Since 1st January 2010 a new tax has replaced the professional tax: it is the Territorial Economic Contribution (CET). This new contribution is made up of two elements: the company land contribution (CFE) and the company value added contribution (CVAE).

CET is due by persons or entities exercising a professional activity in France.

The CFE tax base is made up of the lease value of the goods liable to the land tax which the company has disposed of during the reference period.

In terms of the requirements of the CVAE, shipping companies which carry out activities in France and abroad at the same time do not need to account for the added value from operations linked directly to the operation of vessels for activity carried out in France.

A decree from the French Conseil d’État (Council of State decree no. 2011-27 from 6 January 2011) specified the methods for applying this rule which allow the shipping companies concerned to only be subject to the CVAE in respect of the portion of their added value from operations carried out within the limits of the national territory which are directly linked to the operation of vessels. For these purposes, operations where the departure point (embarkation) and the arrival point (disembarkation) are in France are considered to be operations carried out within the limits of the national territory.

Source: study carried out with the assistance of Stéphane Salou and Alain Gautron of Stephenson Harwood - Paris