France: The HFC tax plan defered to January 1, 2019

In a brief published on the website of the IIF on October 10, we indicated that the tax announced last summer by the Minister of the transition energy and solidarity Nicolas Hulot did not appear in the bill of public finances of 2018 (commonly known as the "2018 budget"). This tax on HFCs should concern producers and importers of these fluids. It had to be calculated according to their Global Warming Potential (GWP or GWP), and gradually increased over the years: 15 euros per ton in 2018, 25 in 2019, 40 in 2020, 55 in 2021 and 70 from 2022 A 30% ovamortization mechanism was also provided for companies investing, from 1 January 2018 until 31 December 2021, in equipment using alternative fluids.


The finance committee of the National Assembly, composed of more than 70 deputies, gathered last October 12 to take or to refer amendments to the finance bill. The tax on hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) was presented in amendment CF-561 by Amélie de Montchalin and defended by Matthieu Orphelin, member of the Committee on Sustainable Development and Regional Planning, invited for the occasion to the finance committee. The committee rapporteur, Joel Giraud noted the interest of this amendment, but fearing that its implementation in 2018 has a strong impact on producers of HFC, he proposed to postpone its entry into force in 2019. This opinion was accepted by the Finance Committee, and the tax should therefore be discussed again next year, for the 2019 budget.

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