At the time, we had commented onthe ruling by the Administrative Court of Appeals, which had found that the tickets offered by an amusement park to its employees constituted an irregular act of management.
Conseil d'Etat, in a decision handed down last Tuesday, has just overturned the appellate ruling.
He first points out that the free provision of a good or service sold by a company—which does not result in a financial loss for the company—is not, in principle, an abnormal act of management.
It is therefore up to theadministration to prove that the circumstances were abnormal, and not up to the company, as the Court had ruled.
In its ruling on the merits of the case, the Conseil d'Etat . found that“the free admission tickets […], granting access to the amusement park […], were distributed to its employees—particularly seasonal workers—with the aim of fostering employee loyalty, while also helping to promote the amusement park to their families and, in the event of a visit, revenue generated from the sale of products sold within the park.”
He therefore ruled that the company had not incurred a financial loss for purposes unrelated to its own interests.
The tax assessment is therefore rescinded.
CE, Chapters 9 and 10, Nov. 10, 2026, No. 504582, Lebon T.
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