Auto-entrepreneur: how to obtain the status!
Would you like to start your own business? The auto-entrepreneur scheme may be of interest to you! The auto-entrepreneur scheme allows you to run your own business while enjoying a relatively advantageous legal and tax status. It's the ideal way to put a project into practice without taking on too much risk.
The auto-entreprise is not a legal form in its own right, but rather a specific regime within the broader category of sole proprietorships (including SASU and EURL). This status, created in 2008, offers new entrepreneurs singular flexibility and simplicity. According to INSEE (the French National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies), it's an extremely popular status, as almost half of all French companies have opted for it.
What are the procedures and conditions for obtaining such a plan?
Contents :
1. Administrative procedures
2. Declaration of activity: threshold, regime...
3. Self-employed and registered office
4. Conclusion: changes to come in 2018
The auto-entrepreneur scheme is relatively easy to obtain. However, a number of administrative formalities still need to be completed. To start up as an auto-entrepreneur, you need to complete the PO AE form to declare the start of your business. Since 2016, this form must be submitted online to the Centre de Formalité des Entreprises (CFE) responsible for the activity.
Four possibilities:
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Chamber of Commerce and Industry for commercial activities
-
Chambre des Métiers et de l'artisanat (Chamber of Trades and Crafts ) for a craft activity
-
URSSAF for self-employed workers
- And finally, the clerk's office of the commercial court, for a commercial agent.
The declaration, regardless of the reference organization, must be accompanied bya copy of an identity document with the words "I certify on my honor the accuracy of this identity document". This declaration can be made either on the URSSAF CFE website or on the auto-entrepreneur portal.
Once you have submitted your application, you will receive the following documents:
- Your Siret number
- A document defining your tax regime
-
Details of your tax contacts, in particular for payment of the cotisation foncière des entreprises (CFE ).
It's also worth noting that any decision to suspend your activity can be made simply by sending form P2-P4 AE, again to the CFE of reference.
For commercial, craft or industrial activities, you need to register with the Registre du Commerce et des Sociétés (RCS) to obtain an auto-entrepreneur KBIS. Finally, if you wish to set up a craft business, you will need to complete a fee-paying training course and register with the Répertoire des Métiers.
The auto entrepreneur scheme must meet certain tax thresholds in order to be retained. For example, the auto entrepreneur scheme requires a limited amount of sales before tax (CAHT) :
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A 82,800 euros per year for a commercial activity
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to 33,200 euros per year for services more geared to the service sector or the liberal professions
It is important to bear in mind that these thresholds can be adjusted if the activity is started during the year: in this case, the thresholds are revised in proportion to the working time over the year. Finally, it is possible for an auto-entrepreneur to carry out 2 different activities, provided they are linked to the same auto-entreprise.
In this case alone, the thresholds vary slightly:
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Total sales for the year may not exceed the limit of 82,800 euros.
- And within this same sales figure, the share devoted to self-employed activities may not exceed 33,200 euros.
Respecting these thresholds is of paramount importance when it comes to keeping your auto-entrepreneur status.
Finally, when you launch your own business, you'll need to choose a registered office. This usually corresponds to the company's fiscal and administrative domicile. It must be declared to the Centre de Formalités des Entreprises (CFE) as soon as you register as an auto-entrepreneur.
Without direct debit, no registration can be issued
There are several options for choosing the best location for your company:
- At home
- In commercial premises
- In a domiciliation company
- Via a business incubator
- Via a coworking space
The advantages and disadvantages of each type of domiciliation should be considered in the light of your own project, to determine the best option.
In conclusion, it's necessary to take a quick look at the changes that will happen concerning this regime, over the course of 2018. Firstly, the Social Security Financing Bill that has just been passed by the National Assembly has enacted the abolition of the RSI, replaced by the Sécurité Social des Indépendants , and the doubling of the turnover thresholds that can be reached, thus increasing from 82,800 to 170,000 euros and from 33,200 to 70,000 euros.
Next, an exemption from payment of the first year's contribution is announced for 2019.
The only purpose of these few changes is to make access to the scheme even easier!
Written by our expert Quentin MOYON
January 25, 2018
