Created in 2009, the auto-entrepreneur status is designed to promote independent activities that can be carried out, on a full-time basis or as a supplement to income, by an author, copywriter, fashion designer, graphic artist, web-designer, or someone with a seasonal activity in tourism. This status also makes it possible to work from home, as auto -entrepreneurs can domicile their business at their personal address. In other words, you can be an auto-entrepreneur as well as an employee, pensioner, student or job seeker. Registering online as an auto -entrepreneur is quick and easy. But first of all, you need to know the conditions required to qualify for this status.
Conditions for becoming an auto-entrepreneur
As a self-employed entrepreneur, you are not liable for VAT. To qualify for this scheme, your annual sales excluding tax must therefore be no higher than :
– 81,500 euros for the sale of goods, objects, supplies or foodstuffs, and for tourism-related accommodation services (hotels, bed & breakfasts, gîtes or furnished accommodation).
– 32,600 euros for other service providers and the self-employed.
From a tax point of view, you have two choices: you can opt for the micro-enterprise tax system, or for withholding tax on income.
The advantages of auto-contractor status
This system considerably simplifies the lengthy and complex administrative formalities previously required to set up a business.
– You’ll benefit from simplified declaration and payment of social security contributions: this is the simplified micro social scheme.
– You’ll also benefit from simplified declaration and payment of income tax, thanks to the monthly or quarterly payment in full discharge.
– You will not be subject to VAT.
– You will be exempt from business property tax in the year you set up your business, and for the following two years.
– You’ll be exempt from having to register with the Trade and Companies Register, or with the Trades Register, if you’re setting up a business as a craftsman or trader.
– If you opt for payment in full discharge, you can enter your sales figures online, quarterly or monthly. The quarterly due dates are April 30, July 31, October 31 and January 31, at noon. Direct debit will take place on the due date.
– If you’ve earned nothing, you’ll pay nothing: you’ll only be taxed on what you actually earn.
5 steps to online registration
Step 1: Scan or send us your ID document
Before completing the online form, you will be asked to scan a proof of identity and attach the following handwritten declaration: “I certify on my honor that the copy of this identity document is a true copy of the original. Signed in … on… “If you don’t have a scanner, you can print out your declaration, sign it and attach a photocopy of your identity document. You can then send it by post to the CFE or Centre de Formalités des Entreprises in your département.
Step 2: The online form: declaration of activity
You’ll have to choose your main entrepreneurial activity from a list, and classify it in one of the following groups: commercial, craft or liberal activities. In this non-exhaustive list, you won’t necessarily find the activity that corresponds to your actual business. In this case, you’ll need to proceed by contiguity and find the activity that comes closest. Someone who is a reader in a publishing house would declare “book publishing” as their “most important activity”, and “reading and appraising manuscripts in a publishing house” as their “overall activity”.
Step 3: Personal statement
The form will then ask you for the following information: full name, nationality, date and place of birth, home address.
Step 4: Declaration of place of practice or establishment
You will then be asked whether you wish to run your auto -entrepreneur business from your home address, a business address or another registered address. Then declare whether or not you have a seasonal activity. Please indicate the most important activity. Ex: “Book publishing”, then “Manuscript reader in a publishing house”. You’ll be asked, via a list, to specify the place of exercise: store, office, workshop, factory, or other. If your spouse, whether married or in a civil partnership, works with you in this micro-business, he or she must be declared as an employee or collaborator.
Step 5: Social declaration
If you have one, you’ll need to give your social security number and indicate whether your self-employed activity is exclusive, or whether you’re also an employee, pensioner, student or unemployed.
You will then need to indicate your current health insurance scheme and, depending on your address, choose the organization approved by the Régime Social des Indépendants (RSI) for your health insurance. Then, lastly, as you come under the micro tax regime (BIC or special BNC), you will be asked whether or not you want to opt for payment in full of income tax. One signature, and, if the form is filled in correctly and accompanied by an electronic form of identification, you’ll immediately receive an e-mail confirming your registration! A few weeks later, Insee will issue you with a SIRET number, enabling you to start up your business as a self-employed entrepreneur, and register to declare and pay online! You’ve created your company!
As you can see, the process is quick and easy, and tax returns are simplified. But for certain activities, the self-employed entrepreneur often suffers from isolation, which prevents him from carrying out his activity to the best of his ability, or from making himself known. This is the case for authors and creators, anyone working in the arts, fashion or culture. At a time when the Internet is speeding up the circulation of texts and images, and encouraging copying, the most important thing for them is to prove their copyright and protect their intellectual property. For all new creations, consider asserting your rights through companies that protect intellectual property. One example is FIDEALIS, a European company that can register and certify any type of creation under intellectual property law, and register copyright online. Setting up a company is not enough: you also need to mark your creations as prior art, to protect them from misappropriation. This is the sixth and final step in becoming a self-employed entrepreneur.