On 2 March 2021, the Government announced new tax measures for companies impacted by Covid-19, which includes methods of how to calculate corporate tax, early repayment of refundable tax credits.
Methods of calculating CIT payments
According to the new measures, and to account for the decline in corporate earnings resulting from the health crisis, the first advance tax payment on companies due 15 March 2021, may be adjusted to 25% of the amount of ‘IS forecast for the year ended December 31, 2020 (and not December 31, 2019), with a margin of error of 10%. In this case, the amount of the 2nd installment paid on 15 June 2021 must be calculated so that the sum of the first two installments is equal to at least 50% of the corporate tax for the year ended 31 December 2020. These special calculation methods will also apply to the social contribution down payments on the corporate tax of 15 March and 15 June 2021. As with certain other measures introduced for COVID-19, large companies with more than 5,000 employees or EUR 1.5 billion in turnover are subject to additional conditions to take advantage of the installment terms (non-payment of dividends in particular).
Accelerated refund of tax credits
Under the new measures, companies that benefit from one or more refundable tax credits in 2021 can now request the reimbursement of the balance of the available debt before filing their income tax return. This applies for all refundable credits in 2021, including the landlord tax credit and energy renovation tax credit for SMEs.
