Good to know
Good to Know
- You do NOT need a French or EU business partner to own 100% of a French company — the ownership restriction some founders expect simply doesn't exist for SARL/SAS/EURL structures.
- The €1 'minimum share capital' figure often advertised is legally accurate but practically misleading — banks routinely expect a more meaningful deposit before they'll open an account and issue the capital deposit certificate you need to complete registration.
- Since January 2025, all company registrations nationwide (including for a Biarritz-based business) go exclusively through the online Guichet Unique portal — there is no separate paper or in-person path anymore, and no local Biarritz-specific bureaucracy to navigate outside this system.
- If you're a non-EU national planning to actually live in France and run the business day-to-day (not just own shares remotely), sort out your visa/residence-permit track (Entrepreneur visa or Talent Passport 'Business creation') in parallel with incorporation — owning a French company does not by itself grant you the right to reside and work in it.
- All Statuts (Articles of Association) and most filed documents must be in French; budget for certified translation costs if your original documents are in another language.
- There is no Biarritz-specific corporate tax rate — you pay the same national French corporate tax (25%, or 15% on the first €42,500 of profit for qualifying small companies) as anywhere else in France.
- The only genuinely local business tax is the CFE (Cotisation Foncière des Entreprises), set partly by the Biarritz municipality — budget roughly €200–€2,000/year for a small home-based or office-based setup, though the exact local rate should be confirmed with Biarritz's tax office (Service des Impôts des Entreprises) since it varies by commune and business size.
- As a foreigner you do not need French residency or a French co-founder to own 100% of an SARL, SAS, SASU or EURL — but you do need a registered French business address, which many nomads solve with a domiciliation service.
- If you're just starting out solo and staying under roughly €83,600/year in services revenue, micro-entreprise status is dramatically simpler to run than a full company, but you lose the ability to deduct real business expenses.
- Watch the VAT threshold separately from the micro-entreprise revenue ceiling — many freelancers get caught out because the VAT-exemption threshold (~€36,800 for services) is crossed well before the micro-entreprise revenue ceiling itself.
VAT
- Standard Rate Percent
- 20
- Note
- The standard rate is 20% and there are two reduced rates (10% and 5.5%) for certain products and services, with a special 2.1% rate for press and reimbursed medicines.
Reduced Rates Percent
- 10
- 5.5
- 2.1
Local Business Tax CFE
- Name
- Cotisation Foncière des Entreprises (CFE)
- Due Date
- Typically due in December each year.
- Exemptions
- No CFE is due in the first calendar year of registration, and very small businesses (roughly under €5,000 annual revenue) are typically exempt entirely.
- Description
- The territorial economic contribution ('contribution économique territoriale') is comprised of a business premises contribution ('cotisation foncière des entreprises') and a contribution on the added value of companies, calculated on the basis of the added value generated by a company; tax rates for this and property tax are partly set locally by the municipality.
Typical Range Home Or Small Office
- Period
- per year
- Amount USD Max
- 2280
- Amount USD Min
- 228
- Currency Local
- EUR
- Amount Local Max
- 2000
- Amount Local Min
- 200
Corporate Income Tax IS
- Standard Rate Percent
- 25
- Who Pays IS Vs Personal Income Tax
- Corporate income tax is an annual tax on all profits made in France by companies and other legal entities, while companies operating as sole traders or partnerships are subject to personal income tax at the level of their owner(s) if they have not opted to pay corporate income tax.
Reduced SME Rate
- Rate Percent
- 15
- Applies Above Threshold Percent
- 25
- Conditions
- The standard rate of corporate income tax is 25% for all companies, for financial years commencing on or after 1 January 2022, and small and medium-sized businesses with sales of up to €10m automatically benefit from a reduced rate of 15% on the portion of profits not exceeding €42,500.
Large Company Surtax
- Relevance
- Irrelevant to almost all foreign-owned nomad/small businesses in Biarritz — this only bites at large scale.
- Note
- Companies liable for corporate income tax with pre-tax sales in excess of €7.63m are subject to a social security contribution equal to 3.3% of the corporate income tax calculated on their taxable profits less an allowance which may not exceed €763,000 per twelve-month period.
Structure Comparison For A Foreign Freelancer Vs Company
- Practical Switch Trigger
- Exceeding the micro-entreprise revenue ceiling for two consecutive years, or having real expenses that exceed roughly 29% (services) to 50% (goods) of revenue, are the usual practical triggers to switch from freelancer status to a full company structure.
Option 1 Freelancer Micro Entreprise
- Flat Social Contribution Rates
- Micro-entrepreneurs pay a flat-rate social contribution on gross revenue rather than on profit: roughly 21.1–21.2% for services/liberal professions, and around 12.3% for commercial goods sales, with an optional extra 1–2.2% if opting for the 'versement libératoire' income-tax prepayment.
- VAT
- Exempt from charging VAT below revenue thresholds of roughly €36,800 (services) / €91,900 (goods); above that, VAT registration becomes mandatory.
- Legal Form
- Not a company — a simplified individual tax/social regime (entrepreneur individuel). A sole trader's professional estate is automatically shielded from seizure by professional creditors under French commercial law, but there is no separate legal personality.
- Setup Speed
- Registration is free and can typically be completed online within 24–48 hours via France's single business-registration portal.
- Who Its For
- Solo foreigners doing consulting, design, writing, coaching, etc. with revenue below the ceilings below and no plans to hire or scale quickly.
- Key Limitation
- No deduction of actual business expenses — tax and contributions are calculated on gross revenue with a flat-rate allowance, which becomes disadvantageous once real costs are high.
2026 Revenue Ceilings
- Services BIC BNC
- €83,600
- Commercial Goods Sales
- €203,100
Option 2 Forming A Company SARL SASU SAS EURL
- Who Its For
- Foreigners planning to hire staff, raise investment, exceed the micro-entreprise revenue ceilings, need to deduct real expenses, or want a separate legal entity/liability shield distinct from personal assets.
- Tax Treatment
- By default these company forms are subject to corporate income tax (IS) — the 25% standard / 15% reduced-rate regime described above — rather than the owner's personal income tax, though some (like EURL) can elect to be taxed transparently through the owner's personal income tax under certain conditions.
- Foreign Ownership
- France permits 100% foreign ownership of an SARL, SASU, SAS or EURL with no requirement for a French or EU resident shareholder or director; registration for all business forms goes through the Guichet Unique (one-stop shop) managed by INPI.
- Administrative Cost
- Higher setup and ongoing running costs than micro-entreprise (accountant fees, formation formalities, share capital formalities for SARL/EURL — SAS/SASU can be formed with minimal capital).
- Accounting Obligations
- Full double-entry bookkeeping and the annual fiscal package (liasse fiscale) are required, generally necessitating a French accountant (expert-comptable); electronic invoicing obligations are also being phased in.
Incorporation Process And Requirements
- Residency Visa Caveat
- Ownership and residency are separate issues. EU/EEA/Swiss citizens can incorporate and operate freely with no visa, needing only to register their presence with the local mairie. Non-EU/EEA nationals who intend to live in France and actively run the business need a long-stay visa/residence permit that authorizes commercial activity — commonly the Entrepreneur/Independent Professional visa or the Talent Passport 'Business creation' track — before or shortly after registering the company; a non-EU founder cannot legally register or run a business on a tourist visa.
- Official Government Registry Link
- https://formalites.entreprises.gouv.fr/
- Local Partner Or Sponsor Requirement
- None required to own the company itself. All nationalities can hold 100% of the shares in a French SARL, SAS/SASU, or EURL with no requirement for a French or EU co-founder, partner, or local sponsor. Company registration is legally open to any foreign national, EU or non-EU, without a local-partner mandate.
- Jurisdiction Note
- Company incorporation in France is a fully national procedure — there is no separate Biarritz-specific process. Filings for businesses based in Biarritz go through the same digital national portal used everywhere in France.
Typical Cost
- Legal Notice Publication
- €121
Typical cost for an EURL/SARL-type announcement; SAS/SASU publication can run higher (roughly €225 upward).
- Sa Minimum Share Capital
- €37,000
Only relevant if forming a Société Anonyme (SA); at least half must be paid in at incorporation.
- DIY Total Basic Cost Range Low End
- €260
- DIY Total Basic Cost Range High End
- €320
- Full Service Formation Agent Package
- €1,290
Entry-level price seen from a formation-agency package handling paperwork and bank liaison for foreign shareholders; legal/accounting help more broadly can run from a few hundred to several thousand euros depending on complexity.
- Basic Administrative Registration Fee
- €40
Low end of range; can run up to roughly €200-320 depending on structure and formalities office.
- Bank Working Capital Commonly Requested
- €4,000
Legal minimum capital for an EURL/SARL/SAS is only €1, but banks commonly expect a more substantial deposit (often cited around €4,000) to open and activate the account; this is returned to the company once registered.
Realistic Timeline
- Share Capital Release
- Bank-held capital is typically unblocked about two weeks after the bank receives the Kbis certificate.
- With A Formation Agent Or Lawyer
- Can compress to roughly 5 to 10 working days for the filing itself, though this is built into the service fee.
- Standard Guichet Unique Processing
- 10 to 30 working days for the Commercial Court/INPI review after a complete filing.
- Bank Account Activation For Non Residents
- Can add an extra few weeks; total realistic time from a standing start to a fully operating, banked company is commonly quoted at 3 to 4 weeks for well-prepared filings, and can stretch to 6-8 weeks when factoring in KYC checks on non-resident directors, translations, and bank onboarding.
- Residence Permit Step For Non EU Founders
- Non-EU founders intending to reside must apply for the relevant residence permit at the prefecture, generally within two months of arrival — a separate track that runs in parallel with, not instead of, company registration.
Common Legal Structures
Micro-entreprise / Entrepreneur Individuel (EI)
- Notes
- Simplest sole-trader status, no minimum capital, but personal liability and turnover caps; cannot charge/reclaim VAT.
EURL
- Notes
- Single-member limited liability company; minimum legal share capital of €1, though banks typically expect more for credibility.
SARL
- Notes
- Multi-partner (2-100) limited liability company, minimum legal share capital of €1; the most common structure among foreign investors.
SAS / SASU
- Notes
- Simplified joint-stock company (SASU = single shareholder); minimum legal share capital of €1; flexible governance, popular with startups and investors.
SA
- Notes
- Public limited company, minimum share capital €37,000, at least half paid in at incorporation; used for larger operations.
Core Incorporation Steps
- Choose a legal structure (EI/micro-entreprise, EURL, SARL, SAS/SASU, or SA) based on liability, capital, and visa plans.
- Check and reserve the company name via the INPI database (free to check).
- Draft the Statuts (Articles of Association) in French, defining governance, capital, and shareholders.
- Secure a registered French business address (lease, own premises, or a domiciliation/virtual-office service).
- Open a French business bank account and deposit the share capital to obtain an Attestation de dépôt de fonds (capital deposit certificate).
- Publish a legal incorporation notice (Avis de Constitution) in an authorized journal d'annonces légales.
- File the complete dossier (Statuts, proof of address, ID/passport of directors, capital deposit certificate, publication certificate, beneficial-ownership declaration) through the Guichet Unique portal operated by INPI.
- Receive the Kbis extract (certificate of incorporation), SIRET/SIREN numbers, and VAT ID once the Commercial Court registry (RCS) and National Business Register (RNE) process the filing.
- Automatic downstream registration with tax authorities (corporate tax, VAT) and URSSAF for social security follows from the single Guichet Unique filing.
Documents Typically Required From A Foreign Founder
- Valid passport (certified copy)
- Proof of home-country or French address
- Statuts / Articles of Association (in French)
- Capital deposit certificate from a French bank
- Proof of a French registered business address (lease or domiciliation contract)
- Certificate of publication of the legal notice
- Beneficial-ownership (UBO) declaration
- Declaration of no criminal conviction
- Certified French translations of any foreign-language documents
- Valid visa/residence permit if a non-EU national intending to reside and actively manage the business
Jurisdiction Note
Biarritz has no city-specific corporate tax regime — French national tax law (impôts.gouv.fr) applies uniformly. The only genuinely local business tax is the CFE (see below), which is set by the Biarritz/Pays Basque municipal authorities within national limits.
Filing Obligations Company IS
- Installments
- Companies generally pay quarterly installments toward their IS liability during the year, based on the prior year's tax; if prior-year IS was below €3,000, no installments are required and a single payment is made at balance time.
- Annual Return
- The IS return (form 2065) is accompanied by the fiscal package ('liasse fiscale', forms 2050–2059 or simplified versions), which details the balance sheet, income statement and mandatory fiscal schedules.
- Balance Deadline
- The balance of corporate tax (definitive IS minus installments already paid) is due within 3 months and 15 days following the company's fiscal year-end.
- Electronic Filing
- Electronic filing is mandatory for all IS companies, via the impots.gouv.fr portal or by EDI via the accountant.
- Loss Carryforward
- A fiscal loss can be carried forward indefinitely, but with an annual cap: full offset up to €1,000,000 of taxable profit, and only 50% offset on profit above that amount.
AI-generated estimateData refreshed July 2026
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Data last updated July 2026 · Verify anything important.