The process by which a business is established in France is changing.
If you are thinking of setting up a business in France, you will need to register with the French tax administration (Centre de Formation des Entreprises or CFE) and various other organisations.
There are currently seven different CFE networks managed by various trades and chambers, registries, administrative offices etc. The relevant organisations depend on the place of establishment, the type of activity and the business’ legal form.
The 2019 law to promote business growth (PACTE), is gradually replacing these different networks with a single online platform (“Inpi” - guichet-entreprises.fr) for all business formalities regardless of sector or legal form. The application via the platform will then be routed to the competent organisations and CFEs. The change is expected to be fully implemented by 2023
From 1 January 2023 the one-stop shop system “Inpi”, will completely replace the old system. All companies will have to use this for their start up formalities at the start of their activity.
During the transition period, businesses can continue liaising with their relevant CFE and paper submissions are permitted until 31 December 2022.
Once the start-up dossier has been processed business owners will obtain their unique identifiers assigned by INSEE (Siren and Siret number, APE code), and where relevant, and intra-Community VAT number essential for all commercial transactions within the European Union and French social security registration.
Cyril Klajer
cyril.klajer@avocats-bdo.fr