French General Tax Code
In force1. The withholding tax provided for in 1° of 2 of Article 204 A is made by the debtor upon payment of the sums and benefits referred to in Article 204 F.
Where the debtor of the withholding tax is not established in France, he is required to have a representative established in France accredited with the tax authorities, who undertakes to complete the formalities incumbent on him and, where applicable, to pay the levies on his behalf.
The obligation to appoint a tax representative does not apply to a debtor established in another Member State of the European Union or in a non-EU Member State with which France has a legal instrument relating to mutual assistance similar in scope to that provided for in Council Directive 2010/24/EU of 16 March 2010 on mutual assistance for the recovery of claims relating to taxes, taxes, duties and other measures and by Council Regulation (EU) No 904/2010 of 7 October 2010 on administrative cooperation and combating fraud in the field of value added tax. The list of these States is set by order of the Minister responsible for the budget.
2. The debtor of the withholding tax provided for in 1° of 2 of Article 204 A applies the rate calculated by the tax authorities, no later than the second month following its transmission by the authorities. In the absence of a rate transmitted by the administration, the debtor applies the rate mentioned in III of article 204 H.
The sums deducted in application of the withholding tax provided for in 1° of 2 of article 204 A are declared under the conditions provided for in article 87 A and paid to the competent public accountant designated by order of the minister responsible for the budget.
This payment is made on a date set by decree in the month following that in which the deduction took place or, if the debtor is an employer whose payroll is made after the monthly employment period, in the month in which the deduction took place.
By way of derogation from the third paragraph of this 2, an employer with fewer than eleven employees may opt, under conditions laid down by decree, for payment no later than the first month of the quarter following that during which the deductions were made.
3. By way of derogation from 2, when employers make use of the simplified arrangements provided for in article L. 133-5-6 of the Social Security Code or in article L. 7122-23 of the Labour Code, the withholding tax is paid to the public accountant via the bodies mentioned in articles L. 133-5-10 or L. 133-9 of the Social Security Code, under the conditions set out in these same articles.
4. Except in the cases mentioned in article L. 133-5-6 of the social security code or article L. 7122-23 of the labour code, the withholding tax provided for in 2 of this article is paid by remote payment.
5. The withholding tax is collected and controlled according to the same procedures and under the same guarantees and securities as value added tax.
Claims by the debtor or beneficiary of the income are presented, investigated and judged according to the rules applicable to this tax, in accordance with procedures specified by decree in the Conseil d'Etat.
By way of derogation from the first paragraph of this 5, where the withholding tax provided for in 2 has been advanced by the guarantee institutions mentioned in article L. 3253-14 of the French Labour Code, it is guaranteed by a lien ranking pari passu with that of the income from which it has been deducted.
