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Becoming self-employed


samdebretagne
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I'm currently being employed part-time by a foreign company through a portage company.  My contract with them is up in April, and I'm starting to think about renegotiating it and registering as self-employed, but I really have no idea where to start or which régime to look in to.  With the dollar being so low, my revenue would only be about 1000€ per month.  I realize this won't leave me with much after all the charges/cotisations, but at least I would recoup the 8% I'm currently paying to the portage company. 

Has anyone been in a similar situation, or have any suggestions as to which régime would be the best one to go for?

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The regime is determined more by what you do than by choice. That, as I am sure you know, governs how and where you register, and whether you count as a BIC or BNC. Where you do have a choice is in going for micro or a full business. Most will automatically opt for micro at that level of income, but the thing with a micro is that it applies a fixed percentage for costs. If you have expenses, these are likely to represent more, in terms of percentage, of your 1000€ than at a higher level of income, possibly more than the standard micro figures, so you need to consider if it is worth going for the full accounting regime. Yes, that costs more, but if your accountant can keep your taxable figures low this can have an impact on cotisations too, which will more than cover the outlay. You also have the potential benefit of being able to recover TVA (which you cannot normally do as a micro) which may or may not be significant in your line of business.

The only person who can really tell you what would be best for you is an accountant.

 

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Yes Sam, being self employed in France need not be the nightmare that many claim, but equally it is not something to be entered into lightly. It's particularly important to get the set-up right, and there is no one-size-fits-all answer so it is well worth getting professional advice. To start you off, www.apce.com gives you the low down on starting a business, though as you already seem to have the basics through working via portage, you don't need to get too bogged down in the business plans side of things. www.urssaf.fr is also worth a look as far as the all-important cotisations are concerned, though some of the figures there do seem a bit over-optimistic. Don't let any of it scare you too much, it's not that bad.

 

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To become self-employed here you will need to contact your local Chambre de Métiers and register to do the compulsory one week course. During the course everything you'll need to know, about being self-employed, will be explained in detail. At the end of this course you'll have a certificate to declare that you've completed it and at this point the Chambre de Métiers will ask for all the necessary information and register you as officially self-employed by issuing you with the SIREN and SIRET no's, and they will also inform the Centre des Impôts, URSSAF, the Caisse Maladie etc. of your new status. They're very helpful and will advise and explain anything you don't understand.
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