In a BER commune? You could owe zero profit tax for five years.
France's Bassin d'Emploi à Redynamiser (BER) exemption gives new or relocated businesses in 404 communes five years of total income- or corporation-tax exemption on zone profits. It applies de plein droit — but it must be actively claimed, so thousands of eligible firms never do. BassinBack finds them and drafts the recovery.
For SMEs and micro-enterprises in the 404 BER communes — and the experts-comptables who file for them. No agrément required.
Built on public data & the law — not guesswork
- DGFiP
- Art. 44 duodecies
- INSEE
- Registre de minimis
Five years of exempt profit — claimed by attaching a form most firms forget.
The BER profit exemption (Art. 44 duodecies CGI) gives a new or relocated business in 404 communes five years of total income- or corporation-tax exemption on zone profits, capped only by the €300k/3-year de-minimis ceiling. It applies de plein droit — there is no agrément, ruling, certificate or pre-clearance — yet it must be actively claimed by attaching an état de détermination du bénéfice exonéré to the results declaration. Because the regime overlaps a confusing menu (BER, BUD, ZAFR, ZDP, ZRD, ZFRR) and requires an irrevocable option within six months of entering the zone, thousands of eligible firms never claim, mis-claim, or pick the wrong regime — leaving years of exempt profit on the table. Omitted years can still be recovered retroactively via a réclamation contentieuse up to the end of year N+2.
Money you're already owed, left on the table — quietly, year after year.
- The exemption applies automatically — but only if you attach the right form to your return.
- The overlapping zone regimes (BER, ZRR, ZFRR, ZAFR, ZDP…) make it easy to pick the wrong one or none.
- Omitted years are still recoverable via a réclamation contentieuse until the end of year N+2.
From eligibility to recovery, mostly automated.
We do the analysis and prepare the filing. You — or your adviser — review and submit, staying the taxpayer of record throughout.
We geo-match your establishment
Give us your SIREN/SIRET and establishment address. We match it against the official list of the 404 BER communes to confirm your zone eligibility.
We check the register
We pull your footprint from France's new per-beneficiary national de-minimis register (live from 1 January 2026) to see whether you've claimed — and compute your remaining de-minimis headroom.
We reconstruct exempt profit
Using your last three results declarations (liasse fiscale), we reconstruct the eligible zone profit and recompute the exemption for the current and omitted years.
We draft the filings
We generate the état de détermination du bénéfice exonéré to attach prospectively, plus a réclamation contentieuse to recover omitted years still inside the N+2 window. You or your expert-comptable file it.
Who BassinBack is for
SMEs and micro-enterprises operating in France's two BER employment zones — Vallée de la Meuse / Ardennes and Lavelanet / Ariège — plus the experts-comptables who file their returns.
- Your establishment is in one of the 404 BER communes (the two BER zones).
- You're a new or relocated business with taxable profit attributable to the zone.
- You're an owner-manager, or an expert-comptable batch-processing returns for zone clients.
Why now
From 1 January 2026, every French granting authority must record BER and other de-minimis aid in a central per-beneficiary register, published with beneficiary identity, amount, and instrument. For the first time, who-claimed-what is machine-readable — so firms that sit in a BER commune but are absent from the register (i.e. never claimed) can be targeted precisely instead of cold-canvassed. The BER regime was simultaneously extended to 31 December 2027, so the eligible pool is fresh and still being created.
- Of total profit-tax exemption on zone profits
- 5 yearsOf total profit-tax exemption on zone profits
- BER communes across two employment zones
- 404BER communes across two employment zones
- De-minimis ceiling per rolling 3-year period
- €300kDe-minimis ceiling per rolling 3-year period
- Window to recover omitted years via réclamation
- to N+2Window to recover omitted years via réclamation
Built to find what others miss.
Register-driven discovery
We use the 2026 per-beneficiary register to spot firms in a BER commune that have never claimed — the largest, clearest recoveries.
De-minimis headroom tracking
We compute your remaining €300k/3-year headroom so the claim is sized correctly and stays compliant.
Prospective + retroactive
We draft both the prospective état for your current return and the réclamation contentieuse for omitted years still in the N+2 window.
5 years × your zone profit, exempt.
Enter your annual profit attributable to a BER zone (across the 404 communes) and we'll illustrate the total exemption over the five-year window. Purement indicatif — ce n'est pas un conseil.
Over 5 years · sur 5 ans
total exempt profit (illustratif)
300 000 €
Purement indicatif, ce n'est pas un conseil. A simple 5× of the figure you enter, available to eligible businesses across the 404 BER communes. The exemption is capped by the €300k de-minimis ceiling per rolling 3-year period; we compute your remaining headroom.
Pricing aligned to what we recover
A success fee on recovered exemption, plus a flat per-return fee for the prospective filing and headroom monitoring.
Recovery
A success fee on the exempt profit we recover for omitted years via réclamation contentieuse.
- Commune geo-match + eligibility confirmation
- Reconstructed zone profit
- Drafted réclamation contentieuse with recomputed dégrèvement
- De-minimis headroom statement
Per-return + monitoring
For the prospective état de détermination and ongoing de-minimis headroom monitoring. White-label seats available for experts-comptables.
- État de détermination per return
- Ongoing de-minimis headroom monitoring
- White-label seat for experts-comptables
Experts-comptables can engage on behalf of a portfolio of zone clients under a white-label seat.
Questions, answered.
Give us your SIREN/SIRET and establishment address and we'll match it against the official list of the 404 BER communes (the Vallée de la Meuse / Ardennes and Lavelanet / Ariège zones). Eligibility is objective: it depends on territory and SME size, not a subjective assessment.
We reconstruct your eligible zone profit, compute the exemption within your de-minimis headroom, and draft a réclamation contentieuse to recover omitted years still inside the N+2 window — alongside the prospective état for your current return.
Yes. The BER exemption applies de plein droit — no agrément, ruling or pre-clearance. The réclamation contentieuse is a standard French tax procedure. We prepare the filings; you or your expert-comptable sign and submit them. You remain the taxpayer of record.
A success fee of 15–25% on recovered exemption, plus a flat per-return fee for the prospective état and de-minimis headroom monitoring. Experts-comptables can take a white-label seat for a portfolio of clients.
We work from the public BER commune list and de-minimis register plus your own liasse fiscale, used only to prepare your claim. Your data is never sold.
Enter your details below. We'll confirm your commune and, once you share your last three results declarations, come back with an estimate of recoverable exemption.
See what exemption you can recover
Tell us your commune and we'll estimate the BER profit-tax exemption we can recover and protect going forward.
- No obligation — the eligibility check is free
- We work alongside your adviser
- You remain the party of record