Applying for a Siret??

[Evianers]

For more than 18 months now, I have been giving free English lessons to the retired members of our community - much enjoyed by all seemingly! Hooray.

However, now one of the Mairie employees has asked our lovely Maire whether she can have structured English lessons with me, which have to be paid. Question is, for a modest amount per week it seems that legally I shall be required to take out a Siret. Have any other forum members had to do this, and if so, can you please guide me through the steps as the above employee tells me it is incredibly complicated. Hope not, but knowing France, she's inevitably right!

Thank you in advance for all helpful and precise suggestions.

[Hereford]

What about using cheque emploi. This is easy to use for her (client) and she may even get tax relief for some of your charge.

[NormanH]

I would have hoped you could be  paid by CESU

http://www.edulide.fr/cours-particuliers/cesu-blog-8.html#question1

which  is really intended for lessons for the children, but in the past I had parents take advantage of the lessons for themselves.

This avoids the need for a Siret.

On the other hand if it is someone who is a stickler for the letter of the law this might not be accepted.

In that case you can become an AE but that is much more bothersome..

[Loiseau]

I had a feeling that to use CESU you had to give the service at the client's house - i.e. cleaning, gardening, piano lessons etc.

Is it still ok if someone is giving the lessons in an office rather than the home?

[Evianers]

The client WILL be coming to my house - would this perhaps make a positive difference?

[EuroTrash]

Going through all the hassle of registering a business for one client is simply not worthwhile, IMHO. Running a business brings all kinds of responsibilities and obligations, it's not just a case of having a siret number that you can bring out and dust off when you need it and forget about when you don't. For one thing, if the business remains registered into the next calendar year you become liable for an annual business tax, CFE, on your home since it will be registered as business premises (new businesses are exempt from this tax for the calendar year of their creation). CFE can be anywhere from €200 upwards. It's possible to be excused this tax if your earnings are very low, but it's at the discretion of the authorities and you have the hassle of applying and grovelling.

Then there's the issue of paying cotisations on your earnings. If you're currently on an S1 for healthcare, this might be affected if you become economically active. If your status changes from inactif to active this will affect all kinds of things, for instance as an S1 holder you may be exempt from social charges that you would become liable for if you invalidate your S1. This may not happen but you need to make very sure that it won't, or you could end up earning a few hundred euros and losing several thousan euros.

Why not:

Give the lessons for free

or

Ask if you can use chèque emploi and if necessary have the lessons at their house rather than yours (ask the mairie about this, after all nobody will know where the lessons take place apart from you or the student)

or

Simply say no.

I know several retired French teachers who give French lessons, and they all do it either via chèque emploi or on the black. Obviously the mairie can't officially go along with on the black, and they may not be able to go along with chèque emploi, but they will completely understand if you say that you're retired (if you are) and setting up a business would raise too many complications.

[NormanH]

I am not sure that anyone would ever know, but technically it is supposed to be at the client's..

[EuroTrash]

You could look at this

https://www.service-public.fr/professionnels-entreprises/vosdroits/R17919

it's the equivalent of CESU, but whereas CESU is for providing a service to private individuals, TESE is for providing a service to businesses, which presumably is what this is about if the mairie will be paying.

[Hereford]

I am sure that the last time I pout a new person (a cleaner as it happens) onto a CESU account it asked for the address of the work place.

[idun]

Good point about a possible S1 being invalidated.

Something we had to bear in mind before the UK pension kicked in.