Tax policy directorate – Bureau a

III – RELIEF ON THE LOCAL ECONOMIC CONTRIBUTION
The local economic contribution is subject to several reduction measures, such as relief for curtailment 
of activity, relief relating to the ceiling based on the value added (plafonnement en fonction de la valeur 
ajoutée, PVA) generated by the company and temporary relief from the local economic contribution and 
ancillary taxes. 
For the main relief, the PVA, the ceiling is set at 3% of value added regardless of the company’s 
turnover and business sector. The amount of relief is equal to the difference between the amount of the 
local economic contribution owed for the tax year and 3% of the value added generated by the 
company. The value added used is that generated during the reference period for the contribution on 
business value added.
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Article 11 of the 2017 Budget Act no. 2016-1917 of 29 December 2016. 
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Article 79 of the 2014 Budget Act no. 2013-1278 of 29 December 2013 raised the weighting coefficient 
from 2 to 5. 

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CHAPTER 5: 
FLAT-RATE TAX ON NETWORK BUSINESSES 
A flat-rate tax on network businesses (imposition forfaitaire sur les entreprises de réseaux, IFER) was 
introduced in 2010 for the benefit of regional authorities or their public establishments for intercommunal 
cooperation and the “Société du Grand Paris” public establishment. 
Nine categories of assets are subject to the flat-rate tax on network businesses: 
• 
Wind and marine turbines 
• 
Nuclear or fossil fuel-fired power plants 
• 
Photovoltaic or hydraulic power generation facilities 
• 
Electric transformers in public electricity transmission and distribution grids 
• 
Radio stations 
• 
Rolling stock used by the national rail network to transport passengers 
• 
Rolling stock used by public transport lines in Ile-de-France. Revenue from this portion of the 
IFER is allocated to the “Société du Grand Paris” public establishment 
• 
The main distribution frames of the copper local loop and certain telephone switching 
equipment 
• 
Certain gas facilities and pipelines for natural gas and other fossil fuels, pipelines for 
transporting chemical products 
All assets located in France are subject to the flat-rate tax on network businesses, regardless of the 
location of the taxpayer’s registered office. 
Specific tax base and calculation rules and coding in the CGI apply to each asset category. 
As an example, for nuclear or fossil fuel-fired power plants, the tax is set at €3,084 per megawatt of 
installed power for 2017. For the rolling stock used by the national rail network to transport passengers, 
the tax for 2017 is calculated on a scale that changes according to the type of rolling stock (i.e. a high-
speed driving unit is taxed at €37,059 whilst a carriage for high-speed passenger transport is taxed at 
€10,588). 
The amounts and rates for each component of the IFER
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are adjusted each year by the provisional rate 
of change in the consumer price index, excluding tobacco products, as indicated in the Budget Bill.
In 2015, the IFER yielded €1.55 billion. 
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With the exception of the main distribution frames of the copper local loop and certain telephone switching 
equipment. 

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