I've been living in the Pyrénées Orientales region of France and running my own business for over 10 years now. Initially it was as an employee of my own English limited company - registered as an "entreprise étrangère non établie en France" (a foreign business not established in France) and subsequently with a secondary activity as an auto-entrepreneur in France. At the end of 2017, I took the plunge, moved my UK clients across and changed from the micro-entreprise system of quarterly returns and social security deductions based on turnover to the "régime de la déclaration controlée" where I pay social security based on my actual profit the year before. However I still get to grapple with the micro-entreprise system as my other half is registered with the Chambre de Métiers as a handyman and I do his paperwork.
It occured to me that my struggles with French bureaucracy might be of help to others, so I've decided to start this blog - it will be a mixture of "how to" articles as I go about the business of doing my books, filing returns, paying contributions, tax etc., and anecdotes on the travails of running a business in France. I hope you find it useful. Don't hesitate to get in touch if you have any comments or questions.
In early 2018, I changed from the micro-entreprise system of charges paid quarterly based on actual turnover to paying on account based on my previous year's profits despite not having gone over the limits for turnover as a micro-entreprise. Here's what I had to do and why I did it.
As you might expect bookkeeping in France and the UK follows the same principles but the French tax authorities have different rules on what you can and can't deduct as expenses. This post is about my experiences getting to grips with the French system.