Mamou Posted January 6, 2007 Share Posted January 6, 2007 Looking into possibility of being self-employed in France as gardener. I have heard that it may be better to register as a micro business to reduce tax, particularly as it will not generate a very high income. Have also heard that if I limit the number of hours worked, i.e to part time, this can have tax advantages. And finally someone suggested that I may be eligible for a start up grant of two thousand euros, to buy equipment with. Can anyone confirm this information for me or provide any additional advice? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 Are you officially registered in France as unemployed? (For which you would normally need to have been employed in France first, and paid into the system). If not, it is doubtful that any of these benefits will apply to you, particularly a start-up grant.It's a myth that a micro business reduces tax. It merely simplifies accounting. In many cases you can pay less tax (and, more importantly cotisations) by not being limited to the standard micro allowances against income and charging/recovering TVA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milou Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 Hello, Will, do you know the rough cost of an accountant for a business on regime simplifee? I take it thats a good alternative to a micro as I already have and will buy more equipment that would require offsetting. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 You would need to get quotes, but my feeling is that you would pay about 1000€ inc TVA upwards per annum for a decent accountant to cover preparation of quarterly TVA returns and your annual accounts, plus dealing with the various official departments on your behalf. But this will be more than covered by savings in tax and cotisations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeb Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 ....and don't forget that there is very little work during the winter months unless, like us, you are able to get some vine pruning. We actually gave up the garden maintenance micro earlier this year and changed our registration to a different trade (which had evolved from that) as our fairly expensive machinery cost a fortune to service/maintain/renew.Our accountant charges us around 2000 euros for fairly simple accounting. We didn't bother with an accountant for the micro as it was just a case of sending out factures for long term jobs and totting up income for the tax form annually. There is a higher tax allowance for micros and in some areas you can get deferrment of cotisations if you are under 40 and don't mind paying the full whack and what's owing later. Some changes are promised but no date has been given yet.It's impossible to work part-time - you have the same cotisations for the first couple of years as they are worked out to a formula which assumes you work a 35 hour week, then adjusted in the third year. I think it's fairly true to say you work the morning for France and the afternoon for yourself!Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris pp Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 There's always Cheque d'emploi for part time garden services for anyone who only wants to tick over and earn smaller wage, may be worth considering depending on your needs.Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LanguedocGal2 Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 [quote user="Mamou"] And finally someone suggested that I may be eligible for a start up grant of two thousand euros, to buy equipment with. Can anyone confirm this information for me or provide any additional advice? Thanks.[/quote]MamouA while ago, I picked up a leaflet dated 2005 from our local Chamber of Commerce. Depending which region you live in, there may be grants available but, as Will says, the leaflet says that they are for the unemployed or those taking over ailing businesses. The leaflet is entitled: Creation & reprise d’entreprise.Most of the information in this particular leaflet is Languedoc-Roussillon specific so it may be a good idea for you to contact your local Chamber of commerce as well as the organisations below if they exist in your area. Your Chamber of Commerce should be able to advise. Failing that, look in the Pages Jaunes for them. They may be called something else in your region though so you may not be able to avoid the CC. If you don't speak much French, don't let that stop you because there may be someone within the departmental CC network that does. You never know! It may be worth you consulting these organisations before you decide which business form to choose if finances is likely to be an issue. 1) Boutique de Gestion2) Cooperative / Couveuse (may only be available to the unemployed but no harm in trying). You may also consider the following pages: http://www.apce.com/index.php?type_page=IL&pays=1&rubrique_id=300000111 (English Page)http://www.apce.com/index.php?rubrique_id=300000113&type_page=IL&pays=1(click onto your region via this link) If link doesn’t work, then go through www.apce.frIf the area you are moving to has a high unemployment rate, there may be schemes on offer that are not available in other regions. Horrendous bureaucracy apart, starting a business in this country without mega bucks is no laughing matter but doable depending on your personal circumstances. I’m sure you’re worked that out from other threads on LF.Bonne Chance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mamou Posted January 8, 2007 Author Share Posted January 8, 2007 What is the cheque d'emploi? This sounds interesting as I am not wanting to earn huge amounts, or run a big business, just a meagre income to pay the bills and put food on the table. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keni Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 I am in the same position - looking to perhaps add a little to small pension. We have a small piece of land and hubby would like to have bees and sell honey. I know a local beekeper sells his honey through the Co-op, but with something like this you are are the mercy of the bees/weather - or do you think the French might regard them as employees? (Joke). I myself have a small shop in the Uk which I would like to downsize and run in France. I would only work part-time, and employ no-one, so would be very interested in finding out about this. I was thinking about seeing whether I could run it as a France arm of a UK business.Thanks Keni Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 Part time work on a self-employed basis is not economically viable in France, unless you can be paid via the cheque d'emploi system. That would not be possible in your own shop. Although costs of premises and various other overheads are a lot less in France, this is more than made up for by the high costs of working. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clair Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 [quote user="Mamou"]What is the cheque d'emploi? This sounds interesting as I am not wanting to earn huge amounts, or run a big business, just a meagre income to pay the bills and put food on the table.[/quote]This very recent thread covers the basics and also gives you the website:http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/841988/ShowPost.aspx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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