As a self-employed professional, you are independent and can choose where you work. Like any business, company or auto-entrepreneur, you are required to have a registered office to register your activity and receive administrative and official mail. As a self-employed professional, you'll be able to choose where you'd like to be domiciled, and where you'd like to do business.
Focus on the advantages of commercial domiciliation for the liberal professions
Professionals are considered to be self-employed if they carry out, on a regular basis, independently and under their own responsibility, an activity whose purpose is to provide, in the interest of the customer or the public, mainly intellectual, technical or care services implemented by means of professional qualifications and in compliance with ethical principles or professional deontology.
As a self-employed professional, you can operate either as a sole proprietorship or under the auto-entrepreneur scheme, or as a company.
Working from home is often the simplest and least expensive solution for the self-employed, especially at the start of a business. However, there are rules governing this type of domiciliation. What's more, operating from home does not necessarily mean that your administrative address is your personal residence.
Domiciliating yourself at home has its advantages and limitations. Basically, in all towns with a population of over 200,000, as well as in all municipalities in the Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne departments, the conversion of residential premises into business premises requires prior authorization from the prefecture, if you need to receive merchandise and/or customers.
In all other cases, you don't need to register with the prefecture, but you do need to check that the change of use is authorized by the town hall or, where applicable, by the condominium by-laws. If so, you'll need to check that you can affix your business name to the front of the building. If you're renting your property, you'll need to reread your lease to confirm - or not! - that it permits professional use.
If the change of use requires work such as the installation of new partitions, the construction of sanitary facilities or the renovation of common areas (entrance, stairwells or elevators), you will generally need to apply for a building permit, making the change of use application unnecessary.
Commercial domiciliation is an excellent alternative to home domiciliation. In fact, domiciling your business with a specialized company allows you to benefit from increased visibility by obtaining a domiciliation in a strategic and prestigious address in the heart of business districts or high-profile areas.
Flexibility and customized offers
Depending on your profession, the advantages of domiciling with a specialized company are numerous and offer you great flexibility. In fact, the domiciliation company will be in charge of managing your company's mail , and can forward it to you according to the terms you have chosen. What's more, you'll have access to offices and meeting rooms to suit your business needs.
Choosing commercial domiciliation also means choosing transparency. For example, SeDomicilier offers fixed prices, with no administration, deposit or guarantee fees.
It's also important to note that commercial domiciliation allows you to benefit from a low degree of permeability between your private and professional lives, since your personal address is not displayed as your company's administrative address. What's more, depending on where you work, you can easily avoid mixing your private and professional lives.
If you've chosen a Paris address for your head office, you'll be able to benefit from tax savings! In fact, as a company, whatever your status, you will be liable for the Cotisation Foncière des Entreprises (CFE ), also known as the Cotisation Foncière des Entreprises tax. This contribution is paid annually by non-salaried professionals, and is calculated on the basis of your sales.
Tax savings
Domiciling your company in Paris can save you money, as the Cotisation Foncière des Entreprises is one of the lowest in France in Paris. As you can see, in addition to a prestigious address and a certain notoriety, domiciling your business in Paris will also bring you significant tax savings.
Finally, as a self-employed professional, you have the choice of domiciling your business in your own home or with a specialized company. You can also practice your profession at home, while maintaining your head office address with a domiciliation company.
Liberal professions: optimize your business development
As well as saving you money on your Cotisation Foncière des Entreprises, choosing a commercial address gives you greater flexibility in managing your business, especially when it comes to managing your mail. You'll have more time to devote to developing your business. What's more, depending on your profession, you'll be able to use the offices and meeting rooms provided.
Written by our expert Antoine Dubois
July 18, 2017
