Hi i'm new to this forum.
Have seen many comments re running a business in France and i agree its not the easiest country to start a business for many reasons other people on this forum have already stated.
If you decide to do it, i suggest you might wish to focus on working on R&D projects as there are funding/ tax breaks on this, and in France tax friendly work is organised around research and its ironic that after this research is done , the business usually goes outside of France due to the high social costs of running a business there.
I was encouraged to start my business in France via the local business enterprise after being made redundant from a Swiss company (live close to the Swiss border in France)
Chomage is covered by the Shengen agreement, cross border.
When i started my business through Accre, i was told that i would not be eligable for chomage for a further 5 years after the initial Accre grant date?
I have just dissolved my Sarl business (operating for 8 Years)(1 man band ) due to a supplier breaking his contract.With this loss of supply, i could not continue supporting the high running costs of the business .
My business is now officially closed , and i was going to start the proceedure of claiming chomage until i can start a new consultancy business in Switzerland early next year.
My accountant has just advised me that i cannot claim any chomage as i was a director of the company ?.Is this true or are their circumstances where this rule is not applicable ?
I would appreciate some feed back if anybody can give me some guidance on this ?
Many thanks
Ralph Wares
'fraid it's true, your cotisations have not included paying in the pot for chômage
The highest social charges in Europe for a small business, and absolutley no cover if it goes pear shaped!
(i love everything else about France though!! ;) )
No, I was not implying but warning in case, so rather than assume and all that...
We are having to set up a business because we are doing 'too well' as AEs (she and I wish). The accountant we saw advised one of us to set up a business in our respective countries. I have had directorships in the UK and know the whole process but do not have a 'proxy' address to use and know that Companies House do check pretty well nowadays. My OH being Swiss had a look too and has backed off because it is too complicated although either brother-in-law would have provided us with 'office space'. However, I did UK and she did CH, so I don't know the ins and outs of what made her want us to drop the possibility there.
Having said that, is it actually easy anywhere? England and Wales are not that difficult but since my day they have tightened up the 'bookkeeping' and other things, so probably no longer there either. Best of luck with it anyway. We shall keep on scratching our heads for a while.
It is a % that varies with turnover but I can't remember how much it was. I had the status of "Gérant" but the shareholders were a UK PLC so I could have been chopped at any time. You could choose the level/length of cover which of course affected the % you paid.
Thanks for the fast response , great country to live in , good wine , good rugby , can't say i agree with the politics though.
I love to make business , but hate beaurocracy and poor service , however thankfully the skiing , sailing , cycling keeps me going.
Switzerland is much more small biz friendly. and luckily the border is only 200 metres away , so not a huge commute as a frontalier .
Hi steve yes its great with hindsight , i have shut this business down now but thanks for the info
I understand that you can effectively sack yourself however in the case where you have to close the business where a company has done an unlawful act against you is a different situation , and i guess not really covered
by the French rules . i can't change this so i have to put this down to experience i would be interested to know how much you would have to pay insurance is it a fee % of salary.
Hi Brian who mentioned anything about default ?
closing down a business which has no debts or liabilities and paying all due to the French government?
why would this be an issue .
I know Switzerland very well and have worked there before .
I only set a business up in France for " reach" reasons importing into the Eu.
In Switzerland they are much more small business friendly, my colleague already has a business there and the paperwork is significantly less.
The only issue as a Frontalier, Holland now introduced an 8% tax on salaries for medical insurance, but at least that is tax on salary drawn not an upfront payment to the RSI whether you earn anything or not .
having lived with lots of issues with the RSI , i am so glad to be free of this burden.
Careful with Switzerland too. If you have 'defaulted' anywhere and they get to hear of it you will not be allowed to have a business there. Their regulations make the ones here pale into insignificance.
If you were in a position where you could effectively sack yourself, you should have taken out private unemployment insurance as you aren't eligible for state benefit. In my case, as Gérant of an SARL, I had to join the GCGMPE to be eligible for the insurance package. Luckily the SS paid us back the 18 months worth of payments we had made to the State system.
Insurance is called GSC More info here :> http://www.gsc.asso.fr/quest-ce-que-la-gsc
Unfortunately it is; any one who is a TNS doesn't have any unemployment cover, my case and that of my OH.
Courage !