Law no. 96-607 of July 5, 1996 introduces new tax incentives to encourage the subscription of co-ownership shares in merchant ships. The amounts paid to subscribe to such shares may be deducted from the total income of subscribing individuals or from taxable profits, if the subscribers are entities which are subject to corporate income tax. In order to benefit from these incentives, several conditions must be fulfilled, including approval by the minister in charge of the budget and an undertaking to retain the shares subscribed. For subscribing individuals, the maximum amount which may be deducted from their total income stands at FRF 500,000 for single, widowed or divorced taxpayers and FRF 1,000,000 for married taxpayers. There is no maximum limit on the deduction which may be applied to entities liable to corporate income tax.

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