Accountant for foreign companies setting up in France

Three ways to set up: liaison office, branch, subsidiary

The choice depends on what the French operation will do. If it only observes the market and makes contacts, a liaison office may be enough. As soon as it sells, invoices or signs contracts in France, a branch or a subsidiary is needed.

• Bureau de liaison (liaison office): no legal personality and no commercial activity. It can carry out prospecting, advertising, information, storage or other activities of a preparatory or auxiliary nature. It cannot sign contracts or invoice clients.
• Succursale (branch): a commercial establishment of the foreign company in France, run by a local manager. It has no legal personality of its own, so the foreign company is liable for its debts.
• Filiale (subsidiary): a company incorporated under French law, usually an SAS or a SARL, with its own legal personality and its own assets. The liability of the parent company is limited to its contribution, and the subsidiary can apply for public aid, which a branch cannot.

Registration formalities

A branch must be registered with the Registre du commerce et des sociétés, or RCS (trade and companies register). A subsidiary is created like any French company, with articles of association, deposit of the share capital, publication of a legal notice and registration. Formalities are filed online through the guichet unique (one-stop portal for business formalities) operated by INPI.

A liaison office is not registered with the RCS as long as it has no commercial activity. If it employs staff in France, it needs a SIRET number and must declare and pay social contributions.

• Documents usually required for a branch: extract from the register of the foreign company, articles of association with a French translation, declaration of beneficial owners, and the appointment, identity and declaration of no conviction of the branch manager.
• For a regulated activity: the licence or authorisation required in France.
• A registered office or establishment address in France: own premises or a domiciliation company.

Corporate tax and permanent establishment

French corporate tax is territorial. A company is taxed in France on the profits of the business it carries on in France, whatever its nationality. A subsidiary is taxed on its own profit. A branch is an établissement stable (permanent establishment) of the foreign company, which is taxed in France on the profit attributable to the branch.

Even without a branch or a subsidiary, a foreign company can be taxable in France when it operates here through an autonomous establishment, through representatives who have no independent professional status, or when it carries out a complete commercial cycle in France. These domestic rules apply subject to the tax treaty between France and the country of the company, which has its own definition of a permanent establishment. A liaison office that goes beyond preparatory or auxiliary activity is exposed to this risk.

The standard rate of corporate tax is 25% in 2026. A reduced rate of 15% applies to the first EUR 42,500 of profit, only for companies with turnover of no more than EUR 10 million, whose share capital is fully paid up and at least 75% owned by individuals, directly or through companies that meet the same condition. Many subsidiaries of foreign groups do not meet this ownership condition.

VAT

A subsidiary or a branch that sells goods or services in France is registered for VAT, charges French VAT on its taxable sales and files returns with its business tax office. Transactions between a subsidiary and its parent company are transactions between two separate companies and must be invoiced and documented.

A foreign company can also have VAT obligations in France without being established here, for example when it delivers goods in France. A company established outside the European Union must then appoint a tax representative established in France, who files the returns and is liable for the VAT. Companies established in a country that has a mutual assistance agreement with France are exempt from this requirement. The list is set by ministerial order and includes the United Kingdom, Norway, Australia, Japan and India, among others.

Foreign companies without a permanent establishment in France deal with the Service des impôts des entreprises étrangères, or SIEE (tax office for foreign companies), based in Noisy-le-Grand. When a tax representative has been appointed, the formalities are carried out with the business tax office of the place where the representative is established.

Payroll for the first French employees

An employee who works in France is in principle covered by French social security, whatever the nationality of the employer, and contributions are paid in France. The exceptions, such as temporary postings, follow European coordination rules or bilateral social security agreements.

A foreign company with no establishment in France that employs someone here registers with the URSSAF foreign companies service. It can use the Titre firmes étrangères, or TFE, a simplified system that covers declarations and payment of contributions. Employers with no establishment in France are not liable for the vocational training contribution or the apprenticeship tax.

• Déclaration préalable à l'embauche, or DPAE (pre-hiring declaration): filed before the employee starts work, and no earlier than eight days before.
• Written information given to the employee within seven days of hiring on the main terms of the job: position, place of work, pay and working hours.
• Entry in the staff register, which is compulsory from the first employee.
• Medical information and prevention visit with the occupational health service.
• Affiliation to the supplementary pension scheme (Agirc-Arrco), monthly payslips and social declarations.

Accounts and annual filing

A subsidiary keeps its accounts under French accounting rules, prepares annual accounts and has them approved within six months of the year end. They are filed with the commercial court registry within one month of approval, or two months when filed online. Small companies can ask for all or part of their accounts to remain confidential. Above certain size thresholds a statutory auditor must be appointed. SAREPTA does not carry out statutory audit.

A branch keeps accounts for its French activity, which are used for its tax returns. In addition, the foreign company must file each year, with the registry of the place where the branch is located, the accounting documents that it has prepared, had audited and published in its home country, with a French translation where needed.

This page gives general information based on the rules in force on the review date. The tax treaty between France and the country of the parent company, the group structure and the nature of the activity all change the analysis, so each situation must be reviewed individually.