30th March 2020
As COVID-19 continues to spread around the world, many contracting hotspots are taking action in order to prevent and mitigate the effects of the virus. Here are some updates from France, originally provided by Pinsent Masons, as of 27th March 2020.
Tax deferral
- The French tax authorities have announced extraordinary measures to defer tax payments and accelerate tax rebates. Companies can now postpone for three months, without penalty, payment of corporation income tax, payroll taxes, business tax and property taxes. This request must be made using the ‘Difficulties related to Coronavirus – Covid 19 Request for payment and/or tax rebate request’ form available on the impots.gouv.fr website.
- If payments for March have already been arranged, companies can cancel the SEPA direct debit with their online bank. If not, companies can request reimbursement of the direct debit corresponding with the March payment.
- Companies can also request the speeding up of the processing of tax credit refunds such as those relating to VAT, research tax credit (CIR), innovation tax credit (CII) and tax credit for employment and competitiveness (CICE).
- It is possible to obtain early repayment of the overpayment of corporate income tax for 2019, without waiting for early May 2020. Businesses should contact Service des Impôts des Entreprises or, for large companies, the Direction des Grandes Entreprises.
Social contributions
- Employers whose URSAFF due date falls on the 15th of the month may postpone, without penalty, all or part of the payment of their employee and employer contributions, from 15th March 2020. The date of payment of these contributions may be postponed up to three months.
- To do this, companies should login to their online space on urssaf.fr and report their situation via the messaging system: ‘New message/a reporting formality/Report an exceptional situation’. It is also possible to contact URSSAF by phone, dialling 3957. A postponement or a deadline agreement is also possible for supplementary pension contributions.
Tax rebates
- Requests for direct tax rebates must be justified by proper documentation. Rebates can only be granted in the event of serious difficulties that a deferral of payment is not enough to overcome.
- The request must be made using the ‘Difficulties linked to Coronavirus – Covid-19 Request for payment and/or tax rebate request’ form, available on the impots.gouv.fr website. The application must be completed with relevant information and documents needed to assess the economic situation of the requester.
Measures for the self-employed
- Workers can adjust the rate and withholding tax on salaries (Prélèvement à la Source – PAS) at any time. It is also possible to defer the payment of withholding taxes on professional income up to three times each month if the instalments are made on a monthly basis, or from one quarter to the next if the instalments are made on a quarterly basis.
- The measures are accessible via the taxpayer’s individual area on impots.gouv.fr under the heading ‘Manage my direct debit at source’ (Gérer mon Prélèvement à la Source). Any action made before the 22nd of the month will be taken into account for the following month.
Measures concerning individuals
While this is the current situation regarding France, things are changing every day, and we encourage contractors and recruiters to pay attention to information from relevant authorities before making any decisions. Should there be any interruption to your assignment or working life – 6CATS will be here to help.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or would like more information.