Press review
“It’s not necessarily forbidden to have a foreign company or a foreign account. The important thing is to know what the real activity is behind these accounts, what the origin of the financial flows is.”
French Secretary of State for the Budget Christian Eckert.
“In principle, everyone has the right to set up a foreign company, as long as the profits are declared.”
“The first idea is tax optimization”, not to be confused with tax evasion… “
“It can also be to facilitate certain transactions which are not necessarily illegal”, but which require a certain discretion…
Eric Vernier, researcher at the Institute for International Relations (IRIS)
Companies setting up foreign companies may do so “to benefit from regulations that enable them to do abroad what they cannot do at home”.
Michel Taly, tax expert at the Institut de l’entreprise.
https://www.capital.fr/economie-politique/c-est-quoi-une-societe-étranger-1115438
“…a foreign company is a company established in a jurisdiction that offers tax advantages to non-residents in exchange for an annual fee to establish itself there. In itself, this is not illegal…”
“In France, the spirit of the law is simple: you have to declare what you own.”
“If you want to place all or part of your assets abroad, in a simple bank account, the law allows you to do so.”
Foreign companies: a very strict legal framework.
Cross-border activity in Europe (in or near the European Union) has long been used by service companies such as call centers, computer application development companies, accounting document processing companies and medical records management companies. It is a legal practice, provided certain conditions are met.
https://www.l-expert-comptable.com/a/531579-societes-étranger-un-cadre-legal-tres-strict.html
Excerpt www.impots.gouv.fr
“In the event that dividends are paid by a French company to a British company which holds, directly or indirectly, at least 10% of the capital of the French company, no withholding tax will be due in France in application of the agreement.”
Excerpts www.impots.gouv.fr
“Thus, profits earned in companies operating abroad by companies headquartered in France are not subject to French tax, even if the accounting for these operations is centralized in France.”
“…French companies may escape corporate income tax, not only in respect of profits derived from an establishment located abroad,…”
On the 1992 Hague Convention – Decree 92-521
“The involuntary but very real complacency of international law in foreign law stems from the founding pillars of European law. It is illustrated in particular by Decree 92-521 of the 1992 Hague Convention, which states that
“Any natural or legal person resident in the European Community has the right to set up a company in the country of his choice, without having to be resident there for tax purposes”.
As a result, in the name of the freedom of movement enshrined in the first European pillar, the Community courts 222 and then the Conseil d’Etat 223 have accepted lawshopping.
What’s more, many of the legal vehicles used for tax optimization are subject to the rules of private international law, so that they can be insidiously introduced into the domestic law of onshore territories. The trust, for example, was introduced in France by Article 2 of the 1985 Hague Convention (Annex 9).