Saint-Barthélemy: annual business contribution (CFAE)

Scope and source status

The contribution forfaitaire annuelle des entreprises is a local annual business levy. This draft reads Code articles 7–12 together with the 26 September 2024 amendment, pages 4–7. The downloaded base Code lists amendments through August 2021; the 2024 document is an amendment marked with insertions and deletions, not a fully consolidated replacement. The CEM's current business FAQ and official 2025 return support the rate. A complete later-amendment audit and the 2026 return remain outstanding.

Who is liable?

Amended article 7 covers an enterprise whose registered office or effective management is on Saint-Barthélemy, including a dormant enterprise. It also covers French enterprises based elsewhere and foreign enterprises with local establishments carrying on activity. The definition covers natural and legal persons carrying on the listed activities requiring registration; its wording contains an exception for owner-landlords. Do not treat mere dormancy as dissolution or apply the contribution indiscriminately to every property owner. 2024 amendment, article 7.

Different activities in separate establishments can each attract the contribution; the same activity conducted through several establishments attracts it once. The amendment identifies activity by NAF/APE code. Review the activities and establishments before counting fixed charges. Article 7.

Article 8 provides a special rule for listed nonprofit bodies: liability depends on whether profit-making activity is significantly predominant. This is not a blanket exemption for every association or a test based solely on its legal label. Base Code article 8. Later exemptions and their conditions need separate reconciliation.

Amount and staff evidence

Article 9 sets EUR 350 fixed plus EUR 100 per employee. This is reproduced in the official 2025 return and current CEM FAQ. It is not a percentage of turnover or profit. Code article 9; official return; CEM FAQ.

Amended article 10 replaces the old reference to a DSN at the preceding 31 December with a certificate from the competent social-contribution body confirming staffing for the preceding 1 January–31 December period. It includes remunerated forms of employment, including fixed-term and indefinite contracts, replacement and apprenticeship arrangements, paid interns and managers. It also calls for an attestation by the manager or accountant based on the personnel register, which must be produced on audit. 2024 amendment, article 10, pages 5–6.

The available 2025 form still labels its personnel annex “DSN du 31/12/2024”. That wording must be reconciled with the amended Code; it is not evidence that only people on the payroll on one date count. The materials inspected do not settle every part-time, turnover or employee-counting case. Obtain the current certificate and filing instructions before finalising that input. Official form; amended article 10.

Assuming one chargeable activity, an established enterprise and an already established qualifying staff count:

Staff count	Calculation	Contribution
0	350 + 0 × 100	EUR 350
3	350 + 3 × 100	EUR 650
12	350 + 12 × 100	EUR 1,550

These are rate illustrations, not a definition of the staff-count method.

Annual deadline, new businesses and payment evidence

Article 10 makes the annual contribution due from 1 January, payable by 31 March. For an enterprise created between 1 January and 30 September, the fixed part is due within ninety days of the declared start of activity. The CEM FAQ says a business starting from 1 October is not liable for that first year. Do not prorate EUR 350 by remaining months without a legal basis. Amended article 10; CEM FAQ.

The amendment requires the debtor's SIRET in a transfer reference and says a transfer without it is rejected and not recorded. For an electronic card payment, the transaction date is the relevant date. Keep payment proof and reconcile it with the declaration; paying alone does not establish that a complete declaration was filed. Article 10, page 6. The official form additionally requests the contribution year and transfer proof; use the current year's form rather than submitting the 2025 specimen for 2026. Official 2025 return.

Closure and changes of legal form

For deregistration, article 10 uses the date the formality was registered, not a different declared date written in the document. Article 11 ties dissolution exemption to the dissolution entry on the K-bis or equivalent official evidence and limits it to amounts not yet paid. It does not promise a refund of all earlier contributions. 2024 amendment, articles 10–11.

Article 10 provides one contribution within the same tax year for the specified company transformation, or for a sole trader transferring the business to a new company and closing the sole trade. Preserve proof that those conditions are met; forming an additional company is not automatically the same transaction. Article 10.

Remaining work

Checked 22 October 2026. Complete the later-amendment and special-exemption audit, resolve headcount edge cases and obtain current filing instructions. Penalties, appeals and all other local/French tax and social obligations are outside this Guide. No independent accountant review has occurred and this is not comprehensive country coverage.

Contributed by Ryan Duguid.