French General Tax Code
In forceI. - A tax calculated on the same basis as property tax on undeveloped properties is levied for the benefit of establishments in the network defined in article L. 510-1 of the Rural and Maritime Fishing Code, within the limit of the ceiling provided for in I of Article 46 of Law No. 2011-1977 of 28 December 2011 on the finances for 2012.
By way of derogation from II of the same Article 46, this ceiling relates to issues attached to the rolls for the reference year.
The tax is established in the territorial constituency of each departmental chamber of agriculture or, where applicable, each interdepartmental chamber of agriculture or each regional chamber of agriculture.
The amount of the taxes that the chambers of agriculture are authorised to collect shall, notwithstanding any clause or provision to the contrary, be reimbursed half to the owner by the tenant farmer or sharecropper.
II. - Each year, the chambers of agriculture mentioned in the third paragraph of I determine the proceeds of the tax mentioned in I. The Minister responsible for agriculture notifies each chamber of agriculture in advance, on the basis of an allocation table drawn up after obtaining the opinion of Chambres d'agriculture France, of the maximum amount of tax that it may enter in its budget, taking into account the ceiling mentioned in the same I, its financial situation and, where applicable, the gradual harmonisation of the rate of tax provided for in the last paragraph of this II. For each chamber of agriculture, the increase in the additional tax authorised in respect of a given year, based on the amount of additional tax collected the previous year, may not exceed a rate of 3%. The proceeds to be collected for the benefit of each departmental, interdepartmental or regional chamber of agriculture are forwarded to the tax services by the State authority responsible for overseeing the chamber, under the conditions provided for in the first paragraph of I of Article 1639 A. Failing this, the taxes may be recovered under the conditions provided for in III of the same article 1639 A.
The rate of the tax is calculated by dividing the product decided by the chamber by the total tax base for property tax on undeveloped properties in the chamber's district.
For taxes levied for the six years following the year of its creation, an interdepartmental chamber of agriculture or a regional chamber of agriculture may set different rates for each department in its district in order to gradually harmonise the tax rate in the chamber's district. The sum of these products may not exceed the maximum amount defined in the first paragraph of this II. Different rates of tax are then calculated in each department by dividing the revenue determined by the chamber for each department by the total tax base for property tax on undeveloped properties in the department.
III.A share of the proceeds of the tax referred to in I, at least 20% in the case of a chamber in whose constituency no regional chamber of agriculture operates or in the case of a regional chamber and at least 30% for other chambers, is repaid by the departmental or interdepartmental chambers of agriculture to a national modernisation, performance and equalisation fund set up within the budget of Chambres d'agriculture France and managed under conditions defined by decree.
This fund is intended to provide the network establishments defined in Article L. 510-1 of the Rural and Maritime Fishing Code with a collective resource distributed as follows:
1° A 10% share of the proceeds of the tax, less the payments mentioned in Articles L. 251-1 and L. 321-13 of the Forestry Code, for the benefit of Chambres d'agriculture France;
2° A 2% share of the proceeds of the tax, after deduction of the payments mentioned in the same articles L. 251-1 and L. 321-13, intended for modernisation and equalisation actions;
3° An 8% share of the proceeds of the tax, after deduction of the payments mentioned in the said articles L. 251-1 and L. 321-13, constituting a performance reserve that is paid back to each of the chambers of agriculture based on their performance results;
4° A share of the tax proceeds collected by the departmental chambers in districts with a regional chamber of agriculture, for the benefit of the latter. This share amounts to at least 10% of the proceeds of the tax, after deduction of the payments referred to in the same articles L. 251-1 and L. 321-13.
IV.-In addition to the share referred to in 4° of III paid by the national fund for modernisation, performance and equalisation, the departmental or interdepartmental chambers of agriculture may pay back to the regional chambers of agriculture in their constituency a share of the tax that they have entered in their budget.
V.-The proceeds of the tax levied on all properties classified in the land register as woodland and forests, after deduction of the contributions provided for in Articles L. 251-1 and L. 321-13 of the Forestry Code and the contribution provided for in V of Article 47 of Finance Act 2013-1278 of 29 December 2013 for 2014, are paid by the chambers of agriculture mentioned in the third paragraph of I to the national modernisation, performance and equalisation fund. The sums thus paid are allocated to the actions of the regional "Wood and land development" programmes of the "Wood and land development" joint services of the regional chambers of agriculture or the regional chambers of agriculture.
