Entrepreneurs: all the changes to come in 2020!

Adopted at the end of September, the 2020 finance bill will come into effect from January 1^st next year. As every year, it primarily concerns entrepreneurs, and on a wide variety of subjects. Often described as a « social » budget in the media, it aims to implement several fundamental economic reforms such as the PACTE law, as well as other laws resulting from the transposition of European standards into French law. As every year, entrepreneurs are among the first to be affected by the economic, fiscal and social reforms undertaken by the government.

Let's explore together what's coming up in 2020!

Disposable plastic products are now prohibited.

To work towards protecting the environment, it is now forbidden to produce and sell disposable tableware, water bottles in school canteens, stirrers, straws, and cotton swabs made of plastic. Failure to comply with this prohibition exposes the offender to administrative and criminal penalties of up to 2 years of imprisonment and a €100,000 fine. This measure follows the ban on distributing plastic bags free of charge in stores since 2017, and the desire to reduce paper receipts. 

For SMEs, the employee thresholds have been modified following the PACTE law!

The employee threshold have been modified and are defined from 11, 50 and 250 employees. Indeed, crossing a threshold requires meeting several obligations, which can sometimes be difficult to manage. This system will make it possible to use the Nominal Social Declaration (DSN) for a larger number of workforce thresholds in order to simplify life for businesses. 

It's important to emphasize that the thresholds will only be fully effective when the company has exceeded them for 5 consecutive years. Companies with fluctuating workforces are thus protected. 

For all freelancers, your social security is changing!

It's been 2 years since the social protection of self-employed individuals was entrusted to the general social security system. From January 1st, 2020, all self-employed individuals will have a single point of contact for all their procedures. For self-employed workers established before January 1st, 2019, the transfer to health insurance will take place on January 1st, 2020. This is a real step forward in improving the social protection of the self-employed.

If you work on public markets

A public contract is a contract concluded for consideration by one or more public buyers with one or more public or private economic operators. It often involves carrying out work, providing supplies or services. Any economic operator can apply for the award of a public contract, including micro-entrepreneurs! Since October 1^st, 2018, any public contract with a value exceeding €25,000 excluding VAT must be awarded via a dematerialized procedure. 

In 2020, the threshold for public contracts without prior formalities will be raised to €40,000 (compared to €25,000 previously). This modification is motivated by the desire to simplify the administrative tasks of small entrepreneurs wishing to access public contracts. Thus, the access of SMEs to public procurement is facilitated. However, the absence of submission to the procedures of the CCP for public contracts whose estimated amount is less than this threshold does not mean a total absence of formalism. Finally, note that the threshold of €25,000 is maintained for the obligation to transmit essential data from public contracts (either by free, direct and complete access to its buyer profile, or by publication during the last quarter of each year). 

For very small businesses working on public markets, electronic invoicing is now mandatory!

Are you an SME (fewer than 10 employees) and do you work with public contracts? As of January 1^er, 2020, you will be required to adopt e-invoicing. This measure reduces the burden associated with invoice processing, processing times, transmission and facilitates digital archiving. 

Then you're required to use the official ChorusPro portal to submit your payment requests to the relevant public sector entities. 

All jobs held by disabled workers must be included in the DSN.

Companies with at least 20 employees must employ people with disabilities at a rate of 6% of their workforce. They are therefore required to declare each year the number of jobs held by a disabled worker. The mandatory declaration of employment of a disabled worker must now be integrated into the Déclaration Sociale Nominative (DSN). This will automate the process and eliminate the need for a paper form, as was previously the case.