Option for an 18% flat-rate withholding tax on dividends

Article 10 of the 2008 Finance Act creates Article 117 quater of the General Tax Code: individuals resident in France may opt, at the latest when the income is received, for an 18% final withholding tax on dividends eligible for the 40% allowance, instead of taxation under the progressive income tax scale. The option does not apply to shares held in a PEA or to business income. The same article raises the withholding tax on fixed-income products from 16% to 18% and introduces withholding at source of social levies on dividends. It applies to income received from 1 January 2008. The withholding option on dividends was removed when capital income became taxable under the progressive scale from 2013.