Support measures for companies during containment

The Minister of the Economy has also modified the tax credit system for donors aimed at reducing the rents of traders prevented from practicing.

Here is a reminder of the main measures taken since the start of the health crisis in the spring:

Partial unemployment

This system of support for salaries by the State and Unedic, to protect jobs and skills, should cost at least 31 billion euros this year.

About 15.000 requests per day of partial activity have been filed since October 30, according to the Ministry of Labor.

The level of this support has changed over time and depending on the sector.

Closed businesses are entitled to it with zero charge for the employer, an aid that already applied before the reconfinement to the tourism sectors and related activities (restaurants, hotels, culture, events, etc.).

More than 14 million employees of nearly 1,3 million companies have been affected since the start of the coronavirus crisis, according to the site date.gouv.fr. They currently receive 70% of their gross salary, or about 85% of their net salary.

Rents from closed shops

In 2021, lessors will be able to obtain a tax credit of 50% of the amount of the November rent if they renounce this month's rent in favor of a closed company with less than 250 employees, which is the case for the large majority of shops. If the company has between 250 and 5.000 employees, such as certain shopping malls and shopping malls, this tax credit is reduced to one third of the amount of the rent. The charges (water, electricity ...) will remain due by the tenants.

Solidarity fund

Designed in March to support smaller businesses and the self-employed, it provides for the payment of a monthly allowance to compensate for part of their loss of activity linked to activity restrictions and the crisis.

Its access and the amounts allocated have been increased considerably as the crisis worsened and more than 6,5 billion euros have already been spent in this context.

Its new version will cost an additional 6 billion for the month of November alone.

Now available to companies with less than 50 employees across the country, it compensates for loss of turnover up to 10.000 euros for all closed companies, or for those in the tourism and related sectors (catering , events, culture, etc.) whose turnover will drop by at least 50% compared to the same period of 2019.

All other companies suffering a loss of at least half of their turnover are eligible for aid of 1.500 euros.

Mr. Le Maire assured that he would personally ensure that closed traders can "benefit from the help of the Solidarity Fund from the first days from the first days of December" by declaring himself on the site impots.gouv.fr.

Carry forward and exemptions from charges

All businesses with fewer than 50 employees that are administratively closed will be exempt from social security contributions, as well as those in the tourism, sport, culture and events sectors if their turnover falls by more than half during this period.

Self-employed contributions will be automatically suspended.

At the beginning of August, the only deferral of social contributions amounted to 21,1 billion euros.

The outright exemptions that had already been granted in tourism and related sectors for an amount have been valued at 5,2 billion euros by the government.

State guaranteed loans

To support the cash flow of companies in all sectors, the State has set up this mechanism with banking organizations in which it provides its guarantee for loans requested by companies.

The government has budgeted a maximum of 300 billion euros, and as of October 30, more than 124 billion euros have been granted to just over 600.000 companies.

Its access has been extended until June 30, 2021 since the announcement of the curfew in mid-October.

The deferral of repayment of these guaranteed loans may be extended from one to two years after agreement with the banks, an extension which was negotiated with Brussels because it could have been assimilated to an undue competitive advantage.

Direct government loans

For companies that cannot find any other financing solution, the State can grant loans up to 10.000 euros for companies with less than 10 employees and up to 50.000 euros for those with 10 to 49 employees. The government has set aside 500 million euros for this purpose.