After heated discussions, MEPs and Senators have reached an agreement on the draft rectifying finance law for 2022. The text, which takes into account certain modifications introduced by the Senate, has been definitively adopted..

1. The amended finance law for 2022 has just been voted by the Parliament, on the basis of the text adopted by the joint committee. While the technical tax measures have been maintained as is, the final text includes a few changes or novelties, mainly concerning measures aimed at employers.

Before providing an in-depth commentary at the end of August, we present below the changes in these tax measures. These indications are given subject to the decision of the Constitutional Council, which has just been seized of the text, in particular the measures relating to the monetization of RTT days and the abolition of the contribution to public broadcasting.

Please note: The law on emergency measures to protect purchasing power has also been finally adopted. On this subject, see our News in Social.

Some texts have been adopted without modification

2. Several technical texts have been adopted without modification compared to the text voted by the National Assembly and presented in the Fast Factsheet 34/22 inf
   

• Framework of the deductibility of the depreciation of business assets (art. 7);
• Legalisation of the duration of the condition of exercise of the eligible activity under the Dutreil regime (Art. 8);
• Legalisation of electronic invoicing (Art. 26).

3. Some of the measures aimed at improving the purchasing power of employees were also adopted without modification:

• Raising the exemption ceilings for the employer's contribution to meal vouchers and for allowances for additional meal expenses (Art. 1);
• Raising the exemption limit in the event of the combination of the sustainable mobility package and the compulsory coverage of public transport costs (Article 3).

4. Finally, the possibility of assessing the travel expenses of volunteers in associations by applying the mileage scale used for employees, in the context of the tax reduction for donations, was adopted without any substantive change (Art. 21).

Several texts have been amended

5. On the other hand, several of the measures aimed at improving the purchasing power of employees have been amended.

With regard to home-work travel expenses for 2022 and 2023, the senators added to the measures initially voted by the deputies, the exemption of the employer's contribution to the cost of transport passes above 50%, up to a limit of 25% of the cost of these passes (Article 2).

The senators also obtained that the increase to €7,500 of the ceiling for the tax exemption of overtime hours, initially limited to the year 2022, be made permanent (Art. 4).

The possibility given to employees, with the agreement of the employer, to convert into additional pay all or part of the days or half-days of RTT not taken, initially limited to 2022 and 2023, has been extended until 31 December 2025 (Art. 5).

Finally, it should be noted that the admission of carpooling expenses as a deduction of actual expenses was adopted without reference to an implementing decree (Art. 20).

6. The abolition of the contribution to public broadcasting will be effective from 2022. Until 31 December 2024, the financing of public broadcasting will be ensured by the allocation of a fraction of the VAT revenue determined each year in the Finance Act. This transition period was wanted by the senators while waiting for a reform of the sector correlated with an adapted allocation of resources.

Other texts

7. Two new tax texts of minor importance were adopted.

The first corrects a grammatical error in Article 6, 3-3 of the CGI relating to the attachment of a child of full age to the tax home of the taxpayer who has taken him or her in (Article 24).

The second provides for the addition, on tax notices for property tax on built-up areas, of information relating to the financial consequences of the abolition of the housing tax ”taxe d'habitation” on the financing scheme of the municipality (Article 42).

8. Finally, it should be noted that the provisions introduced by the MEPs concerning the situation of "accidental Americans" in the context of the Fatca agreement have not been maintained.

By July 2024, the receipt of electronic invoices will become mandatory for companies subject to VAT.

In short, the obligation for companies to issue all electronic invoices will start between July 1, 2024 and January 1, 2026 depending on the size of the company.

For an electronic invoice to be valid, it must be created, transported, received and archived in electronic form. This is why the use of electronic invoicing implies the use of a system that guarantees the authenticity of the invoice as well as its good legibility and the integrity of its content.

The electronic signature will then be in force since it is based on a qualified electronic certificate. It can be read by a computer and can be processed in an univocal way for the exchange of computerized data, meeting the standards provided by the General Tax Code.

As of 1^st of January 2022, the declaration requirements for sales and purchases of goods in the European Union are changing.  Corporate businesses now have two separate declarations to make:

- a statistical survey;

- a VAT recapitulative statement.

1. The statistical survey

From January 2022, businesses will be asked to respond to a monthly statistical survey on intra-EU trade in goods.

Only businesses that are in the sample and have received a notification letter should respond to this statistical survey.

For the monthly responses in the year 2022, companies selected to respond to the statistical survey were to receive a "notification letter" in December 2021.

2. VAT summary statement

Businesses must provide a VAT recapitulative statement relating to supplies of goods within the European Union.

- Corporate businesses concerned are bound by this obligation as from 1^st of January 2022;

- The summary must be sent electronically. It includes various details and in particular the VAT identification number of the EU purchaser.

Penalties are foreseen:

- Failure to file the return within the deadline will result in a fine of €750, increased to €1,500 for failure to file within 30 days of a formal notice;

- Any omission or inaccuracy in the declaration will result in a fine of €15 per omission or inaccuracy, with a maximum fine of €1,500 per State. These new obligations must be fulfilled on the DebWeb portal.