I. – 1. Companies taxed on the basis of their actual profits or exempt pursuant to articles 44 sexies, 44 sexies A, 44 octies A and 44 duodecies to 44 septdecies, carrying out an agricultural activity or an industrial, commercial or craft activity covered by Article 34, may benefit from a tax credit for new productive investments that they make in an overseas department to carry out an activity that does not fall within one of the sectors listed in a to l of I of article 199 undecies B, with the exception of the activities mentioned in I quater of the same article 199 undecies B. For investments relating to cruise ships mentioned in I quater of article 199 undecies B, the tax credit applies subject to compliance with the conditions set out in the same I quater. For investments made in the air or sea transport sector, the tax credit applies subject to compliance with the conditions provided for in I bis of Article 199 undecies B.
The tax credit provided for in the first paragraph also applies to renovation and refurbishment work on hotels, tourist residences and classified holiday villages when such work constitutes fixed asset items.
The tax credit provided for in the first paragraph also applies to investments allocated for more than five years by the concession holder to the operation of a local public service concession of an industrial and commercial nature and carried out in eligible sectors.
2. The tax credit does not apply:
a) To the acquisition of tourist vehicles within the meaning of Article L. 421-2 of the Code des impositions sur les biens et services qui ne sont pas strictement indispensables à l’activité;
b) Aux investissements portant sur des installations de production d’électricité utilisant l’énergie radiative du soleil.
3. The tax credit is also granted to companies that operate investments in an overseas department that are made available to them under a rental contract with a purchase option or a leasing contract, subject to compliance with the following conditions:
a) The rental or leasing contract is entered into with a credit institution or finance company mentioned in Article L. 511-1 of the Monetary and Financial Code, or their subsidiaries, with a company whose capital is partly held by an institution mentioned in Article L. 518-2 of the same code or with a lessor company belonging to the same tax group within the meaning of Article 223 A of this code as the operating company for a period of at least five years or for the normal period of use of the leased asset if this is less;
b) The leasing or rental contract is of a commercial nature;
c) The lessee or lessee company would have been entitled to the tax credit provided for in 1 if it had acquired the asset directly.
4. For companies subject to corporation tax that carry on their business in the département in which the investment is made or for the organisations mentioned in 1 of I of Article 244 quater X, the tax credit also applies:
1° To the acquisition or construction of new rental housing located in overseas departments, with the exception of new housing meeting the criteria mentioned in b and c of 1 and 5 of I of Article 244 quater X, if the following conditions are met:
a) The company or organisation 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;
b) The rent and the tenant’s resources do not exceed ceilings set by decree;
2° To new rental housing made available to them where the following conditions are met:
a) The leasing contract is concluded for a term of at least five years;
b) The company or organisation would have been eligible for the tax credit under the conditions defined in 1° if it had acquired the property directly;
3° To the acquisition or construction of new housing located in the overseas departments if the following conditions are met:
a) The company signs a lease-to-own contract with a natural person within twelve months of completion of the property, or its acquisition if later, under the conditions provided for by the loi n° 84-595 du 12 juillet 1984 définissant la location-accession à la propriété immobilière;
b) The acquisition or construction of the property was financed using a loan mentioned in I of article D. 331-76-5-1 of the French Construction and Housing Code;
c) Three quarters of the tax benefit provided by the tax credit applied in respect of the acquisition or construction of the property is retroceded to the natural person signing the contract referred to in 1° of this 4 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 transfer price of the building.
II. – 1. The tax credit is based on 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 amortised, of the productive investments, less the portion of their cost price financed by public aid.
For investment projects involving the acquisition, installation or operation of renewable energy production equipment, this amount 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 departments and industry for each type of equipment. This amount takes into account the acquisition and installation costs directly linked to this equipment.
For the investments mentioned in I quater of Article 199 undecies B, the tax credit base is equal to 20% of their cost price, excluding tax and excluding costs of any kind, in particular acquisition commissions and transport costs for these investments, less the amount of public aid granted for their financing.
2. When the purpose of the investment is to replace an investment that has benefited from one of the schemes defined in articles 199 undecies B and 217 undecies or the tax credit defined in this article, the tax credit base as defined in 1 is reduced by the actual value of the investment replaced.
3. (Repealed).
4. For the housing mentioned in 4 of I, the tax credit is based on 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 Article 5 of 199 undecies A appreciated per square metre of habitable surface area. A decree specifies the nature of the sums used to assess the cost price of housing.
5. When the company making the investment benefits from a capital subscription mentioned in II or II ter of Article 217 undecies and Article 199 undecies A or from financing, capital contributions and equity loans, provided by the finance companies defined in g of 2 of the same Article 199 undecies A, the tax credit base is reduced by the amount of these contributions and financing.
III. – The rate of the tax credit is set at:
1° 38.25% for companies subject to income tax;
2° 35% for companies and organisations subject to corporation tax.
The rate mentioned in 1° is increased to 45.9% for investments made in French Guiana and Mayotte, within the limits defined by European rules relating to State aid. However, this rate increase does not apply to the investments mentioned in the last paragraph of 1 of II.
IV. – 1. The benefit of the tax credit provided for in 1 of I is granted in respect of the year in which the investment is brought into service.
2. However:
a) When the investment consists solely of the acquisition of a building to be constructed or the construction of a building, the tax credit, calculated on the provisional amount of the cost price defined in II, is granted up to 70% in respect of the year during which the foundations are completed and 20% in respect of the year in which the building is put out of water, and the balance, calculated on the final cost price, is granted in respect of the year in which the building is delivered ;
b) In the case of building renovation or refurbishment, the tax credit is granted in respect of the year in which the work is completed.
3. When the investment is made under the conditions provided for in 3 or 2° of 4 of I, the tax credit is granted in respect of the year in which the investment is made available to the lessee or lessee company or the lessee organisation.
V. – 1. When the company or organisation that operates the investment has a turnover, assessed according to the rules defined in the first paragraph of I of Article 199 undecies B, that is lower, depending on the case, than the limits provided for in that same paragraph or the limit set in the first sentence of the first paragraph of I of Article 217 undecies, the benefit of the tax credit is subject to the exercise of an option.
This option is exercised per investment and applies to all other investments in the same programme. The option is exercised by the company or organisation operating the investment, no later than the date on which the investment is brought into service or is made available to it in the cases mentioned in 3 and 2° of 4 of I; the option is then brought to the attention of the lessor or lessor. It is formalised in the income tax return for the financial year during which the investment was brought into service or made available and is attached to the income tax return of the lessor for that same financial year.
2. Exercising the option mentioned in 1 entails waiving the benefit of the schemes defined in Articles 199 undecies B and 217 undecies.
VI. – The tax credit calculated by the partnerships mentioned in articles 8,238 bis L, 239 ter and 239 quater A or the groupings mentioned in Articles 238 ter, 239 quater, 239 quater B, 239 quater C and 239 quinquies which are not subject to corporation tax may be used by their members in proportion to their rights in these companies or groupings, provided that they are liable for corporation tax and carry on their business in an eligible sector within the meaning of 1 of I in the département in which the investment is made, or natural persons participating in the operation within the meaning of 1° bis of I of Article 156 or, for the investments mentioned in 4 of I of this article, companies or bodies mentioned in the first paragraph of the same 4.
VII. – When the total amount per investment programme exceeds the thresholds mentioned in II quater and III of Article 217 undecies, the benefit of the tax credit is conditional on obtaining prior approval issued by the Minister responsible for the budget under the conditions set out in III of the same article, except in the case of an investment programme mentioned in 3° of 4 of I of this article carried out by an organisation mentioned in 1 of I of Article 244 quater X.
For the application of the first paragraph of this VII, the conditions relating to economic interest, on the one hand, and integration into the policy of regional planning, the environment and sustainable development, on the other hand, provided for, respectively, in a and c of 1 of III of Article 217 undecies, are deemed to have been met when the investment programme relates to the investments mentioned in the second paragraph of 1 of II of this article for which an electricity purchase contract has been signed with an electricity supplier mentioned in I of article R. 121-28 of the Energy Code, after assessment by the Energy Regulation Commission pursuant to II of the same article R. 121-28.
VIII. – 1. The investment giving entitlement to the tax credit must be used, by the company benefiting from it, for its own operations for a period of five years, counted from the date of acquisition or creation of the asset. This period is reduced to the normal period of use of the investment if this period is less than five years, and increased to seven years if its normal period of use is equal to or greater than seven years and to fifteen years for investments consisting of the construction, renovation or refurbishment of hotels, tourist residences or holiday villages. This period is extended to ten years for investments relating to new cruise ships with a maximum capacity of 400 passengers.
If, within the period thus defined, the investment that gave entitlement to the tax credit is sold or ceases to be allocated to the operation of the user company or if the purchaser ceases trading, the tax credit is subject to a write-back in respect of the financial year or the year during which the aforementioned events occur.
However, the tax credit is not written back:
a) When the assets that gave entitlement to the tax credit are transferred as part of the transactions mentioned in articles 41 and 151 octies, the second paragraph of I of article 151 octies A and articles 210 A or 210 B, if the beneficiary of the transfer undertakes to continue to operate the assets in an overseas department as part of an eligible business during the remainder of the retention period. In the event of non-compliance with this undertaking, the beneficiary of the transfer must, in respect of the financial year during which this event occurred, add to its income a sum equal to three times the amount of the tax credit to which the assets transferred gave entitlement.
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;
b) When, in the event of the operator’s default, the assets that gave entitlement to the tax credit are taken over by another company that undertakes to maintain them in the business for which they were acquired or created during the fraction of the retention period still to run.
This 1 does not apply to the investments mentioned in 4 of I.
2. Where the investment takes the form of the construction of a building or the acquisition of a building to be constructed, the building must be completed within two years of the date on which the foundations are completed.
Failing this, the tax credit acquired in respect of this investment is subject to a write-back in respect of the year in which the end of this two-year period occurs.
In addition, where the investment relates to the construction or acquisition of a new home, the tax credit acquired in respect of this investment is reclaimed in respect of the year during which one of the conditions set out in section 4 of I is no longer met. However, the tax credit is not reclaimed if, in the event of the company or organisation going bankrupt, the housing units that gave entitlement to the tax credit are taken over by another company or organisation that undertakes to rent out the housing units, under the conditions set out in the same 4, for the fraction of the minimum rental period still to run.
2 bis. When the investment is made by a company or group mentioned in VI, the partners or members retain 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. If they fail to do so, the tax credit they have deducted is written back in respect of the financial year or year of the disposal.
3. The tax credit provided for in this article is subject to compliance by the operating companies and by the organisations mentioned in 4 of I 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 on which the investment is made.
Employers are deemed to be up to date with their tax and social security obligations if, on the one hand, they have signed up 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.
IX. – 1. This article applies to investments commissioned from 1 January 2015 until 31 December 2025, to hotel rehabilitation work completed by this date at the latest and to the acquisition of buildings to be constructed and the construction of buildings whose foundations are completed by this date at the latest.
2. A decree sets the conditions for application of this article, in particular the reporting obligations incumbent on the companies and organisations mentioned in 4 of I.
X. – The benefit of the tax credit provided for in I 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 tax credit does not apply to investments operated by companies in difficulty, within the meaning of the same regulation.