France: French Financial Transaction Tax payment process - update
Note: This announcement originally published 24 August 2021, has been updated with a description of the cash debit process where a declaration is pending debit because customers have no funded their account with the FTT amount.
Clearstream Banking1 informs customers that effective
22 November 2021
the new process outlined below is valid for the payment of the French Financial Transaction Tax (FTT) to Euroclear France.
The related 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 file will not be rejected, but the debit instruction will be recycled for 60 days, 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.
Clearstream Banking therefore advises its customers to fund their accounts with the amount declared in due time 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 file 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 file will not be rejected, but the debit instruction will be recycled for 60 days, 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.
Clearstream Banking therefore advises its customers to fund their accounts with the amount declared in due time 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.
Cash debit process
Clearstream Banking will debit customer accounts with the total tax amount indicated on each declaration file that has passed Clearstream Banking's validations, and for which Euroclear France has sent a positive FTT status message.
If the debit fails, the debit instruction will be recycled for 60 days and customers will be notified automatically via the defined communication channel as a reminder to fund their account with the total tax amount before the end of the 60-day recycling period.
After 45 days, and if the debit is still pending, customers will be automatically notified via the defined communication channel (MT940 or Xact Web Portal).
After 60 days, Clearstream Banking will stop recycling the debit instructions, without any further notice to customers. If customers have a declaration pending debit after the end of the 60-day recycling period, customers should contact Clearstream Banking Client Services or their Relationship Officer to find an arrangement and pay the FTT amount accordingly.
Customers will be liable for late payment interest if they do not pay the FTT amount in due time. The late payment interest will be claimed and charged directly by the tax authorities to the taxpayer named in the FTT return, with no involvement by Clearstream Banking.
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.
Clearstream Banking informs customers that any charges incurred by Clearstream Banking in the French Financial Tax process will be passed on to the relevant customer on an “upon receipt” basis.
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.