Companies liable to pay corporation tax
Companies liable to pay corporation tax (CT)
The principle is that companies whose shareholders bear limited liability have to pay corporation tax on their own profits, without taking into account the situation of their shareholders.
This is the case with SA, SARL and SAS companies.
Rate of corporation tax (CT)
Until 2018, the basic appicable rate was 33.1/3%, with social security contribution (3.30% of CT less an allowance of € 763 K) ≈ 34,43%.
Finance bills for 2017 / 2018
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Group of companies
Integration for tax purposes
Where there is a group of companies of this type, characterised by the fact that the subsidiary companies are at least 95% owned by the parent, such companies may jointly constitute a “tax group”under the integration regime (Article 223 A & seq. of the FTC), so that they can be taxed as one single entity, according to a regime similar to accounting consolidation.
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focus // horizontal integrationSince a ruling of 2014 and the resulting reform of the tax regime, it is now possible to create a tax group between French companies that are subject to CT and held directly or indirectly by a parent company established outside France but in the EU or EEA: this is deemed “horizontal integration”. |
Distribution between companies liable for corporation tax: the "parent-subsidiary" regime
If a company liable for corporation tax holds:
- at least 5% of the share capital in another company that is aloso liable for corporation tax;
- for at least 2 years (or undertakes to hold it for this period of time).
The dividends distributed by the subsidiary may benefit from the so-called "parent" regime (article145 of the FTC)
- At the level of the parent company: 5% of the dividend received is taxed (this 5% share is deemed to represent a fixed sum corresponding to the costs borne by the parent company in managing its participation in the subsidiary), with the remaining 95% tax-exempt ( Article 216 of the FTC ).
- I.e. an actual taxation rate of ≈ 1.67% (5% x 33.1/3%).
- This regime is justified by the desire to avoid dual taxation of the same economic benefit.
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example
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