French General Tax Code
In forceI. - The flat-rate tax referred to in Article 1635-0 quinquies applies to rolling stock used on the national rail network for passenger transport operations.
II. - The flat-rate tax is payable each year by the rail transport company that has, for the purposes of its professional activity on 1st January of the tax year, rolling stock that was used the previous year on the national rail network for passenger transport operations.
III. - The amount of the flat-rate tax is established for each item of rolling stock according to its type and use in accordance with the following scale
| CATEGORY OF ROLLING STOCK | RATES (in euros) |
|---|---|
Internal combustion engine | |
Self-propelled vehicles | 34 957 |
Diesel locomotive | 34 957 |
Electrically powered vehicles | |
Self-propelled vehicles | 26 801 |
Electric locomotive | 23 306 |
High-speed locomotives | 40 785 |
Tram-train multiple units | 13 403 |
Towed vehicles | |
Passenger trailers | 5,594 |
High-speed passenger trailer | 11 652 |
Tram-train trailer | 2,796 |
The categories of rolling stock are specified by joint order of the ministers responsible for transport and the budget based on their traction capacity, electricity capture, passenger capacity and performance.
Rolling stock used to calculate the tax is that available to railway companies on 1st January of the tax year and intended for use on the national rail network for passenger transport operations. By way of exception, rolling stock intended to be used on the national rail network for international passenger transport operations as part of international groupings of railway undertakings is included for the purpose of calculating the taxation of railway undertakings that supply this rolling stock as part of these groupings.
Rolling stock intended to operate in France exclusively on sections of the national rail network linking, on the one hand, an intersection between the national rail network and a border between French territory and the territory of a neighbouring State and, on the other hand, the French passenger station of the section concerned closest to this border, are not retained for the calculation of the tax.
Where rolling stock is intended to be used both on the national rail network and on the public passenger transport lines mentioned in articles L. 2142-1 and L. 2142-2 of the Transport Code, this equipment is retained for the calculation of the tax if it is intended to be used mainly on the national rail network.
III bis. - Without prejudice to the provisions of III:
1° The flat-rate tax is not payable by rail transport undertakings that have covered less than 300,000 kilometres on the national rail network for passenger transport operations in the year preceding the year of taxation;
2° For rail transport undertakings that travelled between 300,000 and 1,700,000 kilometres on the national rail network in the year prior to the year of taxation for passenger transport operations, the amount of the flat-rate tax is equal to the amount mentioned in III multiplied by a coefficient equal to : (number of kilometres travelled on the national rail network - 300,000)/1,400,000.
IV. - No later than the second working day following 1st May of the year of taxation, the person liable for the tax declares the number of rolling stock by category and the number of kilometres travelled in the year preceding that of taxation on the national rail network for passenger transport operations.
The declaration specifies the rolling stock, by category, used in passenger services ordered by the regional authorities.
Control, collection, litigation, guarantees, securities and privileges are governed as for business property tax.
