French General Tax Code
In forceI.-It is instituted a contribution on beverages other than alcoholic beverages within the meaning of 2° of article L. 111-4 of the code of taxes on goods and services mentioned in II.
I bis.-.The contribution is payable by the person who makes the first delivery of the products mentioned in I, whether free of charge or for consideration, in France, outside the local authorities governed by Article 74 of the Constitution, New Caledonia, the French Southern and Antarctic Lands and Clipperton Island, in respect of this first delivery.
The consumption of these products in the context of an economic activity is treated as a delivery.
The contribution is payable at the time of this delivery.
II.-The amount of the contribution is set at :
1° €0.54 per hectolitre for natural or artificial mineral waters, spring waters and other drinking waters, filtered, sterilised or pasteurised laboratory waters, as well as beverages other than syrups, fruit or vegetable juices and fruit nectars, when these products are delivered in barrels, bottles or cans ;
2° €3.17 per hectolitre for products containing synthetic sweeteners, falling under codes 2009 and 2202 of the Combined Nomenclature of the Customs Tariff, without being foodstuffs intended for special medical purposes or hyperprotein foods for undernourished people, when these products are packaged in containers intended for retail sale either directly or through a professional, or are pre-assembled and presented in containers not intended for retail sale so that they can be consumed as they are. This amount is increased on 1 January each year, in a proportion equal to the growth rate of the consumer price index excluding tobacco for the year before last. It is expressed with two figures after the decimal point, the second figure being increased by one unit if the following figure is equal to or greater than five;
For products covered by both 1° and 2°, each of the two amounts is due.
III.-(Repealed).
IV.-1. Deliveries of products dispatched or transported outside France by the taxpayer, or on his behalf, are exempt.
2. Deliveries of products in France by the taxpayer to a person who intends them, as part of his commercial activity, to be dispatched or transported outside France may be made under suspension of contribution.
To this end, the purchaser draws up, no later than the date of invoicing, a certificate in duplicate certifying that the product is intended to be dispatched or transported outside France and including mention of the use of the suspension scheme. One copy is given to the supplier.
In the event that the suspension system is used, if the products are not dispatched or transported outside France, the contribution is payable by the purchaser as soon as the products are assigned to another destination, at the latest when they are delivered in France or when any event makes their dispatch or transport outside France impossible.
3. For the purposes of this IV, dispatch or transport outside France means dispatch or transport of the products outside national territory or to the collectivities governed by Article 74 of the Constitution, New Caledonia, the French Southern and Antarctic Lands and Clipperton Island.
V.-A.-The contribution is declared and settled by the taxpayer, separately for each of the two amounts provided for in II, in accordance with the following procedures:
1° For those liable for value added tax subject to the normal actual taxation system mentioned in 2 of article 287, on the appendix to the declaration mentioned in 1 of the same article 287 filed in respect of the month or quarter during which the contribution became due;
2° For those liable for value added tax subject to the simplified tax regime provided for in Articles 302 septies A and 298 bis, on the annual declaration mentioned in 3 of Article 287 or in I of Article 298 bis filed in respect of the financial year during which the contribution became payable;
3° In all other cases, on the schedule to the declaration provided for in 1 of article 287, filed with the collection department responsible for the taxpayer's registered office or main establishment, no later than 25 April of the year following the year in which the contribution became due.
B.-The contribution is paid when this declaration is filed. It is collected and audited in accordance with the same procedures and subject to the same penalties, guarantees, securities and privileges as turnover taxes. Complaints are submitted, investigated and judged in accordance with the rules applicable to these same taxes.
C.-Taxpayers shall keep, in support of their accounts, information on the monthly volumes relating to each rate of the contribution and to each of the exemptions and suspended deliveries mentioned in IV as well as to undelivered products which they no longer have.
This information and the certificates mentioned in 2 of the same IV shall be kept at the disposal of the administration and shall be communicated to it on first request.
D.-A to C of this V also apply to any person acquiring the products suspended from contribution pursuant to 2 of IV, for the quantities concerned.
E.-Where the person liable for payment, or the person mentioned in D, is not established in a Member State of the European Union or in one of the States mentioned in 1° of I of Article 289 A, he shall have accredited with the competent tax department, under the conditions provided for in IV of the same article, a representative liable for value added tax established in France who undertakes to complete the formalities in the name and on behalf of the representative and, where applicable, to pay the contribution in his place.
VI.-The proceeds of the contribution referred to in I are allocated to the branch referred to in 2° of Article L. 722-8 of the Rural and Maritime Fishing Code, with the exception of the portion allocated pursuant to 4° bis of Article L. 731-3 of the same code.
