Opening an individual entrepreneur in France is quite simple. However, first it is important to decide what kind of individual entrepreneurship we are talking about, since the system is slightly different from the Russian one.
There are several organizational and legal forms of small business in France. The most common is Entreprise Individuelle (EI, individual enterprise, IP). Registration of an individual entrepreneur in France involves a simplified procedure for processing documents, there is no need to create a separate legal entity, no capital investment is required to start work, simplified accounting and taxation schemes apply for individual entrepreneurs.
The legislation allows for a simplified form of individual entrepreneurship – self-employment, or micro-entrepreneurship (Auto-entrepreneur, Micro-Entreprise). In fact, this is one of the tax regimes for individual entrepreneurs in France.
There are limits on annual turnover for it, they are:
- €188,700 – for entrepreneurs involved in the sale of goods and food, as well as rental housing;
- €77,700 — for those who provide consultations, commercial and craft services, representatives of the “liberal” professions.
Microentrepreneurship is impossible for a number of professions. Among them are accountants, many medical workers, real estate agents, landscape designers, scriptwriters, and so on. You can find out more about this form of individual entrepreneurship in France on the website of the Unions for the Collection of Contributions to Social Security and Family Allowances (URSSAF).
You can register an individual entrepreneur in France online — on the website of the Single Application Center. You must attach copies of your passport, a certificate of no criminal record, documents confirming your place of residence at the place of business, and a receipt confirming payment of the registration fee (from €24.08 depending on the type of activity). In case of opening an individual entrepreneur in France, you can get a long-term business visa with the note “entrepreneur”. In addition to the standard package of documents, you will need to attach documents confirming your professional activity: invoices, portfolios, business cards, and so on.
