1. Tax on profits: corporate income tax (IS), personal income tax (IR) and additional contributions

Businesses are taxed on the profits they make, either under corporate income tax (IS) or under personal income tax (IR). Corporate income tax is an annual tax, levied at a flat rate, on all profits made in France by companies and other legal entities falling within its scope. 
Sole proprietorships  are in principle subject to personal income tax, unless they elect for corporate income tax; the partnerships’ profits are in principle taxed at the partners level according to their tax regime (IR or IS), unless the company opts for the corporate income tax.

Applicable rates

• Standard IS rate: 25% for all businesses (financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2022).
• Reduced rate of 15% for SMEs, on the portion of profit not exceeding €42,500, subject to conditions relating to turnover (no more than €10M) and to the ownership of the capital (released and owned directly or indirectly at least 75% by natural persons).
• Rate of 10% applicable to net profits from assignment, licensing or sub-licensing of certain industrial property rights.
• Rate of 0% applicable to capital gains on the sale of equity securities held for at least two years. The benefit of the 0% rate is subject to the reintegration of a share of costs and expenses equal to 12% of the gross amount of capital gains.
The following are excluded from the scope of the 0% rate:
   • long-term capital gains on the sale of real estate company shares (‘sociétés à prépondérance immobilière’ or ‘SPI’),
   • long-term capital gains on the sale of shares in companies established in an uncooperative state or territory (‘black list’ or ‘liste noire’).

Social contribution on corporate tax of 3.3% for companies whose turnover exceeds €7,630,000 after applying an allowance of €763,000.

Exceptional contribution on corporate income tax for large companies 
The 2025 Finance Law introduced an exceptional contribution on the profits of large companies whose turnover exceeds €1,5 billion and are liable to corporate income tax. The contribution‘s tax base is calculated on the average of the corporate income tax due for the fiscal year of  saidcontribution and the prior fiscal year.

More information about the exceptional contribution on corporate tax for large companies here.

2. VAT, electronic invoicing and related obligations

The value added tax (VAT) is a tax on consumption, borne by the final consumer and collected by businesses. The business remits the difference between the VAT collected on its sales and the deductible VAT on its purchases; where this difference is in its favour, it may, subject to conditions, obtain a refund of its VAT credit.

VAT rates

• 20%: standard rate, applicable to the majority of goods and services.
• 10%: reduced rate applicable to certain sectors and operations, notably catering, passenger transport, housing‑improvement works, and hotel accommodation.
• 5.5%: reduced rate applicable to certain categories of goods and specific transactions, notably basic food products, books, energy, and energy‑renovation works.
• 2.1%: special rate (notably press publications and reimbursable medicines).
These rates and their scope of application are regularly changed; therefore, the applicable rate must be verified for each transaction. 

Roll-out of electronic invoicing and e-reporting
The electronic-invoicing reform applying between VAT-liable businesses established in France is being rolled out from 1 September 2026. From that date, all businesses must be able to receive electronic invoices, and large enterprises and mid-sized enterprises (ETIs) must issue their invoices in electronic form and transmit their transaction data (e-reporting). This issuing obligation is extended to SMEs and micro-companies starting from 1 September 2027. Invoices will have to pass through a platform approved by the tax authority.

More information at the following addresses: 

For VAT rules: VAT.
To prepare for electronic invoicing: Switching to electronic invoicing.
For the list of approved platforms: Electronic invoicing and approved platforms.

3. Local taxation of businesses

The tax administration collects local taxes on behalf of local authorities. These authorities partly set the rate, within legal limits.

Property tax

The property tax on developed land (‘taxe foncière sur les propriétés bâties’) on the one hand aims built properties located in France, except when there is a right to permanent exemption (public property, agricultural buildings, etc.) or a temporary exemption (new or innovative companies, development incentives, etc.)

A 50% allowance is applied on the cadastral rental value in order to obtain the tax base of the property tax on developed land. A 30% allowance is applied to the cadastral rental value of industrial establishments.

The property tax on undeveloped land (‘taxe foncière sur les propriétés non bâties’) on the other hand aims unbuilt lands located in France, except when there is a permanent exemption (public goods) or a temporary exemption (agricultural incentives, reforestation and conservation of environmental protection areas).
Both property taxes are due by the owner on january 1st of the taxation year. 

The property taxes rates are voted by local authorities each year. Rates per municipality are available here.

Territorial economic contribution

The territorial economic contribution (‘contribution économique territoriale’ or ‘CET’) is composed of a business premises contribution (‘cotisation sur foncière des entreprises’ or ‘CFE’) and a contribution on the added value of companies (‘cotisation sur la valeur ajoutée des entreprises’ or ‘CVAE’).

Business premises contribution

The business premises contribution is based on the rental value of the property taxed and which the company uses for its activity.
Rates are voted by local authorities every year. 
In order to calculate the business premises contribution, the rental value can be reduced in some cases : 
- 30 %  for industrial establishments ;
- 50 %  for energy-saving or noise-reducing installations : local authorities can vote for a reduction of 100 %.

An additional tax of 1.12% has been applicable since January 1 2024 for the benefit of the Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CCI).

Contribution on the added value of companies

The contribution on the added value of companies (CVAE) is calculated on the basis of the added value generated by a company.
CVAE is applicable to professionals subject to the business premises contribution (CFE) whose annual sales (excluding tax) exceed €152 500.
However, for companies with an annual sales below €500 000 the taxation is reduced to zero.

The maximum tax rate applied to companies with a turnover of more than €50 millions excluding taxes is: 

• 0,28% for 2026 and 2027;
• 0,19% for 2028;
• 0,09% for 2029.

An additional tax of 9.23% (for 2026) of the CVAE amount is applied for the benefit of the Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CCI).

The deletion of the contribution on the added value of companies has been postponed to 2030.

Capping of the territorial economic contribution

The amount of CET paid is capped. The company has to submit a form in order to benefit from it and obtain a rebate.

The ceiling rate is set at:
• 1.438% of added value for 2025; 
• 1.531% for 2026 and 2027; 
• 1.438% for 2028; 
• 1.344% for 2029; 
• 1.25% from 2030.
From 2030 onward, with the abolition of the CVAE, the ceiling rate based on added value will apply only to the CFE. Its rate will be set at 1.25% of added value. 

The development tax

The development tax applies to certain construction works: building, reconstruction, expansion of buildings, a fit-out or installation works and changes from an exempted space to a taxable one.
These construction works require a building permit or a prior declaration of works.

The development tax is composed of several parts: 
a municipal one, a departmental one and an île-de-France part if the construction work is located in this region.

There are multiples exemptions for all three parts of the tax, including in particular:

• farms and agricultural cooperatives;
• under certain conditions, the arrangements prescribed by a plan for the prevention of foreseeable natural risks, technological risks or mining risks.

There are also automatic exemptions that may, depending on the case, apply to all or part of the tax’s shares. For example, the entire tax shares are exempted, subject to certain conditions, when the floor area of buildings and installations is located in agricultural holdings and cooperatives. However, the exemption that applies to constructions and developments carried out within the scope of a national-interest operation is limited, for instance, to the municipal or inter-municipal share of the tax.

Optional exemptions can also be enacted by local authorities. These may, for example, concern industrial or craft premises, certain residential or assisted-housing units, or buildings that are classified or listed as historic monuments.

The tax is levied on the value, determined on a flat‑rate basis, of the building’s surface, the transformed surface, or the improvements and installations. A 50% tax allowance may be applied to this value.
The annual rate of the municipal or inter‑municipal share varies between 1% and 5% and can reach up to 20% depending on the sector.

The annual rate of the department part is 2,5% at maximum.

The rate of the region part in île-de-france may vary from one department to another up to a limit of 1%.

The preventive archaeology tax

The preventive archaeology tax applies to construction works meeting the following three criteria:

• Works of construction, reconstruction, enlargement or fitting-out of a building;
• These works are  subject to a system of declaration or prior authorization;
• And affect the subsoil.

Certain types of work are exempted from the tax, in particular:

• Agricultural premises. Floor areas of production greenhouses, premises for holding crops, housing animals, storing and maintaining agricultural equipment;
• Facilities provided by a plan for the prevention of foreseeable natural risks, a technological risk prevention plan or a mining risk prevention plan;
• Installations for laying and operating underwater information cables.

The tax amount is determined by the product of three components: the taxable area, the flat-rate value per m² of €1 011 for the Île-de-France and €892 for the other regions and the rate of 0.40%. Some facilities are subject to a specific value.

A 50% reduction may be applied to the flat-rate value of certain types of premises, such as:

• premises for industrial or craft use;
• warehouses and sheds not open to the public which are commercially operated.

Large-scale impact assessment works are not subject to the preventive archaeology tax but to the preventive archaeology fee.

4. International taxation, groups and large companies

The activity of a company or a group of companies operating in multiple countries can give rise to various tax consequences, including the following: 
• Permanent establishment: the existence of a permanent establishment in France may result in the taxation in France of the profits attributable to it.

More information here.

• International tax treaties: they allocate taxing rights between States and are designed to avoid double taxation.

More information here.

• Territoriality of IS and withholding taxes: certain income paid to non-residents (notably distributed income) may be subject to a withholding tax.

More information here.

• Transfer pricing: intra-group transactions must comply with the arm’s-length principle and may be subject to documentation requirements.
• Global minimum taxation (Pillar Two): groups whose turnover exceeds the prescribed threshold are subject to a minimum effective level of taxation, together with specific reporting obligations.

More information here.

• Contributions and taxes targeting large enterprises: exceptional contribution on profits (see section 1) and tax on capital reductions resulting from certain share buy-backs.

5. Tax incentives supporting investment and innovation 

Several tax schemes support investment, research and development, innovation and industrial establishment, notably the research tax credit (CIR), the innovation tax credit (CII), the tax credit for investment in green industry (C3IV) and the statuses of innovative new enterprise (JEI), growth new enterprise (JEC) and innovation-and-growth new enterprise (JEII), as well as related schemes.
All of these schemes and their eligibility conditions are presented on the dedicated official page: Tax-attractiveness measures.

6. Filing, paying and securing your tax position

Businesses’ tax procedures are carried out electronically. Creating a secure business account on impots.gouv.fr provides access to the online procedures, enabling businesses to file their returns, pay their taxes online and track their refunds, in accordance with the tax calendar.

A guide explaining the creation process is available on this dedicated official page: Create my secure professional space.

To view the tax calendar: Tax calendar.

A dedicated page detailing the electronic  available here: Focus sheets on professionals' e-procedures.

Securing your position: the tax ruling (rescrit)

The tax ruling (rescrit fiscal) makes it possible to obtain from the tax authority a formal position on the interpretation of a tax provision or on the assessment of a factual situation in the light of tax law. This position binds the tax authority and limits its right to call into question the position of a good-faith taxpayer, for as long as the situation and the legislation remain unchanged. It is a legal-certainty tool that is particularly useful for complex or structuring transactions and for investment projects.
To request a tax ruling: I request a ruling.

Tax4Business: tax assistance for international investors 

Within the DGFiP, the Tax4Business service is dedicated to providing tax support to international investors. It helps them understand the tax rules applicable to a project’s establishment in France and to identify the fiscal issues to anticipate. In this context, Tax4Business can issue tax rulings (rescripts) to secure the tax situation of any company that has an investment project, or wishes to continue its investments, in France.

Contact: tax4business@dgfip.finances.gouv.fr

Also see the dedicated official page: I plan to invest in France.