self employed earnings

[Crjohnstone]

hi
Can anyone enlighten us as to how much, if your self employed your minimum wage has to be to live in France?
as i keep hearing different tales?
Also what is the current situation with c d sejour and id cards to be in France living?do you need one or what
Thanks colin and helen

[Val_2]

Being self employed in France is very complicated compared to the same in the UK. Firstly you have to register as an artisan,take a week's business management course in french and then you become TVA registered and have to start paying social charges (cotisations) to at least five or six different bodies,plus compulsory pensions,work insurances,apprenticeship tax,taxe professionelle etc. You don't say exactly what you do so I take it you are in building or associated trades. The minimum charge per hour for an artisan to charge clients in approx 30 and this is worked out on your cotisations,with less skilled personnel at about 22 - 25 per hour. You won't earn anything like the salary you are used to in the UK with all these charges but you do get something back when you retire as long as you make up for the years you have missed out. You can support a family of four,we do, as long as you are sensible and make sure you always have a good six months or more work ahead because payments never stop here. Keeping a contingency fund is a good idea for unexpected bills too. If you are going to register as self employed here,you will probably be required to obtain CDS for all the family,although again depends on which dept and how they interpret the rules these days,but you are forever being asked for identification here and carrying a UK passport when you are working is not practical with the cost of replacement very expensive. I suggest you really do your homework regarding working in France or you may get a rather large shock if you turn up expecting to carry on as before.

[zeb]

LAST EDITED ON 29-Jun-04 AT 11:22 AM (BST)

>hi
>Can anyone enlighten us as to
>how much, if your self
>employed your minimum wage has
>to be to live in
>France?
>as i keep hearing different tales?

As Val2 says, you have to register and then you have to pay large cotisations, subscriptions and tax, so that takes a big chunk out of your earnings.

You can go down the micro-entreprise route like we have - no TVA but a ceiling on earnings - I think 27K euros (may have gone up to 32K minus cotisations). Anyway we manage (2 of us) OK on much less than this (no mortgage, loans etc., 2 vehicles and renovating) but we had loads of practice of living on low incomes in our student days!
>
>Also what is the current situation
>with c d sejour and
>id cards to be in
>France living?do you need one
>or what

We had to get a CdS in the Charente to start the business but that was 18 months ago and things may have changed.

You could do what I did (from the UK): write a letter to the Chambre de Commerce of the department you are hoping to move to, tell them what sort of work you do and ask whether you need to register with them or the Chambre de Metiers. I wrote in very basic French and with the help of a translation package. CdC duly wrote back with list of requirements - CdS, birth, marriage, divorce certificates, EDF bill (I think) and bank RIB.

As Val says though, do plenty of research - you will need to know which is the best business/tax regime for your chosen skill and potential income. Do a search of this site - there is a lot of information and useful website links.

I looked at your profile and haven't a clue who you would register with but Chambre de Commerce would certainly know. Once you have moved to France it will all take time to register and get sorted out so come with enough capital to keep you going for several months - you can then research the area and put feelers out for future clients.

Good luck

regards......helen
PS Learn as much French as possible whilst you are still in the UK, you can then advertise (once registered) in French and English which does go down well with the locals. Lots of French owned horses around here!

[Val_2]

I had trouble reading your profile before I replied earlier so what I have said dosn't really apply except for the hefty cotisations you will have to pay here. I would think you need to contact the governing Veterinary Body for France to find out about registering here and whether or not your qualifications are recognised. Obviously you will need both fluent spoken and written french to do your paperwork for clients and communicate with them. In your case you may well be asked to get your CDS sorted and an employer may also demand to see some proper ID and not just a british passport. The French Consulate in London may give you further info too.