The draft Finance Bill (PLF) and the draft Social Security Financing Bill (PLFSS) for 2022 are coming before the assemblies. FEDOM is naturally committed to promoting and defending amendments that, if passed, would benefit our businesses. These bills, coming at the end of the current term, are unlikely to bring about a revolution, especially since the President of the Republic—as he clearly emphasized—highlighted the effectiveness of tax exemptions during his visit to French Polynesia. Nevertheless, we hope to see the necessary structural progress, to be achieved both within the framework of immediate budgetary decisions and following the debates surrounding the presidential election. We hope that the votes on the Draft Finance Act (PLF) and the Draft Social Security Financing Act (PLFSS) will also provide an opportunity to adjust the government’s response to the economic crisis accompanying the health crisis, in line with the proposals we have put forward.
With regard to the structural approach, we would like to see investment encouraged. By making the Overseas Investment Fund (FIP Outre-mer) more attractive—through broadening the tax credit base and implementing a temporary, complementary measure providing direct incentives for the recapitalization of SMEs— as the issue of improving equity capital is set to become a pressing concern. We are calling for the expansion of the eligible base to include land acquisitions for the financing of renovation work on abandoned hotel properties. In the DROMs and COM regions, the question of extending tax incentives for overseas investment is already arising, given the need for long-term visibility for investors and operators. In the COM territories, we seek to expand the eligible base for renovation work on public housing units over 20 years old, on the one hand, and for investment in cruise ships, on the other. In the DROMs, we propose expanding the sectors eligible for ZFANG benefits, particularly in the industrial sector—a proposal that was the subject of a commitment made by the Government in 2019 during the reform of overseas economic aid. We are also raising the issue of the necessary adjustments to tax and social security debt repayment plans in light of the specific characteristics of our overseas territories. It is important to mobilize all our partners—in Parliament, in the Government, and throughout our broader community—to support these initiatives and recognize the significance of the challenges we face.
Hervé Mariton, President of FEDOM
