On 13 March 2020, the government passed special tax measures to assist taxpayers affected by the coronavirus pandemic. These measures include:

  • The filing deadline for the 2019 corporate income tax return returns of calendar year filers is postponed until 31 May 2020.
  • Companies can postpone the corporate income tax installment payments due on 15 March until 15 June for all companies, and those companies that have already paid the installment may claim a refund.
  • Individuals can postpone direct tax payments and social security contributions for up to three months, without liability to penalties.
  • No VAT relief provisions have been offered at this time and the same rules continue to apply for employee contributions
  • The French president also indicated that all ongoing reforms (e.g., a pension system reform) would be postponed and all legislative work should focus now on supporting French companies.
  • the tax authorities are committed to accelerating the refund of outstanding tax notes, namely VAT credits and R&D tax credit.