I am newly registered AE and am filling out my intial CFE declaration. All that is fine. However, can someone explain how this tax, supposedly based on the ‘valeur locative’ of a ‘bien immoblier’ is then calculated from my CA? Is it that my running of my micro-enterprise out of my landlord’s property somehow increases the value of his house, or is the valeur locative, the perceived value of the property in the eyes of the local government.
I understand the reasoning behind the tax. I just can’t seem to square the circle with what all the AE websites say. All this is fairly moot, I still need to pay it.
Think of it like business rates on the property you rent for your business, the rate is set locally and then based on what the rental value of that property would be. So flash offices in town centre would have higher rateable value than a room above a garage in a backstreet. The calculation is then made using this value and your turnover. Flash office x high turnover x grasping commune = high CFE. Shabby office x low turnover x relaxed commune = low CFE.
The owner of your building will pay tax on the rent you pay, but I think his taxe foncière will be reduced as you are paying this extra local tax. I seem to remember that our TF went down when we started paying CFE.
I also remember that there was a 100% exoneration for CFE in the first year of business.
And ‘click’, similar to Business Rates. Got it. And yes, I saw that I will be exempt for the first year, provided I do my declaration within 3 months.
There is some conflicting advice from the different AE websites. One mentioned that AE’s operating out of their home can apply to pay the minimum each year?
I think you’re overthinking this. It’s like any other tax really - the tax office issues a bill calculated from your personal data, and you pay it. There is not usually any need to query it. If you are only liable for minimum CFE, that’s what they’ll bill you.
I think most MEs on a moderate turnover pay between two and three hundred?
Just to be clear on this, because sometimes people who are used to the UK system misundertand it and get a nasty surprise: like most fiscal matters in France this is done on a calendar year basis not a rolling 12 month basis. So if you start trading and record a turnover in 2019, regardless of what month you started trading, a one year exemption means you are exempt for the year 2019 but potentially liable as from 1.1.2020.
That much I understood for the CFE, but your comment got me thinking about the URSAAF payments. I opted for the trimestrial contributions, are these set dates or dates linked to the creation of my micro-enterprise?
Trimestres are fixed, and you declare before the end of the following month. So you declare in April for quarter 1, July for Q2, Oct for Q3 and Jan for Q4.
In fact the website doesn’t accept declarations outside these ‘windows’. Sometimes you get emails telling you when the window has opened (usually the first week of the month) or reminding you of the approaching deadline, sometimes you don’t, seem a bit random or maybe some go into spam.