Nelly Caetano and Raymond Dorge, partners Walter France, decipher three measures that impact the functioning of start-ups. Startups must be aware of these new provisions in order to adapt their management method.
Framed cascade subcontracting
For innovative start-ups, be eligible for the CIR (research tax credit) is often a necessary step. They can appeal, to help them in their research, to a subcontractor who must be approved by the Ministry of Research. From now on, second or third tier subcontractors must also be approved. The ordering start-ups must therefore ensure all or part of, prior to research work, that the subcontractors of their subcontractors all hold this approval, this information must appear on invoices. This reinforced supervision seems legitimate, taking into account the amounts allocated to companies under this system.
Creation of the research collaboration tax credit
As a reminder, the doubling of sums spent on carrying out research operations entrusted to public bodies has been eliminated as of the 2022 CIR. To compensate for this deletion, a new tax credit has been created, the CICo (research collaboration tax credit). Its primary objective is to encourage businesses, particularly SMEs and start-ups, to engage in R activities&D as part of collaborations with research and knowledge dissemination organizations (ORDC). These partners must have obtained the ORDC label from the Ministry of Research. The CICo entered into force on January 1, 2022, and companies will be able to declare this year, in 2023, expenses made in 2022 to obtain this tax credit. Pour Raymond Dorge : “We can only rejoice at this new tax credit, research and development being the pillars of the added value of French companies and allowing them to build real competitive assets. However, the conditions for obtaining it and the obligation for the start-up to share knowledge with the research organization are obstacles to obtaining this tax credit”.
Reform of the innovation tax credit
The innovation tax credit, reserved for SMEs in the Community sense and applying to expenses linked to prototypes and pilot installations of new products, was reformed. This system, which was to end on December 31, 2022, has been extended until December 31, 2024.. The flat rate relating to operating expenses is abolished, and this removal is compensated by the increase in the rate which goes from 20 to 30% of eligible expenses, the ceiling being maintained at 400,000 euros. An SME will therefore be able to obtain a maximum of 120,000 euros in tax credits.. This rate increases from 40 to 60% for SMEs in the French Overseas Territories. The more favorable rates of 35% for “medium-sized enterprises*” and 40% for VSEs in Corsica are maintained. This rationalization of the innovation tax credit is “laudable” according to Nelly Caetano : “The increase in rates makes it possible to increase the credit compared to the previous calculation rule. »
* The “medium-sized company” is a new category of company created by the Pacte law of 2019. These are companies that do not exceed two of the following three thresholds : balance sheet total of 20 million euros, turnover of 40 million euros, 250 employees.
