Insee Analyses · September 2025 · n° 112

The implicit tax rate on profits between 2016 and 2022 was higher for SMEs than for large companies

Between 2016 and 2022, the standard corporate income tax rate fell from 33.3% to 25%, bringing France closer to the OECD average. The implicit gross tax rate, which compares corporate tax amount (excluding tax credits) to net operating surplus, averaged 17.5% in 2022. This rate fell by 3.2 points since 2016. It thus fell by only one-sixth, compared with one-quarter for the standard rate. This difference was mainly due to the greater dynamism of the tax base compared with operating profit, partly as a result of the recovery in exceptional and financial results.

The implicit gross rate for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) fell by only 1.7 points over the period, to 21.4% in 2022. The rate for micro-enterprises even increased by 0.4 points over the period, to 19%. It remained higher than that of large enterprises, down 5.0 points to 14.3%. There was great heterogeneity within the different categories of enterprises: the implicit rate increased over the period for 34% of large enterprises and 45% of SMEs.