France has introduced new tax measures for companies impacted by COVID-19, including optional beneficial terms for calculating corporate tax installments and early repayments of refundable tax credits. With respect to corporate tax installments, it provided that the first quarterly tax advance payment may be adjusted to 25% of the estimated corporate income tax for the fiscal year ending on 31 December 2020, with an allowed margin of error of 10%. Then for the second quarterly payment, the payment is to be calculated such that the first and second payments combined are equal to at least 50% of the tax due for the fiscal year ending on 31 December 2020. 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, including commitments to not pay dividends or buy back shares in 2021.

In addition to the beneficial installment terms, companies are also provided accelerated refunds of tax credits, including that companies benefiting from one or more refundable tax credits in 2021 may claim a refund 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.