Good to know
Good to Know
- Since January 1, 2025, all company registrations in France — including for foreign-owned companies — must go through the single Guichet Unique (INPI) online portal; the older system of dealing separately with the Commercial Court, tax office, URSSAF, and INSEE has been replaced.
- You do not need to be a French or EU resident to own a French company, but if you personally want to be the legal representative living in France, you'll need a residence permit that authorizes business activity (e.g., a Talent Passport or the Entrepreneur/Profession libérale card).
- Certified French translation of foreign documents is one of the most frequent sources of delay for non-French founders — get this organized early.
- Banks vary significantly in how easily they open accounts for non-resident founders; traditional banks often run more extensive compliance checks than fintech alternatives, so shop around before you need the account urgently.
- A virtual office or domiciliation service is accepted for your registered business address, which is useful if you're incorporating remotely before physically relocating.
- Nice does not have its own local corporate tax rules — the 25% (or 15% reduced-rate) corporate tax, VAT rates, and filing deadlines are identical to the rest of France.
- Micro-entrepreneur status is by far the simplest way for a solo foreign freelancer to start legally in Nice, but it merges personal and business liability and caps annual turnover — most nomads outgrow it if the business scales.
- If you plan to invoice larger clients or want limited liability from day one, a single-person company (SASU or EURL) is the common next step, at the cost of more paperwork (statuts, capital deposit, annual accounts) and, for an SASU president drawing a salary, notably higher social charges than a micro-entrepreneur pays.
- Opening a French business bank account almost always requires an in-person meeting, so factor that into your relocation timeline.
VAT Tva
- Standard Rate
- 20%, with reduced rates of 10% and 5.5% for certain goods/services, and 2.1% for press/reimbursed medicines.
Micro Business VAT Exemption Thresholds
- Services Threshold EUR
- 37500
- Goods Sales Threshold EUR
- 85000
- Note
- Below these turnover thresholds a small business (including many micro-entrepreneurs) is not required to charge VAT (franchise en base); exceeding them triggers VAT liability from the month of exceeding.
Structure Options Comparison
Entreprise Individuelle Ei
- Taxation
- Taxed as personal income on actual net profit (with real expense deduction and bookkeeping), rather than a flat percentage of turnover.
- Liability
- Still no separate legal entity, though French reforms have introduced some protection for personal (non-business) assets by default.
- What It Is
- A step up from micro-entreprise for sole traders who exceed the micro turnover caps but still want to avoid forming a full company.
SARL SAS Multi Shareholder
- Taxation
- Both taxed under the same IS rules (25% standard / 15% reduced-rate SME regime); the choice between them is about governance flexibility and investor-readiness, not tax rate.
- What It Is
- Full multi-shareholder companies — SARL (more rigid, Commercial-Code-governed) or SAS (highly flexible bylaws, easier to bring in investors/foreign partners).
- Setup Costs
- Drafting statuts typically costs roughly €1,000–€2,500 if using a lawyer/formation service, plus the ~€150 legal-notice publication and capital deposit.
- Director Taxation
- A SARL managing director holding >50% of shares is treated as self-employed (TNS) for social security (moderate ~45% charges); an SAS president is treated as an employee for social security purposes, with much higher (~80%) social charges on salary, which is why SAS founders often favor dividends over salary.
EURL SASU Single Person Companies
- Setup
- Requires drafting articles of association (statuts, in French), depositing share capital (legal minimum as low as €1, though banks/partners expect more for credibility), publishing a legal notice of incorporation (~€150), and opening a dedicated business bank account.
- Taxation
- Subject to corporate income tax (IS) by default at the standard/reduced rates above, though small EURLs may elect personal income tax treatment under certain conditions.
- Liability
- Limited liability — the owner's personal assets are protected except in cases of serious management fault.
- What It Is
- Single-shareholder versions of the SARL (EURL) and SAS (SASU) — a real legal entity with one owner.
Foreigner Specific Practicalities
- Any non-EU foreigner running a French business needs an appropriate residence permit (e.g. Entrepreneur/Profession Libérale visa or Talent Passport) alongside choosing a business structure — this is handled in the Visa & Legal category.
- Registration for all structures now runs through the national one-stop portal (Guichet Unique / INPI), which issues a SIRET number used for invoicing and tax reporting.
- Non-resident founders can use a registered office/address service (from roughly €200/year) if they don't yet have local premises, which helps speed up business bank account opening.
Micro Entrepreneur Auto Entrepreneur
- Setup
- Simple online registration via the Guichet Unique, no minimum capital, no separate business bank account legally required below a turnover threshold.
- Best For
- Solo freelancers/consultants testing an idea or running a small-scale service business, who want minimal admin and don't need to reclaim VAT or show a formal corporate structure to clients.
- Taxation
- Micro-entrepreneurs pay simplified social charges and income tax calculated directly on turnover (not net profit), with no VAT charged/reclaimed below the thresholds above.
- Liability
- No liability separation — personal and business assets/debts are merged, exposing personal assets (and in some cases a spouse's) to business creditors.
- What It Is
- Not a separate legal entity — a simplified tax/social-security status for individual freelancers/sole traders, open to foreigners who hold an appropriate residence/visa status.
Revenue Caps
- Goods Or Lodging EUR
- 188700
- Services Or Liberal Professions EUR
- 77700
Jurisdiction Note
Business taxation and company law are set at the national French level, not by the city of Nice — there is no Nice-specific corporate tax rate or local business-tax regime beyond standard national rules (plus routine local property/business premises taxes that apply uniformly across France).
Corporate Income Tax Is
- Standard Rate
- 25% flat on company profits (impôt sur les sociétés, IS)
- Reduced SME Rate
- €42,500
15% reduced rate applies only to the first €42,500 of taxable profit per year, for companies with turnover under €10 million and at least 75% of capital held by individuals; profit above this threshold is taxed at the standard 25% rate.
- Large Company Surcharge
- Companies with turnover above roughly €1 billion face an exceptional temporary surtax for fiscal years ending in 2025 and 2026; irrelevant to almost all foreign-owned small businesses or freelancer setups in Nice.
- Social Contribution On Is
- A 3.3% additional social contribution applies only to companies with pre-tax turnover above €7.63 million — not relevant to small/solo foreign-owned businesses.
Filing Obligations For Is Companies
- Annual Accounts
- SAS/SARL/SASU/EURL companies must prepare annual accounts (comptes annuels) and file them with the Commercial Court registry (greffe) in French, following French GAAP; a UBO (beneficial owner) declaration is also mandatory at registration and must be updated on ownership changes.
- Payment Calendar
- Corporate tax is paid via quarterly installments during the year based on the prior year's tax, with the final balance due 3 months and 15 days after the fiscal year-end (e.g. by 15 April for a 31 December year-end).
- Electronic Filing
- Mandatory filing via the impots.gouv.fr portal (or through an accountant via EDI); the main return is form 2065 accompanied by the full financial statement package (liasse fiscale, forms 2050–2059 or simplified equivalents).
- Small Company Exception
- If prior-year IS liability was under €3,000, no installments are required — just a single payment at balance.
Incorporation Process And Requirements
- Portal Name
- Guichet Unique (operated by INPI — Institut National de la Propriété Industrielle)
- Realistic Timeline
- Once the bank account is opened and the dossier is complete, Commercial Court registration itself commonly takes about one week to one month; several formation specialists cite roughly two weeks from bank account opening to receiving the Kbis, while a fully prepared subsidiary/company setup (including banking, translations, and notice publication) is often estimated at three to four weeks end-to-end. Delays are most commonly caused by incomplete documentation, translation requirements, or bank compliance checks for non-resident founders.
- Remote Incorporation
- Full remote incorporation is possible: documents can be signed electronically or via power of attorney, a domiciliation service can supply the registered address, and the dossier is submitted entirely online via the Guichet Unique.
- Official Registration Portal
- https://formalites.entreprises.gouv.fr
- Jurisdiction Note
- Company incorporation is governed by French national law and processed through the same national digital portal regardless of city; a Nice-based company would specifically fall under the Greffe du Tribunal de Commerce de Nice and the Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie (CCI) Nice Côte d'Azur for its commercial-activity registration, but the online filing process itself is identical to anywhere else in France.
Typical Cost
- Basic Registration Fee
- €290
Basic Commercial Court/Guichet Unique registration fees are commonly cited in the €260–€320 range depending on legal form; this does not include optional legal, accounting, translation, or domiciliation fees, which add to the total setup cost.
- Minimum Share Capital Sa
- €37,000
- Minimum Share Capital SARL SAS
- €1.00
Legal minimum only — banks typically expect a more substantial deposit in practice before releasing the funds/activating the account.
Minimum Share Capital
- Sa
- €37,000 minimum share capital required.
- SARL EURL SAS SASU
- Legally reduced to a nominal €1, though banks in practice generally expect a higher deposit before opening an account.
Common Legal Structures
- EI (Entreprise Individuelle / sole proprietorship)
- Micro-entreprise (simplified regime for small-scale activity)
- EURL (single-shareholder limited liability company)
- SARL (limited liability company)
- SAS / SASU (simplified joint-stock company, single or multiple shareholder — commonly favored by foreign founders for its management flexibility)
- SA (public limited company)
- Branch office of a foreign company
Core Incorporation Steps
- Choose a legal structure (SAS/SASU, SARL/EURL, SA, EI, or branch).
- Check and reserve the company name via the INPI database.
- Draft the Statuts (Articles of Association) in French, signed by all founders.
- Secure a registered office address in France (a lease, a domiciliation service, or virtual office is accepted).
- 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 formation notice (avis de constitution) in an authorized legal journal and obtain the publication certificate.
- Assemble the full dossier (Statuts, proof of address, capital deposit certificate, ID/passport of directors and shareholders, declaration of beneficial ownership, declaration of no criminal convictions, publication certificate, and a residence permit if applicable) and submit it online via the Guichet Unique (INPI) portal.
- Pay the registration fee to the Commercial Court registry (Greffe) during online submission.
- Receive the Kbis certificate, SIREN/SIRET number, and VAT ID once the Commercial Court registry validates the dossier — the company is then automatically entered in the national business register (RNE) and Trade and Companies Register (RCS).
Documents Typically Required
- Valid passport/ID for each director and shareholder
- Proof of address in home country or France
- Statuts (Articles of Association), in French
- Proof of registered office in France (lease or domiciliation contract)
- Bank capital deposit certificate
- Certificate of publication of the legal notice
- Declaration of beneficial ownership
- Declaration of no criminal convictions
- Certified French translations of any foreign-language documents
- Long-stay visa or residence permit, if the founder plans to reside in France and act as legal representative
Local Partner Or Sponsor Mandate
- Non EU Nationals
- Non-EU nationals can create and fully own a French company without residing in France, and no mandatory local partner or shareholder is required. However, non-EU nationals wishing to personally reside in France and act as the company's legal representative (SAS president or SARL gérant) must hold a valid residence permit authorizing business activity, such as the 'Entrepreneur/Profession libérale' card or a Passeport Talent category.
- EU EEA Swiss Nationals
- EU, EEA and Swiss nationals follow the exact same incorporation process as French nationals, with no additional permit, local partner, or sponsor required.
- Local Resident Director Requirement
- France does not require a French-resident director; foreign nationals can generally fully own and manage a French company remotely.
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.