If only, apparently not. What is paid is turnover. That is what is declared and charged against. No deductions are allowed. It is infuriating, frustrating and almost criminal because it discourages rather than encourages enterprise.
I think you are allowed to make corrections in the next declaration. ie deduct the 2k from earnings next quarter.
When I was ill I did the same. Just declare €200 or a nominal amount like that and start all over again with the eight quarters. Two full years without any income is quite long so by then, unless you have an alternative income, it isn't actually unreasonable.
I have been an AE since 2010, albeit in a field where my expenses are v. low, so it doesn't make a lot of difference to me.
My understanding is certainly that AE cotisations are based on your gross turnover, with no deductions for expenses; oddly, though, it is a requirement to keep ledgers of purchases and (of course!) sales.
However, many French people with whom I speak seem to be even less clued-up than I am about the AE status. In particular, many people carrying on what is in fact a micro-entreprise (possibly BNC) believe they are autoentrepreneurs, when in fact, they are not. So your friend might be right, if mistaken about their own situation!
If you have no or little other income, you will not have used up your 'basic allowance', and so you'll likely be better off NOT paying your AE income tax via the cotisation libératoire. However, if you DO have other income and hence have already used up all your allowance, then you may well be better off paying the cotisation libératoire, which is fairly low compared to some people's tax rate.
The AE cotisations are separate from any other revenue you may have and on which you will have to pay tax. Even if you pay the cotisation libératoire for the income tax on your AE income only, you still have to fill in a conventional Tax Return.
As for being 'struck off', you are allowed 8 quarters of zero declarations; but if you DO get 'struck off', note there is a delay before you can have the status again. In practice, when my business was slower geting started than I'd expected, I declared a nominal amount whenever that 8th quarter was coming round, and so kept my status going.
just under two years ago I was the subject of a a Tax Audit under the Micro BIC regime which was the forerunner to AE). The reason given was that my declared income was always just under the TVA threshold. I informed the inspector that this was deliberate and that if he insisted I register and charge TVA I would shut my business down immediately and he could have 20% of nothing. He made four visits to my house and checked all bank accounts here and in the UK and even checked three years' worth of paying in books. Whilst checking my invoices he noted that on some of them there were receipts attached. I explained that these were for items purchased on behalf of clients (anything from a fridge, washing machine to pool chemicals for example) and that the applicable invoices (95% of which were written in English) had the item listed separately as "Reimbursement for items purchased on behalf of client" with the amount paid alongside. I pointed out that no profit was made on the items. He took copies away and subsequently accepted that this was acceptable. All declarations have been and are still made excluding these amounts. Could the OP's friend be referring to this? despite the inspector's best efforts including a request to see additional years information outside the three year period (after taking professional advice I told him that those particular records were not available) he found nothing. It was not a particularly pleasant experience and I was relieved when it was all over. I was so glad I had kept all paperwork "just in case" as his first question was "How did I pay for my house as there was no mortgage on it" all documentation was produced from the sale of our UK house back in 2004 when we moved here.
That sounds very much like what I understood:-)
When we asked about the fact that we both work in international research with the fares and so forth, the URSSAF people looked at each other, shrugged their shoulders and they had not suggestion what we should do. When my OH asked if we should break the law, one of them that that is probably the best way to do it but do not tell them! As if anybody would be that stupid...
As you say Brian! In fact, this unreasonable addition to the AE régime is destined to keep artisans quiet as it precludes us from "making a profit" on goods we could resell, such as bathroom fixtures for plumbers, for instance. For AEs in construction, the only way to survive is to have the client pay for all the equipment, still, an AE needs basic tools, which can be costly. I suppose you'd need to choose well-equipped customers if you couldn't come up with the money to purchase a set of screwdrivers….
'Fantastic amounts' = their fantasy.
I confirm you have no right to make any kind of deduction from your declaration. Moreover, if you are reimbursed, theoretically, you should declare it as well (I asked when I was at the URSSAF), as the fantastic amounts we are making imply that we are taxed on the totality.
The plague of both our lives here at times. My OH recently spent out pushing €2000 on fares, hotel and other expenses which were reimbursed. Unfortunately the idiot of an accountant put it in with the fees. Now it is part of turnover and around €400 of her own money will be taken off by URSSAF. Builders have it worse, so you have to find a way round it. Either, which we cannot do, you charge to compensate or you have a separate account into which you 'filter' money for outgoings and hope you get away with it. The former will put your prices/charges up, the latte will make you vulnerable. Deducting outgoings/expenses is not the case and those who say they do it are running the same risk they are telling you to take.
Andrew/Tracey, we are considering going along this route. A couple of our concerns that you will probably both have a xperience of. Are the annual personal taxes, declared in May (ish) independent from the AE payments and if work should dry up, no income, how long before you are invited to leave?
We currently have everything sorted apropos the annual personal tax and we’d hate to mess this up!
Correct - turnover is simply the amount of money that you invoice or that comes into the business. For your kind of work Valerie, AE is perfect for people in the building trade Neil, it is a very expensive way to earn a living. However, it is the only way to get started in business over here and what my husband has done until this year.
I am Entreprise Individuelle as I exceeded the AE limits (just)and am allowed to claim expenses but then have to pay around 47% on my net profits. And for that I don't get sick pay or unemployment benefits, aren't I lucky!
Sadly yep. No deductions to be made for wear and tear on keyboard etc.
I'm extraordinarily tired so this is probably a completely dumb question. I'm an AE as a service provider (basically I'm attached to a keyboard). I don't have 'turnover' only earnings - I type, client pays, end of transaction - which I declare in full. Is that right?
Wrong! You declare turnover not earnings. You can't deduct expenses, they're already taken into account in the lower charges sociales (roughly half what the rest of us pay in the standard régimes) and tax. The best way round materials is to get the customer to buy them direct and pay you the labour only ;-)