Good to know
Good to Know
- No local partner, nominee shareholder, or sponsor is legally required to incorporate in France — this differs from some other countries' foreign-ownership rules, and applies equally whether you're EU or non-EU.
- Owning a French company remotely needs no visa at all, but actually living in Courchevel and running the business day-to-day as a non-EU/EEA national requires a separate residence permit (commonly the entrepreneur/profession libérale card or Talent Passport) — don't confuse company ownership with the right to reside and work.
- Because incorporation is a national process via the INPI Guichet Unique portal, there's no Courchevel-specific business registry or municipal filing step — the paperwork is identical to incorporating in any other French city.
- Banks in practice often expect working capital well above the legal €1 minimum (commonly around €4,000) before they'll fully activate a business account, which affects real-world upfront cash needs.
- A French registered-office address is mandatory; many foreign founders use a domiciliation/virtual-office service rather than leasing physical premises in high-cost resort areas like Courchevel.
- There is no Courchevel-specific business tax break or local incorporation shortcut — every rule here is the same national French tax code that applies in any French city, so don't expect resort-town concessions.
- A foreigner cannot register any business structure — including the simplest micro-entreprise — while on a tourist visa; the underlying immigration status must permit self-employed or entrepreneurial activity in France first.
- Because Courchevel's economy is dominated by seasonal, high-end tourism and hospitality suppliers, having a registered company (SASU/SARL) rather than micro-entreprise status can matter for credibility with landlords, ski-school operators, and B2B suppliers, even though it costs more to set up and run.
- If you're just testing a small freelance/consulting income while based in Courchevel and expect to stay under the turnover caps, micro-entreprise is by far the cheapest and fastest route; if you plan to hire, take on investors, or scale materially, a SAS/SASU is the structure most commonly recommended for foreign founders in France generally.
VAT Registration
- Standard Rate Percent
- 20
Reduced Rates Percent
- 10
- 5.5
- 2.1
VAT Exemption Thresholds 2026
- Services
- €37,500
- Goods And Lodging Sales
- €85,000
Corporate Income Tax IS
- Standard Rate Percent
- 25
- SME Turnover Ceiling
- €10,000,000
- Notes
- Profit above the reduced-rate threshold is taxed at the 25% standard rate. A 3.3% social surcharge applies on top of IS for companies with turnover above roughly €7.63 million, and an additional exceptional surtax applies only to very large companies (turnover in the hundreds of millions to billions of euros) — not relevant to a small foreign-owned nomad-scale business.
Reduced SME Rate
- Rate Percent
- 15
- Applies To
- €42,500
- Eligibility
- Turnover under a set ceiling, share capital fully paid up, and at least 75% of capital held by individuals (or a holding meeting the same test).
Freelancer Sole Proprietor Vs Full Company
Entreprise Individuelle
- Who Its For
- Sole traders who exceed micro-entreprise turnover caps but still want a simpler regime than a company.
- Tax Treatment
- Personal income tax on actual net profit (not a flat-rate deduction), with proper accounting and expense justification required.
SASU SAS SARL EURL Full Companies
- Liability
- Limited to capital contributed, unlike micro-entreprise/EI.
- Who Its For
- Businesses seeking limited liability, planning to scale, hire staff, add partners/investors, or needing more credibility with local suppliers, banks and landlords (useful in a resort market like Courchevel where hospitality/rental/ski-service suppliers often expect a registered company).
- Tax Treatment
- Subject to corporate income tax (IS) as described above by default; directors are then personally taxed on any salary or dividends drawn.
- SAS SASU Vs SARL
- Both face identical IS rates. SAS/SASU offers more flexible, customizable governance and is generally preferred by foreign founders and investors; SARL has a more rigid, code-defined governance structure but is often simpler for small owner-operated ventures. SAS/SASU presidents have employee-style social security status (higher social charges, roughly 70–80% of salary in total charges) versus SARL majority managers under the self-employed (TNS) regime (lower charges, roughly 45%).
- Ongoing Obligations
- Mandatory business bank account, VAT filings once thresholds are crossed, quarterly or monthly URSSAF social contribution payments, and an annual company tax return; an accountant (expert-comptable) is strongly recommended and typically costs roughly €50–200/month.
- Setup Costs And Steps
- Drafting statutes (often via a notaire/avocat), a minimum symbolic €1 share capital is legally allowed (though a realistic working capital is generally advisable), publication of a legal notice (avis de constitution) in an authorized journal (roughly €150–250), and registration with the Commercial Court registry (Greffe) to obtain a K-bis certificate and SIRET number.
Micro Entreprise Auto Entrepreneur
- Setup
- Free, fast online registration via the national one-stop business portal, no share capital, no statutes, no legal-notice publication, minimal ongoing bookkeeping (a receipts/purchases log).
- Liability
- No limited liability protection historically, though recent reform separates personal and business assets to some degree; the entrepreneur and the business are legally the same person.
- Who Its For
- Solo freelancers/service providers testing an idea or running a simple small-scale activity.
- Tax Treatment
- Owner pays personal income tax on turnover (with a flat-rate expense deduction, or an optional flat-rate withholding), plus social charges calculated directly on turnover — no separate corporate tax return.
- For Foreigners
- Open to non-EU foreigners in principle, but registering a business (of any type) requires a status/visa that legally permits self-employed activity in France — a tourist visa is not sufficient.
Turnover Caps 2025 2026
- Goods Sales Lodging
- €188,700
- Services Professionals
- €77,700
Jurisdiction Note
Courchevel is a commune in Savoie, France, and has no city-specific corporate tax regime or local business tax incentive scheme — all rules below are the standard national French tax code (Code Général des Impôts) rules that apply identically whether the company is registered in Courchevel or anywhere else in France.
Who Pays IS Vs Personal Income Tax
- Explanation
- Capital companies (SAS, SASU, SARL, EURL by default, SA) are subject to corporate tax (IS) automatically from creation. Sole-trader structures (micro-entreprise, entreprise individuelle, and by default EURL/certain partnerships) are instead taxed via the owner's personal income tax (IR) unless the company opts into IS.
Filing Obligations For A Company IS
- Annual Return
- Form 2065 (the 'liasse fiscale') covering balance sheet, income statement and fiscal schedules, filed electronically via impots.gouv.fr or by an accountant via EDI.
- Payment Schedule
- IS is paid via quarterly installments based on the prior year's tax, with the final balance due within 3 months and 15 days after the fiscal year-end.
- Loss Carryforward
- Losses can be carried forward indefinitely, but offset is capped at 100% up to €1 million of profit plus 50% of any profit above that in a given year.
- Small Company Exception
- If prior-year IS was below €3,000, no installments are required — a single payment is made at balance time.
Incorporation Process And Requirements
- Realistic Timeline
- Straightforward cases with complete documentation typically register within 2 to 4 weeks. Using a formation agent or lawyer can compress this to roughly 1.5 to 3 weeks. Delays commonly arise from apostille/certified-translation requirements for foreign documents, non-resident bank KYC checks, or sector-specific approvals — these can push the realistic total (documents to Kbis) out to 4-6 weeks for a non-resident founder.
- Residency Permit Distinction
- Owning or remotely directing a French company requires no visa. However, a non-EU/EEA national who wants to physically live in France and actively manage the business day-to-day needs a residence permit — commonly the one-year renewable "entrepreneur / profession libérale" card, the Talent Passport (Passeport Talent) route for qualifying entrepreneurs/investors, or (after the first year) a four-year multi-year card. Operating a company from within France without the correct permit can lead to fines and disqualification from management.
- Foreign Founder Specific Documents
- Foreign applicants typically also need: a valid passport, proof of address abroad or in France, a criminal record certificate from their home country/countries of recent residence, and certified French translations of any foreign-language documents.
- No Local Partner Or Sponsor Requirement
- France does not require foreigners to have a local partner, nominee shareholder, or sponsor to incorporate or to own a company. EU/EEA nationals have full freedom of establishment with the same rights as French citizens to create, manage, and hire. Non-EU/EEA nationals can also own 100% of a French company (e.g., a SASU) and act as its sole director/President, whether or not they reside in France.
- Scope Note
- Company formation in France is a fully national process administered centrally (not a Courchevel/municipal procedure) — the steps, costs, and registry below apply identically whether the registered office is in Courchevel, Paris, or anywhere else in France. Businesses actually operating in Courchevel would register with the regional Greffe du Tribunal de Commerce covering the Savoie department, but the filing itself happens through the same national online portal.
Typical Costs
- Annual Accounts Filing Fee
- €50
- Guichet Unique Formality Fee
- €34
- Official Registration Fee RCS
- €37
- Beneficial Ownership Declaration Fee
- €19
- Minimum Legal Share Capital SAS SARL
- €1.00
- Basic All In Registration Low Estimate
- €300
- Typical Bank Working Capital Expected In Practice
- €4,000
- Total Cash Typically Needed Upfront Incl Working Capital
- €12,000
- Full Service Incorporation For Foreign Founder Incl Virtual Office And Professional Fees
- €8,274
Core Incorporation Steps
- Choose the legal structure (SASU, SAS, SARL/EURL, etc.) based on liability, tax, and governance needs.
- Check and reserve the company name via the INPI/Infogreffe database.
- Draft the Statuts (Articles of Association) in French, covering capital, purpose, governance, and shareholders.
- Secure a registered office address in France (lease, domiciliation service, or virtual office) — mandatory to obtain a registration number.
- Open a French business bank account and deposit the share capital to obtain a capital-deposit certificate (attestation de dépôt de fonds).
- Publish a legal formation notice (avis de constitution) in an authorized journal of legal announcements.
- File the complete application (statuts, capital-deposit certificate, proof of address, ID, publication certificate, beneficial-ownership declaration, criminal-record statement) through the Guichet Unique portal operated by INPI.
- Receive the SIREN/SIRET numbers and the Kbis extract — the official proof the company legally exists — after review by the Greffe du Tribunal de Commerce.
Official Registry And Portal
- Name
- Guichet Unique (INPI) — France's single mandatory online business-formalities portal
- Related Government Page
- https://entreprendre.service-public.gouv.fr/vosdroits/F23844?lang=en
Common Legal Structures For Foreign Founders
- SASU (Société par Actions Simplifiée Unipersonnelle) — single-shareholder joint-stock company; minimum share capital as low as €1; widely used by solo foreign founders/consultants for its limited liability and flexible bylaws.
- SAS (Société par Actions Simplifiée) — multi-shareholder version of the SASU, popular with foreign-backed startups and investors.
- EURL / SARL — limited-liability structures; EURL is the single-member version, often chosen by solo consultants for lower social-charge treatment (TNS status).
- Branch or liaison office — for an existing foreign company; a branch can trade but remains legally tied to the parent, while a liaison office cannot generate revenue in France.
AI-generated estimateData refreshed July 2026
Sources cited for this category
These are the sources cited in this business permits & incorporation for foreigners research for this city. Individual figures may not each trace to one of them.
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Data last updated July 2026 · Verify anything important.