The French Supreme Administrative Court (Conseil d'Etat) on 31 May 2024 rendered its decision in the 5Com case (CE, 31 May 2024, no. 482470) concerning the concurrent denial of a tax deduction for payments to non-residents and, in addition, the application of a withholding tax on the same payments. The decision, whilst somehow unsurprising, comes with a twist.
Article 238A of the French Tax Code (CGI) prohibits the tax deduction in France of payments in remuneration of all types of services…