When a claim for a research tax credit is denied because of an online post by a former employee

A company that had requested reimbursement of its research tax credit was met with a partial denial byadministration .

The tax authorities determined that certain employees were not engaged in research activities and that their compensation could not be included in the calculation of the tax credit base.

administration decisionadministration challenged all the way to the Administrative Court of Appeals.

The court then reviewed the situations of several employees and, in particular, ruled that job titles such as “senior engineer” or job descriptions created after the audit did not sufficiently demonstrate that the employees were engaged in research activities.

With regard to one employee in particular, the court ruled that his assignment to the “Release Engineering-IT” team did not demonstrate that he was engaged in research activities, since a former employee had stated online that the role of this team was“to optimize the teams’ ability to deliver a quality product as quickly and consistently as possible.” According to the court, these activities do not constitute research.

The court therefore upheld theadministration refusal to reimburse the claim.

CAA Paris, June 30, 2026, No. 25PA00787

This legal watch provided by Mispelon Avocat, a law firm specializing in French tax audit and French tax litigation. You can stay legal watch subscribing to the newsletter via this link.