France: French Financial Transaction Tax payment process
Clearstream Banking1 informs customers that effective
22 November 2021
the new process outlined below will be effective for the payment of the French Financial Transaction Tax (FTT) to Euroclear France.
The content should be read in conjunction with the FTT documents provided in the Market Link Guide – France.
Payment processing
Standard payment processing
On the payment date (4th calendar day of the month or next business day, if it falls on a weekend or bank holiday) Clearstream Banking will debit customer accounts with the total tax amount mentioned on each FTT Declaration that successfully passed Clearstream Banking’s validations and for which Euroclear France has sent a positive FTT Status message:
- If the debit is successful, Clearstream Banking will transfer the total tax amount on behalf of the customer to Euroclear France.
- If the debit fails, the declaration files will not be rejected but recycled meaning that Clearstream Banking will transfer the total tax amount on behalf of the customer to Euroclear France on the next business day following the day on which the debit is successfully settled.
Therefore, customers are asked to fund their accounts in a timely manner with the declared amount when sending their declaration files.
Late payment processing
For late FTT Declarations that successfully passed Clearstream Banking’s validations and for which Euroclear France has sent a positive FTT Status message, Clearstream Banking will initiate the tax payment immediately in favour of Euroclear France without waiting for the next scheduled payment date, as follows:
- For late and valid declarations received before 09:00 CET on a given date, Clearstream Banking will debit customer accounts on the same date with the total of the tax amounts mentioned on each FTT Declaration:
- If the debit is successful, Clearstream Banking will transfer the Total Tax Amount on behalf of the customer to Euroclear France.
- If the debit fails, the declaration files will not be rejected but recycled meaning that Clearstream Banking will transfer the Total Tax Amount on behalf of the customer to Euroclear France on the next business day following the day on which the debit is successfully settled.
- For late and valid declarations received after 09:00 CET on a given date, Clearstream Banking will debit customer accounts on the day that immediately follows the receipt of the late and valid FTT Declarations:
- If the debit is successful, Clearstream Banking will transfer the Total Tax Amount on behalf of the customer to Euroclear France.
- If the debit fails, the declaration files will not be rejected but recycled meaning that Clearstream Banking will transfer the Total Tax Amount on behalf of the customer to Euroclear France on the next business day following the day on which the debit is successfully settled.
Therefore, customers are asked to fund their accounts in a timely manner with the declared amount when sending their declaration files.
If a late declaration results in a late payment to Euroclear France, Euroclear France will charge Clearstream Banking for the corresponding loss of interest amounts and the related processing costs.
- If the late payment is credited to Euroclear France after the 4th but before the 24th calendar day of the payment month, Euroclear France will charge Clearstream Banking for the actual number of days of delay (20 days maximum).
- If the late payment is credited to Euroclear France on or after the 24th calendar day of the payment month, Euroclear France will invoice Clearstream Banking for 20 days.
Clearstream Banking will charge the customer accordingly and the customer authorises Clearstream Banking to debit its account with the same value date for any amounts charged to Clearstream Banking because of the customer’s late payment.
The tax authorities require Euroclear France to report all late declarations and late payments. Indemnities, penalties or interest foreseen by the FTT Law against the taxpayer may be claimed and raised directly by the tax authorities to the taxpayer without Clearstream Banking's involvement.
Disclaimer
This announcement is provided for information purposes only and do not aim to give any professional (legal, tax or otherwise) advice and should not be relied upon as such.
Clearstream Banking strongly recommends that customers independently assess whether and how their business is impacted by the new French FTT payment process before taking any action based on or raising from the information included in this announcement, and shall in no event be expected to any liability for the consequences arising, whether directly or indirectly, out of such actions.
Further information
For further information, please contact Clearstream Banking Client Services or your Relationship Officer.
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1. Clearstream Banking refers collectively to Clearstream Banking S.A., registered office at 42, avenue John F. Kennedy, L-1855 Luxembourg, and registered with the Luxembourg Trade and Companies Register under number B-9248, and Clearstream Banking AG, registered office at 61, Mergenthalerallee, 65760 Eschborn, Germany and registered in Register B of the Amtsgericht Frankfurt am Main, Germany under number HRB 7500.