Accountant for expat entrepreneurs starting a business in France

Legal structures open to foreign founders

French law makes no distinction of nationality between founders when it comes to the choice of structure. You can trade in your own name or set up a company, alone or with partners. Companies such as the EURL, SARL, SASU and SAS have no minimum share capital, and the liability of the shareholders is limited to what they contribute.

Some activities are regulated and require a qualification, a licence or registration with a professional body. A diploma obtained outside France may need to be recognised first. This should be checked before anything else, because it can change the timetable of the project.

• Entreprise individuelle (sole trader), including the micro-entreprise (simplified sole-trader regime): no company is created and there is no share capital.
• EURL or SARL (limited liability company with one or several shareholders): a majority manager is self-employed for social security purposes.
• SASU or SAS (simplified joint-stock company with one or several shareholders): the president is treated as an employee for social security purposes when paid.

EU, EEA and Swiss nationals

Nationals of the European Union, the European Economic Area and Switzerland benefit from freedom of establishment. They can set up and run a business in France without a visa or residence permit, and they follow the same registration formalities as French nationals.

To stay in France for more than three months, they must work, as an employee or self-employed, or have sufficient resources and health insurance. They can ask for a residence card, which can make some administrative steps easier, but it is optional and is never required to start a business.

Non-EU nationals: residence permits for business founders

A national of a country outside the EU, the EEA and Switzerland who wants to live in France and run a business must first obtain a long-stay visa, then hold a residence permit that authorises the activity. The main permits are listed below. Amounts are those published on the official Service Public website, checked in September 2026, and they change when the minimum wage (SMIC) is updated.

A person who does not live in France, and stays no more than 90 days in any period of 180 days, does not need a residence permit to set up and manage a French company from abroad. Working in France as a sole trader, on the other hand, requires living in France with an appropriate permit.

The visa or permit application is made by the founder with the French authorities: the consulate, the online platform for foreign nationals or the prefecture. SAREPTA is an accounting firm, not an immigration adviser. For the application itself you may want the help of an immigration lawyer. Our part is the business side of the file: business plan, financial forecasts and the company itself.

• Entrepreneur/profession libérale card: valid for up to one year and renewable. The activity must be economically viable and provide resources at least equal to the full-time minimum wage, shown as EUR 1,867.02 a month.
• Talent-porteur de projet card (formerly passeport talent), business creation category: valid for up to four years. It requires a diploma at master level or five years of professional experience at a comparable level, a real and serious project, at least EUR 30,000 of financing for the project, and resources at least equal to the annual minimum wage, shown as EUR 22,404.20.
• Recherche d'emploi/création d'entreprise card (job search or business creation): valid for one year and not renewable, for recent graduates of French higher education and researchers.

Registering the business through the guichet unique

Since 1 January 2023, all formalities for creating, changing or closing a business are filed online through the guichet unique (one-stop portal for business formalities), operated by INPI, the French intellectual property office. It replaced the former network of business formality centres. The business is entered in the Registre national des entreprises (national business register).

Once the file is accepted, the business receives its identifiers: a SIREN number for the business, a SIRET number for each establishment and an APE code for its main activity. You can file yourself or give a mandate to a professional to file on your behalf.

• Choose a registered office address: your home, commercial premises or a domiciliation company.
• For a company: draft the articles of association, deposit the share capital and publish a legal notice.
• Check the conditions for a regulated activity and gather the supporting documents.
• File the registration on the guichet unique, with proof of identity and, for non-EU nationals living in France, the residence permit.

Social security affiliation

Your social security scheme follows from the legal structure, not from your nationality. Contributions are collected by URSSAF and give access to French health cover, family benefits and pension rights.

If you remain insured in another country, for example because you keep an activity there, the question of which country's social security scheme applies must be settled before you start. It depends on European coordination rules or on the bilateral agreement between France and the country concerned.

• Micro-entrepreneur: contributions are a percentage of turnover received, from 12.3% for sales of goods to 25.6% for non-regulated liberal professions in 2026. No turnover means no contributions.
• Sole trader outside the micro regime, EURL manager and majority SARL manager: self-employed scheme, with contributions calculated on professional income and minimum contributions due each year.
• President of a SASU or SAS: general scheme, with the same contributions as an executive employee but without unemployment insurance. Contributions are due only when remuneration is paid.

First tax and accounting obligations

From the first day of activity, the business must issue compliant invoices and keep its records. The level of obligation depends on the structure: a micro-entrepreneur keeps a chronological record of receipts, and a register of purchases when the activity is mainly the sale of goods, while a company keeps full accounts, prepares annual accounts and files them with the commercial court registry. Accounts are approved within six months of the year end and filed within one month of approval, or two months when filed online.

This page gives general information based on the rules in force on the review date. Your tax residence, the tax treaty between France and your country of origin and your family situation all affect the result, so each situation must be reviewed individually.

• VAT: no VAT is charged under the franchise en base (VAT exemption for small businesses) while turnover stays under EUR 37,500 for services or EUR 85,000 for sales of goods in 2026. Above these levels, or on option, VAT returns must be filed.
• Tax on profit: income tax in the name of the founder for a sole trader, and by default for an EURL owned by an individual. Corporate tax for other companies, at 25%, with a reduced rate of 15% on the first EUR 42,500 of profit under conditions.
• Cotisation foncière des entreprises, or CFE (local business property tax): an initial declaration, form 1447-C-SD, is filed by 31 December of the year of creation.
• Personal income tax return: once you are tax resident in France, you file an annual return covering your income, subject to the applicable tax treaty.