Commission only sales

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Afaik the French way of doing this is via a form of employment contract, I think the employer is responsible for the payment of social charges.
At least one uk firm asserts that in France as in the UK there are no formalities other than declaring earnings on the tax return. I'm sure this is wrong; presumably it is possible to set up as a commercial enterprise but I imagine this would be prohibitively expensive.
Does anyone know any more?

[Iceni]

I have a feeling that if you work for one company on a commission only basis in the UK you 'could' or 'would' be seen as being an employee of that company by the IR. They are getting very hot on people who are supposedly self employed but only work for one company - I think they came down like a ton of bricks on double glazing salesmen a few years ago who worked like this.

This is from memory - but for fact I know that you don't have any 'right' to be self employed in the UK, you have to agree it with the IR who's stated aim seems to be to get everyone on to PAYE one way or another.

Di

http://www.iceni-it.co.uk

[Couserans]

Aside from the usual Agent Commercial setup, could it not in theory be done through a company by setting up an SARL (and taking advantage of today's reduced start up costs) and then invoicing as a company.

You would have to pay yourself a salary so the employer contributions would be steep, but your secu charges rates should be lower.

It would depend on how much the annual earnings are but the benefit is you don't start paying charges until you start earning/paying yourself a salary..

And as for the UK firm's POV, surely self employed individuals are supposed to pay regular Class2 NIC (albeit a ridiculously small amount) whether they are earning or not?

[Azteque]

Hi
A bit late to answer to your point, but to do commission only sales you must register, not with the chambre de commerce but with the tribunal known as the GREFFE. This is only true for certain businesses but commission only is one of them. You must have a contract from the person/company you are selling on behalf of and you will be responsible for your own charges, (NI and Tax) You can, I believe, be an agent commercial (as this is what it is called) for a number of products but must sign up and follow the french business rules.
Hope this helps and please feel free to ask more questions as I am an agent commercial here.
sarah

[Guillaumy]

I am thinking of setting up a distribution network for a variety of goods.
As commission payment seems to be a no-no, what would be the tax status of the seller in this scenario?
1. I supply goods to seller with an invoice.
2. Seller sells half the goods and returns the other half.
3. I issue credit note for returned goods for seller.
4. Seller pays difference between original invoice and credit note.
This would avoid the agent problem wouldnt it?