Other news for February 2023

Tax calculation simulator

As accustomed, the tax administration has updated its income tax calculation simulator. This application allows taxpayers to estimate the amount of their tax due in 2023 on the income received in 2022. Accessible from the www.impots.gouv.fr website, it comes in two versions: a simplified version and an advanced version for those who declare income from activities other than employment contract (i.e., commercial, liberal, agricultural, activities etc.), and expenses from, for example, rental investments.

Deductible meal expenses

Sole proprietors included in the industrial and commercial profits (BIC: Bénéfices Industriels et Commerciaux) tax regime or non-commercial profits (BNC: Bénéfices Non Commerciaux) tax regime, who cannot go back home to take their means, because of the distance between their business premises and their home, may deduct from their taxable result the additional meal expenses under actual expenses regime(1). These expenses correspond to the fraction of the expenditure that exceeds the amount of a meal taken at home, an amount evaluated by the tax authorities at a flat rate of €5.20 including VAT for 2023. But be careful, the expense incurred must not be excessive. It must not exceed, according to the tax administration, for 2023, €20.20 including VAT. Consequently, the amount deducted per meal cannot exceed €15 including VAT (i.e., €20.20 – €5.20).

Access of SMEs to public contracts

To facilitate SMEs’ access to public contracts, public authorities have, at the end of 2020, temporarily raised to €100,000 excluding VAT the threshold below which a public entity (administration, public institution, local authority) can award a public works contract without having to comply with the usual procedure, that is to say, without prior advertising or competition. This exemption from the procedure, initially planned until December 31, 2022, is extended until December 31, 2024.

Covid-19 work stoppage

Since 2020, employees and self-employed workers who test positive for Covid-19 who are unable to work, including remotely, benefit from so-called “derogatory” work stoppages. In the context of these work stoppages, daily social security allowances are paid without a waiting period and without the usual conditions for entitlement being required (condition of seniority or minimum period of affiliation, in particular). The derogatory rules, for employees, also used to concern the salary supplement paid by the employer. Believing that the health situation related to Covid-19 is improving, the government has put an end to these exceptional work stoppages as of February 1st, 2023.

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