French pesticides tax change
Date:05-03-2008
A change in French taxes on agrochemicals effected a "phasing" of companies business, from the last quarter of 2007 into the beginning of 2008, Bayer CropScience says. On January 1st, a change in the French tax system took effect,shifting the tax burden from manufacturers to distributors as a “royalty (RDP)”.
The change followed a series of adjustments to the country’s taxes affecting pesticides. The French government introduced an environmental tax, the TGAP, which covered agrochemical products in 1999. This tax was payable by producers, and was included in their products prices, up to the end of last year,since when distributors have had to pay the RDP.
To deal with the shifting tax burden, and to avoid being taxed twice – once for buying in 2007 and once for selling in 2008 – distributors deferred purchases at the end of last year. This was reflected in an improvement in Bayer’s first-quarter results.
Print this page. 