five years from these same dates ;
e) The amount of renovation work carried out by a company, excluding that which constitutes expenses deductible from property income under Article 31, and relating to housing completed more than twenty years ago, located in the departments or collectivities referred to in 1, which the owner undertakes, for a period of five years, either to allocate the property as their principal residence immediately on completion of the work, or to let the property free of charge within six months of completion of the work to persons other than the owner’s spouse or a member of the owner’s tax household, for whom the property is their principal residence, and to the cost of work to make the property more resistant to earthquake or cyclone risks. A decree will determine the conditions of application of these provisions, and in particular the nature of the eligible renovation work ;
f) Subject to compliance with Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014 of 17 June 2014 declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the internal market pursuant to Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty, to payments made in respect of cash subscriptions to the capital of regional development companies in the departments or collectivities referred to in 1 or companies subject to corporation tax under the conditions of ordinary law making new productive investments in these departments or collectivities within twelve months of the close of the subscription and whose actual activity is in the sectors eligible for the application of the provisions of I of Article 199 undecies B. When the company allocates all or part of the subscription to the construction of buildings intended for the exercise of a business located in one of these sectors, it must undertake to complete the foundations within two years of the closing of the subscription. The company must undertake to maintain the allocation of the assets to the activity in the sectors referred to above for five years following their acquisition or for their normal period of use, whichever is shorter ;
g) Payments made in respect of cash subscriptions, approved by the Minister responsible for the budget, to the capital of companies whose purpose is to finance by cash subscriptions to the capital or by equity loans, in accordance with the terms and limits set by decree, companies operating exclusively overseas in an eligible sector defined in I of Article 199 undecies B and which allocate these loans and subscriptions to the acquisition and operation of new productive investments.
These specialised companies do not benefit, for the determination of their own income, from the deductions provided for in Article 217 undecies.
The equivalent of 60% of the tax reduction thus obtained must benefit the company that acquires and operates the investment;
h) (Repealed).
Subscribers of units or shares in the companies mentioned in f and g must undertake to hold them for five years from the date of subscription.
3. The tax reduction does not apply in respect of the properties and units or shares referred to in 2 where ownership is divided. However, where the transfer of ownership of the property, units or shares, or the dismemberment of the right of ownership results from the death of one of the spouses subject to joint taxation, the surviving spouse to whom the property, units or shares are allocated, or who holds their usufruct, may request that the benefit of the reduction provided for in this article be reinstated in his or her favour, under the same terms and conditions, for the period remaining at the date of death.
3 bis. The tax reduction only applies to the investments mentioned in a of 2 when they are made by natural persons for the acquisition or construction of a primary residence for first-time buyers within the meaning of the third paragraph of I of Article 244 quater J as well as by individuals whose main residence is covered by an order issued under Chapter I of Title I of Book V of the Construction and Housing Code for the situations mentioned in 1° of Article L. 511-2 of the same code and 4° of the same article when the insalubrity treatment order relates to the use made of the buildings, premises or facilities, or when it relates to premises by nature unfit for habitation mentioned in article L. 1331-23 of the public health code.
4. When the amount of the investments mentioned in b, c, d, f and g of 2 exceeds two million euros, the benefit of the tax reduction is conditional on obtaining prior approval issued by the Minister responsible for the budget under the conditions set out in III of Article 217 undecies.
5. For the purposes of calculating the tax reduction, the sums paid during the period defined in 1 are taken into account, for the investments mentioned in a, b, c, d, and e of 2, up to a limit of €2,727 excluding tax per square metre of living space. This limit is increased each year, on 1 January, in the same proportion as the change in the average over four quarters of the national index measuring the cost of construction published by the Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques. The average referred to above is that of the last four indices known on 1 November preceding the reference date.
6. For the investments referred to in a of 2, the tax reduction is used to calculate the tax due for the year in which the property is completed or acquired, if later, and for the following nine years. For the investments referred to in b, c, d, f and g of 2, it is used to calculate the tax due in respect of the year of completion of the building or its acquisition if this is later, or of the subscription of the units or shares, and for the following four years. For the investments referred to in e of the same 2, it is used for the calculation due in respect of the year of completion of the work and the following four years. Each year, the reduction base is equal, for the investments referred to in a of 2, to 10% of the sums actually paid on 31 December of the year in which the right to tax reduction arose and, for the investments referred to in b, c, d, e, f and g of 2, to 20% of the sums actually paid on 31 December of the year in which the right to tax reduction arose.
The tax reduction is equal to 18% of the base defined in the first paragraph for the investments mentioned in a and e of 2.
The tax reduction is equal to 30% of the base defined in the first paragraph for investments mentioned in b, c and d of 2 and 38% of the same base for investments mentioned in f and g of 2.
For the investments mentioned in b, c and d of 2, the tax reduction is increased to 38% if the following conditions are met:
1° The taxpayer or the company undertakes to rent out the property free of charge within six months of its completion or acquisition if this is later and for at least six years to people who use it as their main home. In the case of subscriptions to the capital of companies referred to in c and d of 2, the taxpayer undertakes to hold his or her units or shares for at least six years from the date of completion of the accommodation or its acquisition if later;
2° The rent and the resources of the tenant do not exceed ceilings set by decree.
However, for investments made in Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, Mayotte and La Réunion mentioned in a, b, c, d and e of 2, the 18% and 30% rates provided for in the second and third paragraphs and the 38% rate provided for in the fourth paragraph are increased to 26%, 38% and 45% respectively when the housing is located in a priority urban policy district.
In addition, when expenditure on energy production equipment using a renewable energy source is carried out in the dwelling, the rates of 18% and 30% mentioned in the second and third paragraphs and the rate of 38% mentioned in the fourth paragraph are increased to 22%, 33% and 40% respectively and the rates of 26%, 38% and 45% mentioned in the seventh paragraph are increased to 29%, 40% and 48% respectively. An order of the Minister for the Budget sets the nature of the capital expenditure that qualifies for this increase.
6 bis. The tax reduction does not apply to investments mentioned in b, c and d of 2 made after 31 December 2010.
However, the tax reduction also applies:
1° To investments mentioned in b, c and d of 2 made between 1 January 2011 and 31 December 2011. By way of derogation from 6, the rate of the tax reduction is 22% for these investments. This rate is increased to 34% for those investments for which the conditions mentioned in 1° and 2° of 6 are met. These rates are respectively increased to 30% and 41% when the condition set out in the seventh paragraph of 6 is met, 25% and 37% when the condition set out in the eighth paragraph is met, 33% and 45% when these last two conditions are simultaneously met.
2° At a rate of 26% for the investments mentioned in b, c and d of 2 committed between 1 January 2012 and 31 December 2012 and in respect of which the conditions set out in 1° and 2° of 6 are met.
For the application of this 6 bis, the following are considered as committed:
the investments mentioned in b of 2 in respect of housing that the taxpayer has built or acquires new or in a future state of completion, for which building permits have been issued;
investments mentioned in c of 2 corresponding to subscriptions for units or shares in companies whose real purpose is exclusively to build new housing for which building permits have been issued;
investments mentioned in d of 2 corresponding to subscriptions whose proceeds are allocated to the acquisition of new housing for which building permits have been issued.
The tax reduction acquired in respect of the investments mentioned in this 6 bis is reversed if the homes acquired or built are not let by the last day of the thirty-sixth month following that in which the building permit was issued. Where applicable, this date is postponed by a period equal to the period during which the work is interrupted due to force majeure or during which the legality of the building permit is challenged through legal proceedings.
7. In the event of non-compliance with the commitments mentioned in 2 and 6, or the sale or dismemberment of the right of ownership, in situations other than that provided for in 3, of the building or the shares and securities, or non-compliance with their exclusive purpose by the companies concerned, or the dissolution of these companies, the tax reduction applied is subject to a reversal in respect of the year in which the aforementioned events occur. However, these provisions do not apply if the productive investments are included in a partial asset contribution made under the benefit of Article 210 B or if the company that owns them is the subject of a merger placed under the regime of Article 210 A, provided that the company receiving the contribution, or the acquiring company, as the case may be, meets the conditions of 2 and undertakes in the deed of contribution or merger to comply with the undertakings mentioned in f of 2 for the portion of the period remaining to run.
The death of the taxpayer or of one of the spouses subject to joint taxation during one of the years following the year in which the right to the tax reduction arose does not result in the tax reductions applied being reinstated.
The rental of a new property granted under the conditions set by decree to a public or private organisation for the accommodation of its staff for use as their main residence does not prevent them from benefiting from the tax reduction.
8. For the application of e of 2, when the beneficiary of the tax reduction is reimbursed within a period of five years for all or part of the amount of expenditure that gave entitlement to this benefit, it is subject, in respect of the year of reimbursement and up to the limit of the tax reduction obtained, to a write-back equal to the amount of the tax benefit granted in respect of the sum that has been reimbursed. However, no write-back is made when the reimbursement follows a claim that occurred after the expenses were paid.
9. For the same expenditure, the provisions of e of 2 are exclusive of a deduction for expenses for the determination of categorical income.