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Innovation Tax Credit

The Innovation Tax Credit (ITC), intended solely for SMEs, is designed to support companies that incur specific expenditure to innovate.

What is the ITC?

The Innovation Tax Credit, or ITC, is a tax scheme designed as an extension of the RTC, which applies to innovation-related expenditure on the design of prototypes or pilot installations for a new product. This scheme is available to SMEs subject to corporation tax in France and enables 30% of expenditure (up to a ceiling of €120,000) to be recovered in the form of immediate reimbursement or in the form of a credit for expenditure incurred on innovaton activities. 

The innovation activities eligible under the scheme include:

  • Designing or producing prototypes of new products
  • Pilot installation of new products

However, the prototype or pilot installation must meet these two conditions:

  • It must offer superior technical performance
  • It must offer improved functionality, ergonomics or eco-design compared with products marketed by competitors at the time the work begins.

 

What expenditure qualifies for the innovation tax credit?

Eligible expenditure that may be included in the calculation of the ITC is as follows:

  • Expenditure on staff assigned to innovation activities
  • Depreciation of assets or buildings that have been created or acquired new. They must be used to carry out innovative operations, design prototypes or pilot installations.
  • Subcontracting expenses (only to ITC-approved service providers)
  • Depreciation and defence costs (lawyers’ fees, legal experts, court costs, etc.) for patents and plant variety certificates
  • Costs of taking out and maintaining patents and plant variety certificates. This also includes premiums and contributions for legal protection insurance contracts up to a limit of €60,000 per year.

Please note:

  • Operating costs will no longer be included in total expenditure from 2023 onwards, unlike the RTC.
  • Expenditure relating to the production phase of the prototype or pilot installation of the new product is not eligible for ITC.

What our offer includes

1_Audit and selection of the eligible field

We will arrange a meeting to discuss your current R&D projects and determine whether they are eligible according to the criteria presented.

2_Valuation

Once the eligible projects have been selected, we calculate all the associated expenditure according to the items presented.

3_Technical report

Once the valuation has been carried out, we will compile the technical and financial reports depicting the projects selected for year N and the expenses incurred.

4_Assistance

In the event of a request for additional information or a tax audit, we will assist you until you obtain your ITC.

How can FRS Consulting help you?

FRS will support you throughout the whole process, from the selection of your projects to obtaining your ITC figure.

Do you already claim RTC and think you might have an ITC project?

One of our customers had been claiming RTC for several years. During the annual technical audit, we identified an internal IT software development project. This project didn’t meet the RTC criteria, but it provided functionality that was superior to what already existed in the market. We therefore claimed it via the ITC scheme. In this way, we optimised the value of the time spent by our customer on R&D and innovation projects.

Your project is innovative but does not contain enough scientific research to qualify for the RTC?

One of our customers in the IT management sector that used to claim RTC every year, had not spent any time performing R&D in 2022. However, during our annual 2022 audit we determined that their original project focused on developing new management processes, which made it eligible for a 2022 ITC claim. Thanks to the project’s progression and the foundation built via the 2022 ITC file, a RTC application is planned for 2023.