hesitant where to register a small company (UK or France)?..

[cell]

Dear all,

Recently, I changed my job in France and somehow have a bit of spare time

so I am thinking to do some part-time IT consulting for individuals and small companies.

I am a British citizen and a permanent resident in France with a full-time job

since 2008 (also in the process of buying a flat here) but most of my potential

customers are outside France (USA/UK/Spain).

Considering, that I do not speak good French yet and that French laws to create

companies/business seem to be very complex, I am thinking if it is possible

to register such a consultancy company in the UK while working from France?

Does it make sense?.. Also, what will happen with my tax in this case?

Also, since naturally this business may not work well, is it possible

not to pay any tax if I do not have customers while keeping company alive

for a few years?.. I heard that if I register any company in France,

most of the time, after a few years I will have to start paying various

taxes even if I do not have customers, etc?..

                                       

Finally, if I have some earnings, can I simply declare them in my individual

tax form just as additional earnings or should it be something else?..

I am a newbie in all that so I will appreciate any suggestions!

Thanks a lot!!!

[cooperlola]

You cannot work full time from France for a UK company.  Well, you can but that company has to set up a French based subsiary to employ you.  Thus as it's your own business then it's France only - you do not have a choice.  The autoentrepreneur scheme may well suit you - there's loads about it on here if you do a search. 

You pay tax in the country where the work is carried out - again that would be France.  If you're really concerned about the problems of setting up the business etc, then why not consult an English speaking French accounant?  They do exist and will give you correct, professional advice.

[Albert the InfoGipsy]

You should definitely be registered and paying tax & cotisations in France.

I'd agree that autoentrepreneur (AE) would be a good option for the sort of thing you are talking about. Read this to find out about it:

http://www.pbss-uk.com/AEGuide_March2009_EN.pdf

The only constraints would possibly be the turnover limit (about €32,000 pa) and the fact that contributions are based on turnover, rather than taking real expenses into account. That said, I've operated as an IT consultant via AE for the last year. Fortunately I haven't had to make many site visits so my costs have been negligible and I'm now semi-retired so cutting back my workload. If you're only part-time then the turnover limit probably won't affect you unless your rate is much higher than mine.

[cell]

Thanks "cooperlola" and "Albert the

InfoGipsy" for a very quick reply.

So, it's now clear where to set up business and pay tax, but I will

still need to read more about this autoentrepreneur status - I heard about

it from my friend a year ago, but he told me that you can be autoentrepreneur

only for 2 years and then either close business if it's not going well or move

to another status. If this is correct, it's not good for me, because I would like

to do consultancy from time to time maybe for 5 years and I do not expect it to be very

profitable - if I can make additional 10.000-15.000euros per year, I will

be more than happy...

Thanks again!

[Polly]

Your friend is wrong.

Do some googling, see http://thenakedaccountant.wordpress.com/ for example

[cell]

Actually, one more question: is it generally possible to register a company with an intention

to operate in the future and then keep it inactive for a year or two?.. The reason is

to show an intention and be ready if one day it's needed...

Thanks!

[Albert the InfoGipsy]

[quote user="cell"]Actually, one more question: is it generally possible to register a company with an intention
to operate in the future and then keep it inactive for a year or two?.. The reason is
to show an intention and be ready if one day it's needed...
Thanks!

[/quote]

You can register an AE and it will remain usable for up to three years (rule changed from one year recently) without any turnover declarations. But I can't understand this "show an intention" idea -- show to whom? I can't see any point in registering a company until you expect to start trading. Registering an AE takes a few minutes online and it typically takes a couple of weeks to receive the documentation. As some benefits (e.g. exemption from taxe pro) have a limited life it makes sense to wait.

[cell]

Ok, I see ... It looks like it's better to wait a bit.

I want to make an on-line consultancy company and it includes 2 steps: designing the website and, naturally, getting some customers.

I also want to show the concept to one big company and would like to show it already as a working company even

if I don't have real customers yet - the idea is that maybe this big company will buy my company ...

I know that the chances are tiny but still want to try one day ;) ...

Thanks again for your answers!!!