Microentreprise/microbic status

[Smiff]

Have posted on gite site but no response, so thought I would try here.  Slightly confused about microbic versus microentreprise status when running gites.  The visit to the Chamber of Commerce and the Tax Office still didn't make it terribly clear.  Has anyone running gites registered as a microentreprise ?  Is this preferable ?  My french neighbour who runs 2 gites has, but as I understood it, declaring as a microbic is all that is required.  Any comments appreciated

[jon]

Have you got an accountant?Most people in uk seek the advise of an accountant.That was the first thing that I did after the purchase of my property.The people on this site are most helpfull ....but your accountant will have YOUR full details and will advise you accordingly.

[mandycats]

Hi Jon good advise, however accountants usually advise you to do things that require their services.

A micro bic is a small business and you pay cotistations on a fixed amount for year 1, year 2 is based on year 1 takings etc.  This can be very expensive and if you have a good year, followed by a bad year then you can find yourself in trouble  (this is how most french businesses fail). This sytem does not require an accountant so is often not recommended by accountants! 

There is a new regime starting in January 2009 called 'autoentrepreneur' and it will allow you to pay a percentage of your actual turnover.  You can then pay this on a month by month basis or 3 monthly.  This is not necessarily cheaper than the micro-bic but it does allow you to 'pay as you go' and at least if you dont earn anything then you dont pay anything!

It won't suit everyone.  It doesnt suit us for example, we have an on-line car parts business and our turnover is high but our profit is low by comparison. 

Pop into your local tourist information office and ask where your local business advice centre is.  They are the perfect sourse of impartial advice and often are privy to little bits of help and assistance that prove invaluable. 

The above is based on our personal experiences.  I sincerely wish you the best in your enterprise and i hope you find a good solution.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[UlsterRugby1999]

No doubt I'll get lambasted for this but -

• French accountancy practices are governed by a very different set of regulations than those in Ireland/UK. The Irish/UK accountant is both employed by you and working strictly for you. From my research and discussions the French accountant will simply deliver a set of prepared accounts for you and offer little, if any, advice on how to reduce your income/earnings which will ultimately be subject to cotisations and appropriate taxes.

• under MicroBic you simply declare your total turnover and the appropriate agencies determine your liability to cotisation and appropriate taxes. There are formulae for determining this yourself prior to declaration

• The 2 main Chambres (Chambre de Commerce and Chambre des Metiers) will, normally, urge you to adopt the MicroEnterprise system - they certainly did when I registered with both and many of those with whom I have come into contact with would agree. If your earnings are going to be equal to or less than the MicroBic limits, for many this system is possibly better. It is my understanding from the many French Artisans Individuels with whom I have worked that the vast majority of them are registered for the MicroBic system. This begs the question - WHY and who benefits. I doubt you'll need to be a rocket scientist to figure that out.

As with everything that falls into the fiscal arena - you need to tread carefully and with as complete a knowledge bank as possible. This is not as easy as it sounds.

But I wish you good luck.