Auto Entrepreneur!

[Thebiga]

Hi, We had a meeting with someone from RSI the other day as we are still having cotisation issues and been operating our Gites for 4 years. Anyway the long and the short of it was she said why didn't we go over to Auto Entreprenuer instead of Micro Bic. She said basically it is a micro bic but every 3 months whatever we have taken in those three we put down on the form and we can see a bit saying 12% and that 12% is what we take and send a cheque off and thats our cotisations. She said we still fill out our normal tax form at the end of the tax year but we never pay any as we do not take enough money.

Is this right just 12% of earnings every 3 months and thats all our cotisations taken care of as thats what she is telling us ifso we would save a fair bit of money.

Thankyou.

[Albert the InfoGipsy]

Actually, it's 12% of your turnover, but it's still probably a good deal for you.

Read this:

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

[Thebiga]

Thanks for that it will make a good read.

We were showed the difference and it did show that if you were on a low income say €10,000 that we would be worse off with AE but our income is above this but not massive and she showed us what we would pay and we would save at least €800 and thats not to be sniffed at.

Thanks again for your information.

[Albert the InfoGipsy]

Thinking about it, I'm surprised that you save much.

The general perception of AE is that you'll pay roughly the same as a conventional Micro if that has been running for more than about three years, which is how long it takes to get past the default income levels and start paying based on real figures. AE does have the advantage of reacting immediately to changes in your turnover, rather than paying cotisations based on earlier years.

I'd also have expected that there would be savings at the low end because, as I understand it, a Micro-BIC requires a certain minimum level of cotisations (about €1,400 a year ?) whereas AE doesn't.

[Danny]

[quote user="Albert the InfoGipsy"]

Thinking about it, I'm surprised that you save much.

The general perception of AE is that you'll pay roughly the same as a conventional Micro if that has been running for more than about three years, which is how long it takes to get past the default income levels and start paying based on real figures. AE does have the advantage of reacting immediately to changes in your turnover, rather than paying cotisations based on earlier years.

[/quote]

Albert,

for some businesses, the cotisations can be about half the amount compared to those paid under a standard Micro BIC. So it is definitely worth doing for those who qualify.

http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/1960765/ShowPost.aspx

Sadly, I am not one of those.. [:(]

Danny

[Frank]

Hi Thebiga

I too was advised the same as you and finally made the leap this yr after lots of research and calls to RSI with 'this can't possibly be right' questions!! I was sceptical at first and thought it was too good to be true as all the info I came across referred to a status change to AE, but as an existing Micro BIC professionelle, I qualified to pay cotisation via the regime Micro Simplifie at 12% of actual revenue every 3months whilst keeping my tax/business status as a micro bic professionelle. If I was on the same for last yr, I would have saved a similar amount as you have been quoted as in real terms, I paid 53% and not 45% in cotisations, and this yr it would have been nearer 60% as there is a minimum contribution that RSI didn't mention. I guess only time will tell if I have made the right move, but on calculations based on previous and projected turnover, I would benefit greatly. Hope this helps, as I said, it is based on my situation and yours may be different, but I think if you are a professionelle Micro BIC she is saying you qualify, but as with any advice, take advice as more often that not, we could be wrong and every situation is different!!! Good luck

[treschic]

I was told that when you complete your yearly tax return, there is a bit on the form where you put in your total AE turnover for the year/period and that they take 29% of that figure to be added to your household revenue income. I'm still in the early stages of looking into the AE scheme so I might be wrong about this, but it might be something you need to know for the future so hope it helps.

[Albert the InfoGipsy]

[quote user="treschic"]I was told that when you complete your yearly tax return, there is a bit on the form where you put in your total AE turnover for the year/period and that they take 29% of that figure to be added to your household revenue income. [/quote]

Yes, you do need to include your AE earnings on your tax return. If you have opted for the AE tax deal where you pay 1-2% of your turnover as tax each time you declare then, as I understand it, you are not taxed again on your AE money but it is taken into account when deciding the top rate tax band you fall into for taxing any other income, such as pensions or interest.

I don't know where you get the 29% figure from. That would amost certainly vary depending on whether your earnings are from sales or services.

[Will]

I can assure you that being registered as AE, and paying regular three-monthly sums to RSI, does not stop RSI demanding other annual payments, as it would if you were a micro business. When, as in this case, the AE is an addition to a salaried job, on which primary healthcare etc comes courtesy of the large cotisations paid (by both employer and employee) through CPAM, URSSAF etc it really does look like ridiculous greed on the part of the sécu system, particularly as the sums demanded wipe out anything actually made as an AE.

AE was introduced as an incentive for people to encourage start-up of small part-time businesses. RSI is well and truly taking away that incentive.

[Albert the InfoGipsy]

Will,

Could you enlighten us on what sort of payments RSI expects from AEs over and above the quarterly/monthly cotisations? I've been registered since the beginning of last year and so far have had no extra demands.

[Will]

A four figure sum for 'cotisations' - I can probably tell you more when I have seen the paperwork.

I don't think the demand is valid, but RSI continues to demand it and the accountant is being non-committal. From what I have seen on other forums, I don't think ours is an isolated case. It's probably like the extra tax demand we got, for a similar amount: that got whittled down and eventually wiped out after several months of fighting.

I think we've had enough of trying to work in France.

[Judie]

Hear, hear!!

[AnOther]

[quote user="Will"]I think we've had enough of trying to work in France.[/quote]I think there should be a sticky with that title [6]

I'm sure many make a good go of it but equally for many it's a virtually non profitable nightmare PITA, especially if entered into solely for ulterior motives, i.e. healthcare !

[cooperlola]

I knew (still do, actually) two French people extremely well in my little village back in the UK where we lived before.  Both run small businesses and both are there because they just found the whole thing easier to do in Britain and were sick of having to cope with what the two of you know so much about , W&J.  It's a real shame and stifles so much of the willingness to work and give it a go which this country so needs.

[Albert the InfoGipsy]

[quote user="Will"]A four figure sum for 'cotisations' - I can probably tell you more when I have seen the paperwork.

I don't think the demand is valid, but RSI continues to demand it and the accountant is being non-committal.

...
[/quote]

Will, Judie,

Is this for someone who converted to AE from some other regime, such as one of the 'traditional' micros?

[Judie]

No, I started my auto entrepreneur business from scratch on the 1st of January 2009.