Section VIa: Withholding of copyright tax

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285 bis

Article 285 bis

French General Tax CodeIn force
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Updated 8 Nov 2023

1. Publishers, collective rights management organisations and producers who pay the rights referred to in 2 of III of article 293 B must, except where the author has waived this arrangement pursuant to 3, deduct from the amount of these rights the value added tax due by the author and pay this tax to the Treasury.

2. In the absence of an indication to the contrary from the author formulated under the conditions provided for in 3, the sums owed to him by the persons mentioned in 1 are deemed to be subject to the deduction of value added tax, including in respect of authors who benefit from the exemption mentioned in III of Article 293 B.

3. The waiver by the author of the withholding arrangement is valid for all of the royalties that he or she receives.

This waiver must be notified to all the persons referred to in 1 who pay royalties to the author and to the tax department to which the author is subject.

It takes effect on the first day of the month following that in which it is declared.

It must cover a period of five years, including the period during which it is declared. It is renewable by tacit agreement, unless terminated at the end of each period. However, it is automatically renewed for the five-year period following the one during or at the end of which the author who notified this waiver has benefited from a refund of value added tax provided for in Article 271.

4. Authors who have not opted out of the withholding system and who receive royalties from persons other than those referred to in 1 must use the tax assessment procedures defined in 5. They file an annual turnover declaration in respect of these rights.

5. To calculate the amount of net tax due by the author, the persons referred to in 1 apply in mainland France a flat rate of 0.8% of the royalties in respect of deduction rights in mainland France. This rate is 0.40% in the departments of Guadeloupe, Réunion and Martinique. This deduction is exclusive of any other deduction.

6. The persons referred to in 1 must declare and pay the deduction under the same conditions and subject to the same penalties as their own transactions. The value added tax paid on behalf of the author by these persons is not taken into account when determining their value added tax deduction percentage.

Mariela Petrova

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Mariela Petrova

Mariela Petrova

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15+ Years In Corporate Practice

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