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Industrial Initiatives - France
Financial support for industrial initiatives in France comes in the form of tax breaks and grants. The Research Tax Credit, Innovation Tax Credit, Young Innovative Enterprise, ARICE, Future Investments Program, Horizons 2020, and several tax credits for locating in specific areas are available.
Research Tax Credit- RIC
- This tax credit is for companies that have expenses related to research and development.
- The RIC credit will cover 30% of expenses up to €100 million euros, and 5% over €100 million euros.
- All industrial, commercial and agricultural enterprises are eligible.
- The following expenses are eligible: Depreciation and amortization of goods and buildings, staff costs for researchers and technicians, operating expenses, patents, expenses related to products,
- If you are eligible, you must complete the Cerfa form.
- There is a worksheet to figure out your tax break.
Innovation Tax Credit- ITC
- This tax credit is for small and medium-sized enterprises with less than 350 employees, less than 50 million euros on the balance sheet, and not held by a large group.
- The ITC gives up to a 20% tax credit on expenses related to the design and prototypes of new products. The products must be innovative (not on the market today).
- The following expenses are eligible: depreciation, staff, operating costs. They may also be sub-contracted expenditures.
- The tax credit is capped at €400,000 yearly.
- To qualify, you must complete an application. This application is submitted at the same time as income tax.
Young Innovative enterprise- (JEI)
- This applies to small and medium businesses that are less than eight years old with 15% of their expenses delegated to research.
- There is a 7-year exemption on property taxes on properties that are built.
- If an employee devotes at least 50% of their time to research and development, the company can obtain an exemption from employer contributions to "health insurance, maternity, disability, death, old age, and family allowances".
- In certain situations there is an exemption of capital gains due to selling of shares.
- To qualify the company must have fewer than 250 employees, annual sales of less than €50 million.
- To apply, the company must apply in writing to the tax administration by registered mail.
Regional Help to the Investment and to the Job creation- ARICE
- To qualify, a business must support creating new jobs or modernization of the company.
- Eligible investments include acquiring new materials or tools, technology, purchase of business, training, and salary costs.
- Companies must locate in the Guadeloupe region, and be a micro, small, or medium business.
- This grant covers up to 40% of the eligible investment with a limit of €32,000. This number may be increased by 5% if the business is located in one of several priority economic development zones.
- This grant covers up to 50% of the salary costs of eligible jobs.
- This grant is part of the European "de minimis" block exception. This limits the total amount of aid granted per company to €200,000 over three consecutive years.
- To apply contact the Guadeloupe Region — Directorate of Strategy and Economic Interventions, Paul Lacave Avenue — Small Paris — 97109 Basse-Terre. Cedex Tel: +590 5 90 80 40 40 Fax: +590 5 90 81 34 19.
Future Investments Program -PIA
- Future Investments Program (PIA) has €57 billion to invest in innovative and promising investments in the region.
- This program has six national priorities to increase their growth and employment that fall under this category. They include research and training, transfer of research to the world, sustainable development, industry, digital economy, and health and biotechnology.
- This fund (Build Up International Fund) has been endowed with €200 million to remove obstacles and promote the international development of French companies.
- BPI France is the main operator of this fund. The PIA fund covers several grants which include the Digital Amibition Fund, Angels Ambition Boot Fund (F3A) • Ecotechnologies Fund, • Industrial Projects Companies Fund (SPI) • French Tech Acceleration Fund • Innovative Biotherapies and Rare Diseases Fund.
- Of interest is the PIAVE fund which calls for projects for Industrial Futures in the areas of textiles, space, food, security, and industry of the future.
Horizon 2020
- This program is part of the European Union for Research and Innovation.
- Horizon 2020 has established three priorities which include scientific excellence, industrial leadership, and societal challenges.
- Horizon 2020 has three phases which include evaluation and feasibility of the business plan, R&D, and loan or equity arrangement for commercialization phase.
- Phase one is a grant of up to €50,000. Phase 2 is a grant of up to €2.5 million.
- This program ends December 31, 2020.
- All types of innovation, including non-technological and service innovations are eligible.
- For more information contact Tel : 01 41 79 83 50, http://www.horizon2020.gouv.fr/, or pcn-pme@recherche.gouv.fr.
Bonus of town and country planning -STALEMATE
This program supports the creation of jobs and the development of economic activities in priority areas. The program is set to expire in 2020.
- Industry and service sectors are eligible.
- Reimbursement of up to €15,000 per job created is available.
Family Tax Credit- CIF
- The Family Tax Credit is for businesses that provide childcare at their business.
- Expenses covered include the creation or operation of a day care center.
- The tax credit can be for up to 50% if the expenditure up to €500,000 per year. It will also cover up to 25% of service employment checks and financial aid to cover personal services.
- This credit is deducted from the corporate income tax.
Assistance to designers and corporate buyers- ACRE
- This is a partial or total exemption from social security contributions for one year including sickness, maternity, pension, disability, death, and family benefits.
- To qualify, the business must create jobs.
- There is no application process. Since 1/1/2019, it is automatic.
The urban free zones -ZFU-TE
- Urban free zones are districts with more than 10,000 inhabitants and located in specific disadvantaged areas. There are 100 areas.
- To qualify the business must be commercial, craft, or industrial and be established before 12/31/2020.
- This is a tax benefit for turnover taxes. For the first five years, the company receives 100% of this tax. It is reduced for years six through eight.
- There is a €50,000 limit for this tax break.
Zones of Restructuring of Defense- ZRD
- This tax break is for companies locating in areas that have been affected by the closures of military establishments and barracks.
- Industrial, commercial and craft businesses can qualify.
- This tax break applies to taxes on property, income and societal taxes. These taxes are eliminated for five years. They are reduced during years six through eight.
The Rural Revitalization Zones -RPAs
- If you locate your company in a rural revitalization area you can be exempt from property, income and social support taxes.
- The company must be set up by 12/31/2020.
- A list of areas can be found here.
Priority neighborhoods of city policy -QPPV
- If you locate in an area designated as a priority neighborhood, you can be exempt from certain local taxes for five years.
- The company must be set up by 12/31/2020.
- A list of areas can be found here.
Research strategy:
We consulted The Portal of Economy, Finance, Action and Public Accounts for France. This is the government website that lists all available assistance. In our research we discovered more than five incentives and have included this information. We also included incentives that were not specifically for industry, but could be obtained and used by an industry. The Family Tax Credit is an example.
We did not include information on SPI, as it was covered in the previous research. We focused on different opportunities from the original research.
Further research options could include the BPI France database, the Company Aides database, and the European Union Assistance database.