I. – Taxation of the capital gain realised, directly or through an intermediary, in connection with a contribution of transferable securities, corporate rights, securities or rights relating thereto as defined in article 150-0 A to a company subject to corporation tax or an equivalent tax is deferred if the conditions set out in III of this article are met. The taxpayer mentions the amount of the capital gain in the declaration provided for in article 170.
These provisions also apply when the contribution is made with a balancing payment provided that this does not exceed 10% of the nominal value of the securities received. However, the capital gain is, up to the amount of this balancing payment, taxed in respect of the year of the contribution.
The tax deferral is terminated on:
1° The sale for valuable consideration, repurchase, redemption or cancellation of the securities received as consideration for the contribution;
2° The sale for valuable consideration, repurchase, redemption or cancellation of the securities contributed, if this event occurs within a period, counted from date to date, of three years from the contribution of the securities. However, the tax deferral is not terminated if the company receiving the contribution sells the securities within three years of the date of the contribution and undertakes to invest the proceeds of their sale, within two years of the date of the sale and up to at least 60% of the amount of these proceeds:
a) In the financing of permanent operating resources allocated to its commercial activity within the meaning of articles 34 or 35, industrial, craft, liberal, agricultural or financial. The management of its own movable or immovable assets is excluded from the benefit of this exemption;
b) In the acquisition of a fraction of the capital of one or more companies carrying on an activity mentioned in a of this 2°, under the same exclusion, and meeting the conditions laid down in c of 3° of II of Article 150-0 D ter. The reinvestment thus made must have the effect of giving him control of each of these companies within the meaning of 2° of III of this article;
c) In the cash subscription to the initial capital or to the capital increase of one or more companies meeting the conditions set out in the first paragraph of b and c of 3° of II of article 150-0 D ter;
d) Or in the subscription of units or shares in venture capital mutual funds, professional investment capital funds, free partnership companies or venture capital companies meeting the conditions laid down, respectively, in articles L. 214-28, L. 214-160 and L. 214-162-1 of the Monetary and Financial Code and to the’article 1er-1 of law no. 85-695 of 11 July 1985 containing various economic and financial provisions, or similar bodies in another Member State of the European Union or another State party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area that has signed an administrative assistance agreement with France to combat tax fraud and evasion. This subscription refers to the signature, by the company receiving the contribution, of one or more undertakings to subscribe for units or shares in funds, companies or organisations that they designate. For each subscription commitment, the company receiving the contribution undertakes to subscribe to a minimum amount, taken into account when assessing compliance with the quota mentioned in the second sentence of this 2°, which the designated fund, company or organisation undertakes to call within five years of signing each commitment. Within this same five-year period, the sums that the company has undertaken to pay under the conditions set out in the previous sentence must actually be paid to the fund, company or organisation. At the end of the same five-year period, at least 75% of the assets of these funds, companies or organisations must be made up of units or shares received in return for cash subscriptions to the initial capital or capital increases of companies mentioned in the first sentence of b of this 2°, or by units or shares issued by such companies where their acquisition confers control within the meaning of 2° of III of this article or where the fund, company or organisation is party to a shareholders’ agreement and holds more than a quarter of the capital and voting rights of the company concerned by this agreement following this acquisition. In addition to compliance with the aforementioned 75% quota, the sociétés de libre partenariat defined in Article L. 214-162-1 of the Monetary and Financial Code must comply, within the same timeframe, with the quotas provided for in Articles L. 214-28 and L. 214-160 of the same code.
Failure to comply with the reinvestment condition provided for in this 2° or the investment quotas mentioned in d terminates the tax deferral in respect of the year during which the two-year period mentioned in the first paragraph of this 2° or the five-year period mentioned in d expires.
Failure to comply with the condition set out in the fourth sentence of d of this 2° terminates the tax deferral in respect of the year during which the five-year period referred to in the same fourth sentence expires.
When the proceeds of the disposal are reinvested under the conditions set out in this 2°, the assets or securities concerned are held for a period of at least twelve months, counted from the date on which they were included in the assets of the company. However, units or shares in funds, companies or organisations subscribed under the conditions of d of this 2° are held until the end of the five-year period mentioned in the same d. Failure to comply with this retention condition terminates the deferral of taxation in respect of the year during which this condition ceases to be complied with.
Where the sale contract includes a clause stipulating the payment of one or more price supplements within the meaning of 2 of I of article 150-0 A to the selling company, the proceeds of the sale within the meaning of the first paragraph of this 2° means the sale price plus the said price supplements received. In this case, at least 60% of the sale price must be reinvested within two years of the date of sale, in accordance with the conditions set out in this 2°. If this is not done, the tax deferral expires in the year in which the two-year period expires. For each additional payment received, the company has a further two years from the date of receipt to reinvest, in accordance with the conditions set out in this 2°, the balance required to maintain compliance with the minimum threshold of 60% of the amount of the proceeds from the sale as defined in the first sentence of this paragraph. Failing this, the tax deferral is terminated in respect of the year during which the new two-year period expires;
Similarly, in the event of reinvestment of the balance referred to in the penultimate paragraph of this 2° in the subscription of units or shares referred to in d, failure to comply with the condition set out in the fourth sentence of the same d or failure to comply with the investment quotas referred to in the same d terminates the tax deferral in respect of the year of expiry of the five-year period referred to in the said d. For the application of the present paragraph, the five-year period is counted from the date of subscription mentioned in the first sentence of the present paragraph;
3° Of the sale for valuable consideration, redemption, repayment or cancellation of the shares or rights in the interposed companies or groupings;
4° Or, if this event is earlier, when the taxpayer transfers his tax domicile outside France under the conditions set out in Article 167 bis.
The end of the tax deferral leads to taxation of the capital gain under the conditions provided for in 2 ter of article 200 A, without prejudice to the late payment interest provided for in article 1727, deducted from the date of the contribution of the securities, in the event of failure to comply with one of the conditions mentioned in 2° of this I.
II. – In the event of the transfer by way of gift or manual donation of the securities mentioned in 1° of I of this article, the donee mentions, in proportion to the securities transferred, the amount of the capital gain carried forward in the declaration provided for in article 170 if the company mentioned in 2° of the same I is controlled by the donee under the conditions provided for in 2° of III. These conditions are assessed on the date of the transfer, taking into account the rights held by the donee following the transfer.
The deferred capital gain is taxed in the donee’s name and under the conditions set out in article 150-0 A:
1° In the event of the sale, contribution, redemption or cancellation of the securities within five years of their acquisition. This period is extended to ten years in the event of an investment made under the conditions provided for in d of 2° of I;
2° Or when one of the conditions mentioned in 2° of I of this article is not met. Failure to comply with one of these conditions terminates the tax deferral under the same conditions as those described in the same 2°. The late payment interest provided for in article 1727, deducted from the date of the contribution of the securities by the donor, is applicable.
The costs relating to the free acquisition are deducted from the amount of the deferred capital gain.
1° of this II does not apply in the event of disability corresponding to classification in the second or third of the categories provided for in article L. 341-4 of the Social Security Code, redundancy or the death of the donee or his spouse or partner bound by a civil solidarity pact subject to joint taxation.
III. – The deferral of taxation is subject to the following conditions:
1° The contribution of securities is made in France or in a Member State of the European Union or in a State or territory that has entered into a tax treaty with France containing an administrative assistance clause with a view to combating tax evasion and avoidance;
2° The company receiving the contribution is controlled by the taxpayer. This condition is assessed on the date of the contribution, taking into account the rights held by the taxpayer following the contribution. For the application of this condition, a taxpayer is considered to control a company:
a) Where the majority of the voting rights or rights in the company’s profits are held, directly or indirectly, by the taxpayer or through his or her spouse or their ascendants or descendants or their brothers and sisters;
b) Where he or she alone holds the majority of the voting rights or rights in the company’s profits by virtue of an agreement entered into with other partners or shareholders;
c) Or where he or she in fact exercises decision-making power therein.
The taxpayer is presumed to exercise such control when it holds, directly or indirectly, a fraction of the voting rights or rights in the corporate profits equal to or greater than 33.33% and no other partner or shareholder holds, directly or indirectly, a fraction greater than its own.
The taxpayer and one or more persons acting in concert are considered to jointly control a company when they in fact determine the decisions taken at the general meeting.
IV. – By way of derogation from 1° and 3° of I, the deferral of taxation of the capital gain referred to in the same I or its maintenance pursuant to this paragraph is maintained when the securities received as consideration for the last contribution or exchange that gave entitlement to the deferral of taxation referred to in the said I or its maintenance are the subject of a new contribution or exchange transaction under the conditions provided for in this article or in article 150-0 B.
The taxpayer mentions each year, in the declaration provided for in article 170, the amount of capital gains whose deferral is maintained pursuant to the first paragraph of this IV.
The deferral of taxation of the capital gain mentioned in I and maintained pursuant to the first paragraph of this IV is terminated in the event of:
1° A sale for valuable consideration, repurchase, redemption or cancellation of the securities received by the taxpayer as consideration for the last contribution or exchange that gave entitlement to the deferral of taxation or its maintenance;
2° The occurrence of one of the events mentioned in 3° and 4° of I ;
3° Of the occurrence, in the company benefiting from the contribution having opened the right to the tax deferral or in one of the companies benefiting from a contribution or exchange having opened the right to the maintenance of this deferral pursuant to the first paragraph of this IV, of an event mentioned in 2° of I putting an end to the tax deferral.
V. – In the event of the occurrence of one of the events provided for in 1° to 4° of I and in 1° to 3° of IV, the deferral of taxation of the capital gain is terminated in the proportion of the securities sold for valuable consideration, repurchased, redeemed or cancelled.
V bis. – Where the securities contributed under the conditions provided for in I of this article are subject to a tax deferral implemented pursuant to II of article 92 B, article 92 B decies, article 150 A bis and I ter and II of article 160, in the version in force prior to 1st January 2000, article 150-0 C, as it stood prior to 1 January 2006, article 150-0 D bis, as it stood prior to 1 January 2014, or article 150-0 B bis, said tax deferral is maintained ipso jure and expires upon the occurrence of an event terminating the tax deferral referred to in I of this article under the conditions set out in that same I or in IV.
The tax deferral implemented pursuant to article 92 B decies, the last paragraph of 1 of I ter and II of article 160, as they stood prior to 1 January 2000, article 150-0 C, as it stood prior to 1 January 2006, is also terminated, of article 150-0 D bis, in the version in force before 1st January 2014, or of article 150-0 B bis in the event of the transfer, under the conditions provided for by these same articles, of the securities received as consideration for the contribution mentioned in I of this article or of the securities mentioned in 1° of IV.
VI. – A decree sets out the conditions for the application of this article, in particular the reporting obligations of taxpayers, companies receiving the contribution of securities and the funds, companies or bodies mentioned in d of 2° of I. It shall also set out the procedures for assessing compliance with the quotas mentioned in the same d.
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