For the purposes of this discussion, a “U.S. Holder” is a beneficial owner of ADSs that is (or is treated as), for U.S. federal income tax purposes: (1) an individual who is a citizen or resident of the United States; (2) a corporation, or other entity that is treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, created or organized in or under the laws of the United States, any state thereof, or the District of Columbia; (3) an estate, the income of which is subject to U.S. federal income taxation regardless of its source; or (4) a trust, if a court within the United States is able to exercise primary supervision over its administration and one or more U.S. persons have the authority to control all of the substantial decisions of such trust or has a valid election in effect under applicable U.S. Treasury Regulations to be treated as a United States person.
If a partnership (or any other entity treated as partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes) holds ADSs, the tax treatment of the partnership and a partner in such partnership generally will depend on the status of the partner and the activities of the partnership. Such partner or partnership is urged to consult its own tax adviser regarding the specific tax consequences of acquiring, owning and disposing of securities.
This discussion applies only to investors that hold ADSs as capital assets that have the U.S. dollar as their functional currency, that are entitled to Treaty benefits under the “Limitation on Benefits” provision contained in the Treaty, and whose ownership of the ADSs is not effectively connected to a permanent establishment or a fixed base in France. Certain U.S. Holders (including, but not limited to, U.S. expatriates, partnerships or other entities classified as partnerships for U.S. federal income tax purposes, banks, insurance companies, regulated investment companies,tax-exempt organizations, financial institutions, persons subject to the alternative minimum tax, persons who acquired the securities pursuant to the exercise of employee share options or otherwise as compensation, persons that own (directly, indirectly or by attribution) 5% or more of our voting stock or 5% or more of our outstanding share capital, dealers in securities or currencies, persons that elect to mark their securities to market for U.S. federal income tax purposes and persons holding securities as a position in a synthetic security, straddle or conversion transaction) may be subject to special rules not discussed below.
U.S. Holders are urged to consult their own tax advisers regarding the tax consequences of the purchase, ownership and disposition of securities in light of their particular circumstances, especially with regard to the ‘‘Limitations on Benefits’’ provision.
Estate and Gift Taxes and Transfer Taxes
In general, a transfer of securities by gift or by reason of death of a U.S. Holder that would otherwise be subject to French gift or inheritance tax, respectively, will not be subject to such French tax by reason of the Convention between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the French Republic for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Estates, Inheritances and Gifts, dated November 24, 1978 (as amended by the protocol of December 8, 2004), unless the donor or the transferor is domiciled in France at the time of making the gift or at the time of his or her death, or the securities were used in, or held for use in, the conduct of a business through a permanent establishment or a fixed base in France.
Pursuant to Article 235 ter ZD of the Code général des impôts (French Tax Code, or FTC), purchases of shares or ADSs of a French company listed on a regulated market of the European Union or an exchange formally acknowledged by the French Financial Market Authority (AMF) are subject to a 0.3% French tax on financial transactions provided that the issuer’s market capitalization exceeds 1 billion euros as of December 1 of the year preceding the taxation year. A list of French relevant companies whose market capitalization exceeds 1 billion euros as of December 1 of the year preceding the taxation year is published annually by the French State. Although we were included in the list published for calendar years 2016 and 2017, we were not included in the list published for calendar years 2018, 2019 and 2020, but this may change in the future.
Pursuant to Article 726 II d) of the FTC, transfers of securities that are subject to the French tax on financial transactions are exempt from any transfer tax in France. Conversely, in the case where Article 235 ter ZD of the
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