Innovation Tax Credit (CII): SME guide to funding a digital project
You are planning a website rebuild, a business platform, or an internal SaaS tool, and costs add up fast. Between design, custom development, and iterations, the bill can easily exceed €20,000 before leadership has a clear view of the return.
The innovation tax credit (CII) is a fiscal lever often mentioned in meetings but rarely understood end to end. For an eligible SME launching a genuine prototype project, the scheme can materially reduce the final cost. Here is what the current French rules say, and how to apply them to a web project in practice.
CII in brief: what is it for?
The CII is an extension of the research tax credit (CIR), reserved for SMEs under the EU definition. It covers expenses related to designing prototypes or pilot installations of a new product, for operations committed until 31 December 2027 (Service Public Entreprendre, French tax administration BOFiP).
In practice, the state refunds a share of innovation spending as a tax credit, offset against corporate or income tax, with possible cash refund of the balance under certain conditions (innovative young company, newly formed business, etc.).
Key point: the credit is calculated on the calendar year of the expenses, regardless of your fiscal year-end. A company closing on 30 September still calculates CII on expenses from January to December of the relevant year, not on its accounting period.
Who can benefit?
The CII targets industrial, commercial, or agricultural SMEs that meet EU size criteria: in practice, fewer than 250 employees, with revenue or balance sheet caps (€50M / €43M depending on the criterion).
The company must be on a real corporate or income tax regime, or fall into certain exempt categories (innovative young company, assisted zones, etc.).
Limit to know: if you exceed SME thresholds for two consecutive years (for example after an acquisition), you lose eligibility from the second year of exceedance.
For a marketing director or executive at an SME of 20 to 50 employees, the profile is often a good fit. The real question is not “are we an SME?” but “does our project fit the CII framework?”
Which digital projects can qualify?
This is where a standard rebuild differs from an admissible case.
The CII applies to designing a prototype or pilot installation of a new product, tangible or intangible, that:
- is not yet on the market;
- stands out from existing products through superior performance (technical, functional, ergonomic, or eco-design).
French official guidance gives the example of a SaaS-style digital platform: it may qualify if it is a new intangible product with superior performance. By contrast, an innovative service offering, an internal reorganisation, or a simple evolution of an existing product generally does not fall under the CII.
Important: the prototype is not meant to be sold as-is. It serves as a model to industrialise the final product. A cosmetic website refresh, without a new product in the fiscal sense, is usually not enough.
For a custom web development project, ask upfront: are we creating a new digital product (business tool, marketplace, configurator, advanced client portal) or improving an existing one without a real break?
Which expenses count (and which are excluded)?
Eligible CII expenses include several categories (BOFiP BOI-BIC-RICI-10-10-45-20):
- depreciation of new assets used for prototype design;
- remuneration of staff directly and exclusively assigned to these operations (pro-rata if part-time, with rigorous traceability);
- intellectual property costs (patents, designs and models, within defined limits);
- outsourced spending with approved companies for prototype design operations.
Two exclusions matter for a web project:
- Expenses already counted under the
CIRcannot also be counted under theCII(no double counting). - Expenses from the production phase of the prototype are not eligible for the CII.
Subcontracting rule: if you outsource design to a company that is not approved, its invoices cannot be included in your CII base. Only an approved provider allows an eligible SME client to value those expenses.
Approved provider: non-negotiable. Invoices from an agency or integrator without CII approval cannot be included in the innovation tax credit base, even if the project is otherwise eligible. Check approval before signing the quote, not after delivery.
Beease is CII-approved. For eligible SME clients, design work entrusted to Beease may fall within the fiscal framework, provided the project itself meets “new product / prototype” criteria and your accountant validates the file.
Rates, caps, and timeline 2025–2027
2025 change: from 1 January 2025, the rate in mainland France is 20% of eligible expenses (down from 30% until 31 December 2024, under the 2025 Finance Act).
The cap on expenses taken into account is €400,000 per company per calendar year, across all prototypes. Public subsidies received for the project must be deducted from the base.
The scheme is extended until 31 December 2027. If your roadmap includes a 2026–2027 rebuild, CII remains a budget parameter to factor in from the scoping stage.
Simple example: €100,000 of eligible expenses in mainland France in 2026 → €20,000 tax credit. On a €100,000 rebuild budget, that is effectively 20% of cost recovered through tax, within the caps.
CII and CIR: do not mix the bases
The CIR covers research and experimental development. The CII targets the prototype design phase of a new product, downstream of R&D where that exists.
The same expense cannot appear under both the CIR and the CII. In practice, project scoping with your tax advisor determines which share is R&D and which is prototype work.
For a custom showcase website combined with a new configurator or client portal, the boundary is often drawn at the brief stage, not at invoicing.
Filing: form, deadlines, using the credit
The claim is filed on form 2069-A-SD (same form as the CIR), in the CII section, attached to the tax return.
Indicative deadlines:
- Corporate tax: no later than the 15th day of the 4th month after fiscal year-end;
- Income tax: no later than 15 days after the 2nd working day following 1 May.
Filing is done online via impots.gouv.fr (professional account).
The credit offsets tax due for the year of the expenses. Unused balance can be applied over 3 years, then refunded. Innovative young companies and certain situations (new business, collective proceedings) may qualify for direct refund.
Our recommendation: include CII in the provisional budget early, but leave fiscal qualification to your accountant or a specialised advisor. Beease supplies technical elements (prototype nature, design scope, invoices); legal qualification remains your tax advisor’s role.
Website rebuild or platform: 4 questions before you budget
Before promising a “site funded at 20%”, check these four points with your team:
1. Product novelty Is the deliverable a new digital product (not yet on the market) with distinct performance, or an evolution of an existing site?
2. Prototype status Is V1 a design model, not the commercialised version as-is?
3. Expense traceability Can you isolate “prototype design” line items from “production / go-live” line items?
4. Provider If you outsource, is your development agency CII-approved?
If you answer yes to the first three and your provider is approved, CII becomes a real lever on a Payload CMS + Next.js project: modern stack, scoped delivery, marketing autonomy after launch.
If the rebuild is mostly a design refresh without a new product, CII is probably not the right path. Other levers (depreciation, marketing budget, maintenance contract) may still be worth exploring.
Working with a CII-approved provider
At Beease, CII approval fits our fixed-price model: we carry technical risk, you know production cost, and your leadership can model the tax credit in parallel.
In practice, this means:
- scoping that separates prototype design from production phase;
- invoices and scope compatible with the fiscal file;
- collaboration with your accountant on form
2069-A-SD; - a stack suited to SME needs:
Payload CMS,Next.js, SEO performance, marketing team autonomy.
We do not replace your tax advisor. We do know how to structure a digital project so the “custom design” portion is clear in an innovation file, when conditions are met.
For technical project terms (API, headless, deployment), our web development glossary can help your teams align business and technical vocabulary before fiscal scoping.
Next step for your project
The CII is not an automatic “discount coupon” on any rebuild. It is a demanding but powerful scheme for an SME launching a genuine digital product prototype: up to €80,000 credit per year in mainland France, at a 20% rate on eligible expenses until 2027.
If you are preparing a rebuild or custom platform, start by clarifying project eligibility, then choose an approved provider. That combination avoids nasty surprises at tax filing time.
Prefer a short, no-commitment conversation first? Request an initial chat via our free audit.
