Young Innovative Company & Young University Company

To qualify for YIC status, a company must meet a number of conditions:

• Be an SME: headcount ≤ 250 employees, sales ≤ €50m or balance sheet total ≤ €43m;
• Be created less than 11 years ago, or less than 8 years ago for companies created on or after 1 January 2023;
• Be new, i.e. not have been created as part of a merger, restructuring, business expansion or takeover of pre-existing activities;
• R&D expenditure representing at least 15% of tax-deductible expenses;
• Be independent, i.e. at least 50% of the company’s capital must be held by one of the following: an individual, another YIC at least 50%-owned by individuals, a public scientific association or foundation, a public research and education establishment or one of its subsidiary investment companies.

The first three points are also necessary for YUC status and are accompanied by the following conditions:

• Be managed (or at least 10% directly owned) :
• By students ;
• Graduates of a master’s or doctoral degree within the last five years;
• Or persons engaged in teaching or research activities;
• Have established a link with a university:
• Have as their principal activity the promotion of research in which these directors or associates have participated within an university, either during their studies or in the performance of their duties;
• Enter into an agreement with the said institution defining the terms and conditions of the commercialisation.

If you fail to meet one of these criteria, you will lose the associate status.

The work eligible for YIC/YUC status includes the RTC eligibility criteria.

YIC/YUC status offers tax and social benefits that can be combined with the Research Tax CreditResearch tax credit.

In terms of taxation, there is a 100% exemption from corporation tax for the first profitable year, then 50% for the following year. Territorial economic contribution and property tax are deducted for 7 years.

YIC/YUC also benefit from social security exemptions via a reduction in employers’ contributions on the remuneration of staff assigned to R&D operations for 7 years. The total amounts are capped.

To obtain YIC/YUC status, you need to file a self-declaration with your local public finance department. However, to reduce the risk of a tax reassessment, you are strongly advised to apply to the tax authorities for a rescript to ensure that the conditions for qualifying for YIC/YUC status are met.

To illustrate our support, here are some of the cases we have encountered:

Are you launching your start-up and want to do things right?

At innovation fairs such as MedInTechs, we meet CEOs of start-ups that meet the eligibility criteria for YIC or YUC status. Some companies did it alone and then decide to seek support after receiving negative feedback from the authorities.

Researchers looking for support?

In 2018, three INSERM researchers set up a company dedicated to developing innovative biotherapies in oncology. In 2021, we helped them apply for a YUC ruling procedure. The application was favourably received by the tax authorities. As a result, our customers obtained YUC status and benefited from the associated advantages.

Do you qualify for YIC status and want to claim RTC?

One of our customers has launched a company to sell a product developed in his university research laboratory. He took on two employees on permanent contracts. We filed a rescript with the tax authorities, who recognised his eligibility for YIC status. In addition to the advantages mentioned for this status, our customer also benefited from the immediate repayment of his RTC. Two complementary schemes to help you get started as a young SME.