Born at the beginning of 2000, this tax mechanism is one of the most popular with companies. The principle? To create the conditions for your company to hire high profiles at a lower salary cost. Even if the calculations depend on each individual situation, the average gain can reach 10,000 euros per year per researcher (between 15 and 25% in terms of benefit). In concrete terms, this tax niche allows a certain number of graduates to benefit from an exemption of 80% of the professional deduction paid to the State, taking part in one-off projects or structural R&D programs. For bachelor’s degree holders, the current exemption rate is 40%, but will be increased to 80% in 2020.
While the scheme is easy to understand, its application is more complex. The PTE is aimed at all employers – with specificities depending on the “category” of the entity – who carry out R&D projects or programs and who employ, in this context, personnel with a certain degree of qualification. But a number of questions arise:
- Which projects or programs fall within the scope of R&D, and how do you prove it?
- What are the specifics by “category” of company?
- Which diplomas are covered by the exemption?
- What are the administrative steps to benefit from it?
