Summary
Facilitate business transfer
Business transfer is at the heart of the economic debate in 2019. Around 60,000 companies have been put up for sale every year for the past few years, yet only half of them find buyers. This means that each year, more than 30,000 companies close their doors, synonymous with tens of thousands of job cuts. If the creation of a business each year stems this phenomenon, the government is now seeking to curb business closures by facilitating their transmission.
This is the reason for the existence of the Pacte bill, led by Bruno Le Maire, and currently under consideration in Parliament. Its goal: not to change the law, but to relax the administrative obligations in order to make the process easier without distorting it. It is linked to the Dutreil Pact, created in 2003, which already sought to reduce the tax cost of transferring businesses in a family setting.
The Pacte law, scheduled to be voted definitively in the summer of 2019, must therefore simplify this process. Thanks to it, French citizens will be encouraged to create a “family” business, which could be passed on to one of their heirs, and thus stimulate the French economy.
For more information, advice and articles about business management and transfer, visit the Le Capital website, which specializes in this.
Read also: How to know the legal status of a company?
What does the Pacte bill include?
The points proposed by the Pacte law can be summarized as follows:
- Simplification of taxation and administrative constraints related to the transfer of a business within the family framework.
- Temporary relaxation of the tax credit for the takeover of a company by its employees.
- Extension of the ACCRE system, which allows buyers and business creators to benefit from a white year of social security contributions, subject to means testing.
To understand more in depth what the Pacte bill is, go to the Economies.Gouv.fr website which summarizes, with supporting calendar, the progress of this bill.
Important : think about anticipating the business transfer
The Pacte law is timely with the transmission of many companies to come in the decade. According to the Paris Île-de-France CCI, no less than 275,000 businesses will be open to transmission over the next 10 years in the capital region. These are essentially VSEs with less than 10 employees, companies that must therefore make efforts to ensure their survival. The number of these companies that will be taken over will define the economic future of France, and also the merits of its actions aimed at stimulating this economy.
As the transfer of business is subject to certain conditions, for example that the previous owner had this position for at least two years, this transfer must be anticipated. A good organization is necessary to optimize the chances of selling your business under the best conditions. Business transfer can indeed be seen as a way of rejuvenating and upgrading it, but it is also a challenge that can have its share of bad consequences. Lack of investor confidence in a new business leader, for example, can be devastating to its economy. So be sure to make the transfer as easy as possible to your successor for the survival of your business.
Also read: How to close a business?
