In France a tax credit known as the Crédit Impôt Recherche (CIR) is available for certain research and development expenditure by businesses. A recent case (No. 1219816) involved an appeal from a business advisory firm, in respect of the partial rejection of a claim for CIR. The grounds for the rejection were that some of the costs on the basis of which a credit was claimed related to two members of staff who did not have a scientific or technological degree or equivalent qualification as a researcher. The Court of Appeal overturned a decision of the Paris Administrative Court and deemed that the claim was sufficiently justified and the costs were eligible for the CIR.
The definition of a researcher for purposes of the CIR includes staff without an engineering degree who undertake research operations on behalf of the company to the same level as other qualified engineers; or employees without a degree who have acquired their qualification within the company.
