As France experiences a rebound in the Covid-19 epidemic, new restrictive measures have been taken in several particularly impacted areas. Speaking on France Info on Tuesday, October 6, 2020, the French Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, announced increased aid for SMEs and the self-employed.
More flexible conditions for benefiting from the Solidarity Fund
The Minister of the Economy began by mentioning the possibility of opening up the Solidarity Fund to companies with more than 20 employees, as well as a lower threshold for loss of sales, currently set at 80%, in order to access this aid of up to 10,000 euros.
" We're going to present a new threshold, and we'll see what that threshold will be," said Bruno Le Maire, indicating that the measures would be presented next week. The decision will be taken in consultation with Prime Minister Jean Castex.
Bruno Le Maire would also like to see new professions benefit from the Solidarity Fund, mentioning for example " florists, graphic designers who no longer have wedding invitation cards to make, and photographers ".
As the Minister explained, "there are other sectors that are on the sidelines of the crisis, but yet they're taking it in their stride ", before adding, " I'm thinking of the entire events sector ", and adding, " I hope we can include all these professions in the Solidarity Fund."
Reduced corporate tax rate
Laurent Saint-Martin, General Rapporteur for the Budget, has proposed raising the ceiling for the reduced rate of corporation tax for SMEs from 7.6 million euros in sales to 10 million euros. Bruno Le Maire was in favor of this measure, despite its estimated cost of several tens of millions of euros per year.
In addition, the Minister of the Economy would also like to extend by one year the income tax reduction scheme for individuals investing in SMEs, which was due to expire in December 2020. The aim is toencourage the French to support small and medium-sized businesses, through local investment funds, innovation mutual funds or equity stakes in companies.
The new measures will be presented by Prime Minister Jean Castex at next week's interministerial committee meeting on tourism.
" The State has always been there to support the self-employed, entrepreneurs, very small businesses, restaurateurs and bars. It will always be there, and that's the commitment I'm making this morning," emphasized Bruno Le Maire.