I. – Companies subject to corporation tax with sales of less than 20 million euros in their last financial year may deduct from their taxable income a sum equal to the amount, excluding tax and excluding costs of any kind, in particular acquisition commissions, with the exception of transport, installation and commissioning costs that can be depreciated, of productive investments, less the fraction of their cost price financed by public aid as well as, where the purpose of the investment is to replace an investment that has benefited from one of the schemes defined in this article or in articles 199 undecies B or 244 quater W, the actual value of the investment replaced, which they carry out in the departments of Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, Mayotte and Réunion in order to carry out an eligible activity in application of I of article 199 undecies B. If the company has not completed any financial year, its turnover is deemed to be zero. If the last financial year closed was for a period of more or less than twelve months, the amount of turnover is corrected to correspond to a full year. When the tax deduction applies under the conditions set out in the fourteenth to nineteenth paragraphs, the turnover defined in this paragraph is assessed at the level of the lessee or lessor company, which communicates the amount to the company making the investment. When the company mentioned in the first and penultimate sentences of this paragraph is linked, directly or indirectly, to one or more other companies within the meaning of Article 39(12), the turnover to be used is the sum of its turnover and that of all the companies linked to it. For investment projects involving the acquisition, installation or operation of renewable energy production equipment, the deductible amount mentioned in the first sentence of this paragraph is taken into account within the limit of an amount per watt installed set by joint order of the ministers responsible for the budget, energy, overseas territories and industry for each type of equipment. This amount takes into account the acquisition and installation costs directly linked to this equipment. The deduction is applied to the profit or loss for the year in which the investment is brought into service, with any deficit for the year being carried forward under the conditions set out in I of Article 209. However, in the case of the acquisition of a building to be constructed or the construction of a building, the deduction is applied to the income for the financial year in which the foundations are completed. If the building is not completed within two years of the date of completion of the foundations, the sum deducted is deducted from taxable income for the financial year in which this period expires. In the case of hotel renovations, the deduction is granted for the year in which the work is completed. The deduction also applies to investments made by a company subject to the tax regime provided for in Article 8, excluding joint ventures, or a group mentioned in Articles 239 quater or 239 quater C, whose shares are held directly by companies subject to corporation tax. In this case, the deduction is made by the partners or members in a proportion corresponding to their rights in the company or grouping.
The deduction provided for in the first paragraph only applies to the fraction of the cost price of the investments made by the companies which exceeds the amount of the capital contributions entitling their partners to the deductions provided for in II and in articles 199 undecies or 199 undecies A and the amount of financing, capital contributions and equity loans, provided by the finance companies defined in g of 2 of article 199 undecies A.
The deduction provided for in the first paragraph applies to renovation and refurbishment work on hotels, tourist residences and classified holiday villages, where this work constitutes fixed asset items. The deduction does not apply to the acquisition of tourist vehicles within the meaning of Article L. 421-2 of the French Tax Code for goods and services that are not strictly essential to the operator’s business.
The deduction provided for in the first paragraph applies to the completion of investments allocated for more than five years by the concessionaire to the operation of a local public service concession of an industrial and commercial nature and carried out in eligible sectors defined by that same paragraph. The deduction provided for in the first paragraph does not apply to investments relating to electricity production facilities using the sun’s radiative energy.
The deduction provided for in the first paragraph applies to the investments mentioned in the first paragraph of I ter of article 199 undecies B up to half of their cost price, excluding tax and excluding costs of any kind, in particular acquisition commissions, with the exception of transport costs, less the amount of public aid granted for their financing, when the conditions provided for in this same I ter are met. For the emergency cable installation equipment and operations mentioned in the last paragraph of the same I ter, the deduction applies to investments up to a quarter of their cost price, subject to compliance with the conditions set out in the previous sentence. The amount of tax aid may be reduced by up to half, taking into account the financing requirements of the operating company for this project and the impact of the aid on tariffs. The deduction provided for in the first paragraph of this I also applies to the investments mentioned in I quater of article 199 undecies B, when the conditions provided for in the same I quater are met, up to 20% of their cost price, excluding tax and excluding costs of any kind, in particular acquisition commissions and transport costs for these ships, less the amount of public aid granted to finance them and, where the purpose of the investment is to replace an investment that has benefited from one of the schemes defined in this article or in articles 199 undecies B or 244 quater W, the actual value of the investment replaced. For investments made in the air or sea transport sector, the deduction provided for in the first paragraph applies subject to compliance with the conditions provided for in I bis of article 199 undecies B.
The deduction provided for in the first paragraph of this article applies to the acquisition or construction of new housing for rental purposes located in overseas departments, excluding new housing meeting the criteria mentioned in b and c of 1 and 5 of I of article 244 quater X, up to the cost price of the housing, less, on the one hand, taxes and acquisition commissions paid and, on the other hand, public aid received. This amount is deducted from the limit mentioned in section 5 of article 199 undecies A, assessed per square metre of living space. A decree specifies the nature of the sums used to calculate the cost price of the property. This deduction applies when the following conditions are met:
1° The company undertakes to rent the property bare within twelve months of its completion, or its acquisition if later, and for at least five years to people who make it their main residence;
2° The rent and the resources of the tenant do not exceed ceilings set by decree.
If, within five years of its acquisition or creation, or during its normal period of use if it is less or for at least seven years if its normal period of use is equal to or greater than seven years, the investment that gave rise to the right to deduct is sold or ceases to be allocated to the operation of the user company or if the purchaser ceases its activity, the sums deducted are brought back to the taxable income of the company that made the deduction in respect of the financial year during which this event occurs. This period is extended to fifteen years for investments consisting of the construction, renovation or refurbishment of hotels, tourist residences or holiday villages. These consequences also apply if the conditions set out in the seventh and eighth paragraphs of this I cease to be met. This period is extended to ten years for investments in new cruise ships with a maximum capacity of 400 passengers.
However, the deduction is not taken back when the assets that gave rise to the right to deduct are transferred as part of the transactions mentioned in articles 210 A or 210 B if the beneficiary of the transfer undertakes to continue to operate the overseas assets as part of an eligible business during the remaining part of the retention period.
The commitment is made in the deed recording the transfer or, failing that, in a private deed with a date certain, drawn up on this occasion.
In the event of non-compliance with this commitment, the beneficiary of the transfer must deduct from its taxable income, in respect of the financial year during which the commitment ceases to be complied with, an amount equal to the amount of the tax deduction to which the assets transferred gave entitlement.
Where the investment is made by a company or group referred to in the last two sentences of the first paragraph, the partners or members must, in addition, hold the shares in this company or group for a period of five years from the completion of the investment or for the normal period of use of the investment if this is less. Failing this, they must add to their taxable income for the year of disposal the amount of the deductions they have made, reduced, where applicable, in proportion to their rights in the company or grouping, by the sums already reintegrated pursuant to the provisions of the ninth paragraph.
The deduction provided for in the first paragraph applies to productive investments made available to a company under a leasing contract if the following conditions are met:
1° The leasing contract is entered into for a term of at least five years or for the normal period of use of the leased asset if this is less;
2° The leasing contract is of a commercial nature;
3° The lessee company would have been entitled to the deduction provided for in the first paragraph if, being taxable in France, it had acquired the asset directly;
4° The company owning the investment has its registered office in mainland France or in an overseas department ;
5° 77% of the tax advantage provided by the deduction made in respect of the investment and by the deduction of the deficit arising from the rental of the property acquired and the capital loss realised on the sale of this property or the shares in the lessor company are passed back to the lessee company in the form of a reduction in the rent and the price of the sale of the property to the operator.
If one of the conditions listed in the fifteenth to nineteenth paragraphs ceases to be met within the period mentioned in the fifteenth paragraph, the sums deducted are added back to the taxable income of the company or companies that made the deduction, in respect of the financial year during which this event occurs. The sums deducted are not brought back when, in the event of the failure of the lessee company, the assets that gave rise to the right to deduct are leased to a new company, which undertakes to maintain them in the activity for which they were acquired or created during the portion of the operating period still to run, provided that the condition mentioned in the nineteenth paragraph remains verified.
For investments with a normal useful life of at least seven years, the fifteenth to twentieth paragraphs are applicable when the lessee company undertakes to actually use these investments for at least seven years in the business for which they were acquired or created. This commitment is extended to fifteen years for investments consisting of the construction, renovation or refurbishment of hotels, tourist residences or holiday villages. This period is increased to ten years for investments relating to new cruise ships with a maximum capacity of 400 passengers.
When the investment is made under the conditions provided for in the fourteenth to nineteenth paragraphs by a company or grouping mentioned in the penultimate sentence of the first paragraph, the partners or members must, in addition, retain the shares in this company or grouping for a period of five years from the completion of the investment or for the normal period of use of the investment if this is less. Failing this, they must add to their taxable income for the year of disposal the amount of the deductions they have made, less, where applicable, in proportion to their rights in the company or grouping, any sums already reintegrated pursuant to the provisions of the twentieth paragraph.
I bis. – The deduction provided for in the first paragraph of I also applies to the acquisition or construction of new housing located in Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, Mayotte or La Réunion if the following conditions are met:
1° The company signs a lease-to-own contract with a natural person, within twelve months of the completion of the building, or its acquisition if later, under the conditions provided for by law no. 84-595 of 12 July 1984 defining rent-to-own property;
2° The acquisition or construction of the property was financed using a loan mentioned in I of article D. 331-76-5-1 of the Code de la construction et de l’habitation;
3° Three quarters of the tax benefit provided by the deduction taken in respect of the acquisition or construction of the property is retroceded to the natural person signing the contract referred to in 1° in the form of a reduction in the fee provided for in article 5 of the aforementioned Act no. 84-595 of 12 July 1984 and the sale price of the property.
II. – Companies subject to corporation tax may, on the other hand, deduct from their taxable income a sum equal to the total amount of subscriptions to the capital of regional development companies in the overseas departments or companies mentioned in I making productive investments in the same departments in the twelve months of the closing of the subscription in the sectors of activity eligible pursuant to I of article 199 undecies B. Where the company allocates all or part of the subscription to the construction of buildings intended for the exercise of an eligible activity, it must undertake to complete the foundations within two years of the closing of the subscription and to complete the building within two years of the date of completion of the foundations. The company must undertake to maintain the use of the property for the eligible business for five years following its acquisition, or for its normal useful life if shorter. In the event of non-compliance with these undertakings, the sums deducted are deducted from the taxable income of the company that made the deduction in respect of the financial year in which the non-compliance is noted; these provisions do not apply if the fixed assets in question 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, on condition that the company receiving the contribution, or the absorbing company as the case may be, meets the business conditions provided for in this paragraph and takes over, under the same conditions and penalties, the commitments mentioned in this paragraph for the fraction of the period remaining to run.
For investments whose normal period of use is at least seven years, the company receiving the subscription must undertake to actually use the investment for at least seven years in the context of the activity for which it was acquired or created. This commitment is increased to ten years for investments relating to new cruise ships with a maximum capacity of four hundred passengers and to fifteen years for investments consisting of the construction, renovation or refurbishment of hotels, tourist residences or holiday villages.
The deduction provided for in the first paragraph applies to subscriptions to the capital of companies carrying out renovation and rehabilitation work on hotels, tourist residences and classified holiday villages operated by these companies in the overseas departments, where this work constitutes fixed asset items.
The deduction provided for in the first paragraph applies to subscriptions to the capital of concessionary companies carrying out productive investments in the overseas departments which are allocated for more than five years by the concessionaire to the operation of a local public service concession of an industrial and commercial nature, and whose activity is carried out exclusively in an eligible sector, in the overseas departments or collectivities.
II bis (Repealed).
II ter. – The deduction provided for in the first paragraph of II applies to subscriptions to the capital of companies subject to corporation tax and which are allocated exclusively to the acquisition or construction of new housing in the overseas departments when the exclusive activity of these companies is the rental of such housing under the conditions mentioned in the seventh and eighth paragraphs of I.
This deduction applies under the conditions and penalties provided for in II, with the exception of that mentioned in the third sentence of the first paragraph of the same II.
II quater. – Investment programmes for which the total amount exceeds €1,000,000 may only give entitlement to the deduction mentioned in I, II and II ter if they have received prior approval from the Minister responsible for the budget under the conditions set out in III.
The provisions of the first paragraph also apply to the investments mentioned in I and for which the total amount per programme exceeds €250,000, when they are made by a company or grouping mentioned in the penultimate sentence of the first paragraph of the same I.
II quinquies. – The deduction provided for in II applies if the conditions provided for in the nineteenth paragraph of I are met.
III. – 1. In order to be eligible for the deduction, the investments mentioned in I made in the sectors of transport, pleasure boating, agriculture, sea fishing and aquaculture, the coal and steel industries, shipbuilding, synthetic fibres, the automobile industry, or concerning the renovation and refurbishment of hotels, tourist residences and holiday villages or companies in difficulty, or which are necessary for the operation of a local public service concession of an industrial and commercial nature, must have received prior approval from the Minister for the Budget, after consultation with the Minister for Overseas France. The executive body of the overseas collectivities with primary responsibility for economic development is kept informed of operations whose implementation concerns it.
Authorisation is granted when the investment:
a) Is of economic interest to the department in which it is made; it must not undermine the fundamental interests of the nation or constitute a threat to public order or give rise to a presumption of money laundering ;
b) Pursues as one of its main aims the creation or maintenance of jobs in that department;
c) Fits in with regional planning, environmental and sustainable development policy;
d) Guarantees the protection of investors and third parties.
The granting of approval is subject to the direct or indirect beneficiaries complying with their tax and social security obligations and to the undertaking given by these same beneficiaries that the procedures for carrying out and operating the aided investment can be verified on site.
2. Approval is tacit in the absence of a response from the administration within three months of receipt of the application for approval. This period is reduced to two months when the decision is taken and notified by the competent State authority in the overseas departments.
When the administration is considering a decision to refuse approval, it must inform the taxpayer by letter which interrupts the period mentioned in the first paragraph and gives the taxpayer the opportunity, if he so requests, to refer the matter, within a period of fifteen days, to an advisory committee, the composition, powers and operation of which are defined by decree. In the event of a referral, a new period of time identical to that mentioned in the first paragraph runs from the date of the committee’s opinion. The commission has a maximum of two months in which to give its opinion.
The period referred to in the first paragraph may be interrupted by a request from the tax authorities for additional information. It is suspended if the project is notified to the European Commission for review and opinion.
3. However, the investments referred to in I, the total amount of which does not exceed €250,000 per programme, are exempt from the prior approval procedure when they are made by a company that has been operating in the departments referred to in I for at least two years in one of the sectors referred to in the first paragraph of 1. The same applies when these investments are leased to such a company. The company that owns the assets or that has acquired them under a leasing arrangement attaches to its income tax return a summary statement of the investments made during the financial year and in respect of which the tax deduction is claimed.
The first paragraph does not apply to the transport sector, with the exception of new vehicles with fewer than seven seats acquired by public passenger transport companies and assigned exclusively to the performance of said transport when the conditions of transport comply with a regulatory tariff.
III bis. (Repealed).
III ter. (Transferred under III).
III quater. (Repealed).
IV. – In the event of disposal within a period of five years, counted from the date of completion of the investment, or during the normal period of use of the investment if it is less, of all or part of the corporate rights subscribed by the companies with the benefit of the deductions provided for in II or II ter the sums deducted are brought back to the taxable income of the year of disposal, within the limit, of the entire disposal price.
However, these provisions do not apply in the event that, within the period mentioned in the first paragraph of this IV, the company that owns the securities that gave entitlement to the deduction provided for in II or II ter is the subject of a transfer under the provisions of articles 210 A or 210 B if the company that becomes the owner of the securities fulfils the conditions necessary to benefit from this deduction and undertakes to retain the securities for the remainder of the retention period. The commitment is made in the deed recording the transfer or, failing that, by a private deed with certainty date, drawn up on this occasion.
In the event of non-compliance with this commitment, the beneficiary of the transfer must deduct from its taxable income, in respect of the financial year during which the commitment ceases to be complied with, a sum equal to the amount of the tax deduction to which the securities transferred gave entitlement, up to the full transfer price. The same applies in the event that the securities subscribed with the benefit of the deduction provided for in II or II ter are contributed or exchanged as part of transactions subject to the provisions of articles 210 A or 210 B, if the company retains, under the same conditions and penalties, the new securities which have replaced the original securities.
IV bis. – The amount of the deduction provided for by this article is not taken into account when calculating the allowance provided for in article 44 quaterdecies.
IV ter. – The deduction provided for in I, II or II ter is subject to compliance by the companies making the investment or subscription and, where applicable, the operating companies, with their tax and social security obligations and the obligation to file their annual accounts in accordance with the procedures provided for in articles L. 232-21 to L. 232-23 of the French Commercial Code on the date of completion of the investment or subscription.
Employers are deemed to be up to date with their tax and social security obligations if, on the one hand, they have subscribed to and are complying with a payment plan for outstanding contributions and, on the other hand, they are paying current contributions on their normal due date.
For the application of the first paragraph in New Caledonia and French Polynesia, references to the provisions of the Commercial Code are replaced by the provisions set out in the locally applicable regulations.
IV quater. – (Repealed).
V. – The provisions of this article are applicable to investments made or subscriptions paid from the date of promulgation of the loi n° 2009-594 du 27 mai 2009 pour le développement économique des outre-mer, with the exception of investments and subscriptions for which an application for approval has been received by the administration before that date.
This article applies to new investments brought into service until 31 December 2025, to renovation and refurbishment work on hotels, tourist residences and classified holiday villages completed by this date at the latest, to the acquisition of buildings to be constructed and to the construction of buildings whose foundations are completed by this date at the latest and to subscriptions paid until 31 December 2025.
A Conseil d’Etat decree will specify, as necessary, the terms and conditions of their application and in particular the reporting obligations.
VI. – The benefit of the deduction provided for in I, I bis, II and II ter is subject to compliance with Article 14 of Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014 of 17 June 2014 declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the internal market in application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty and the deduction does not apply to investments operated by companies in difficulty, within the meaning of the same regulation.