Good to know
Good to Know
- France has no local-partner or local-sponsor requirement for foreign-owned companies — EU and non-EU citizens alike can own 100% of a French SAS, SASU, SARL, or EURL.
- A residence permit is only a prerequisite if a non-EU founder wants to physically live in France and actively manage the company there; directing the company remotely from abroad does not require one.
- Since January 2023 (and made exclusive from January 2025), the Guichet Unique / INPI portal is the only legal route to register a company in France — beware of look-alike third-party sites charging unnecessary 'registration fees'; the official portal filing itself is free (fees are for the legal notice, capital deposit, etc., not the platform).
- Because Tignes sits in Savoie, any commercial-registry matters for a company headquartered there are handled by the Tribunal de commerce de Chambéry rather than a local Tignes office — there is no town-level business registry.
- Opening a French business bank account is often the slowest step for non-resident founders using traditional banks; French neobanks (e.g. Qonto, Shine) offering remote video KYC are commonly used to speed this up.
- All Statuts (Articles of Association) must be drafted in French — foreign-language documents need certified translation, which adds time and cost if not arranged in advance.
- There is no separate 'Tignes tax rate' — corporate tax (25% standard, 15% reduced for qualifying small companies) and micro-entrepreneur rules are identical whether you're based in Tignes, Paris, or anywhere else in France; the only local variable is the small annual CFE business tax, whose exact rate for Tignes specifically was not confirmed in this research.
- Non-EU foreigners cannot simply arrive and register a business — you need a residence permit or visa that specifically authorizes self-employed or professional activity before you can register as a micro-entrepreneur or become the operating manager of a French company.
- If your work in Tignes involves real costs (rental of premises, ski/rental equipment, staff), running the numbers on micro-entrepreneur vs. a full company matters — the flat-rate micro regime taxes gross revenue with no expense deduction, so it can end up more expensive than a company once expenses are substantial.
Business Tax And Structure Options
- Freelancer Vs Company Comparison
- For most solo digital nomads or seasonal workers in Tignes doing consulting, coaching, or small services, micro-entrepreneur is simpler, cheaper to run, and has no accounting requirement, but it caps revenue and disallows expense deductions. A full company (SARL/SAS or their single-shareholder versions EURL/SASU) makes sense once revenue approaches the micro thresholds, once real expenses are significant (equipment, premises, staff), or when a more 'corporate' structure is needed for credibility, financing, or hiring — at the cost of full corporate tax filing, likely needing an accountant, and higher setup complexity for a non-resident foreigner.
- Scope Note
- Corporate/business taxation in France is set entirely at national level — there is no Tignes-specific or Savoie-specific corporate tax rate. A foreign-owned business in Tignes is taxed under the same rules as anywhere else in France; the only genuinely local variable is the CFE (cotisation foncière des entreprises), a small annual local business tax whose rate is set by the commune/intercommunality.
Structure Options
Micro-entrepreneur (sole proprietor / "auto-entrepreneur")
- Flat Rate Social Contributions
- Roughly 12.3% of gross revenue for commercial/goods activities and around 21.2% for services and liberal professions — paid as a flat percentage of turnover, with no deduction for actual business expenses.
- Legal Form
- Not a separate company — you are legally an individual entrepreneur (entrepreneur individuel, EI) operating under a simplified tax and social-security regime.
- Who Its For
- Freelancers, consultants, ski/mountain guides, small service providers, small-scale rental or retail activity — the default choice for most solo foreigners doing simple work in Tignes.
- Key Limitation
- No deduction for real business expenses — this makes it a poor fit for anyone with significant equipment, rental premises, or subcontracting costs (e.g. a ski/board rental shop), and it caps out once revenue nears the thresholds above.
- Income Tax Option
- You can either report micro-entrepreneur profit (turnover minus a flat-rate allowance) on your personal income tax return, or opt for the 'versement libératoire' — a flat 1%–2.2% of turnover paid alongside social contributions — if your prior-year household reference income is below roughly €27,000–29,000 per household share.
- Filing Obligations
- Simple: declare turnover monthly or quarterly to URSSAF (no formal bookkeeping/accounts required); register once via the Guichet des formalités des entreprises (INPI one-stop shop) to get a SIRET number.
- Local Business Tax Cfe
- CFE (cotisation foncière des entreprises) is a small annual local tax typically in the €200–€2,000/year range depending on the commune, generally payable from the second year of activity; there is no CFE in the first year, and micro-entrepreneurs with revenue under €5,000 are exempt.
- Eligibility For Foreigners
- EU/EEA/Swiss citizens can register freely. Non-EU/EEA foreigners need a residence permit or visa that specifically authorizes self-employed/professional activity (e.g. a 'profession libérale' or entrepreneur-type permit) — a standard visitor or salaried-work visa does not automatically allow this.
Revenue Thresholds 2026
- Goods Sales And Accommodation
- €203,100
- Services And Liberal Professions
- €83,600
- Note
- Exceeding the relevant threshold for two consecutive years forces a switch out of micro-entrepreneur status into a standard tax regime.
VAT Registration Threshold
- Services
- €37,500
- Goods And Accommodation
- €85,000
- Note
- Below these thresholds you neither charge nor reclaim VAT; invoices must state 'TVA non applicable — art. 293 B du CGI'. A 2026 Finance Bill reform to unify/lower these thresholds has been proposed and contested — check current status before registering.
Full company (SARL, EURL, SAS, or SASU)
- VAT
- Standard VAT rate is 20%, with reduced rates of 10% and 5.5% for certain goods/services; a company under IS generally charges and reclaims VAT normally once above the small-business exemption thresholds.
- Who Its For
- Anyone with real business expenses, growth ambitions, plans to hire staff, or revenue likely to exceed the micro-entrepreneur thresholds (e.g. a ski/snowboard school, chalet-management business, or equipment rental operation).
- Filing Obligations
- Annual corporate tax return (formulaire 2065) plus the full 'liasse fiscale' (balance sheet, income statement, fiscal schedules), filed electronically via impots.gouv.fr; the tax balance is due 3 months and 15 days after the fiscal year-end. Companies typically also pay quarterly IS installments during the year if prior-year tax exceeded €3,000.
- Local Business Tax Cfe
- Same CFE local business tax as sole proprietors applies from the second year of operation, rate set by the commune.
- Eligibility For Foreigners
- Foreigners (EU or non-EU) can be sole shareholder and director of a French company; non-EU founders generally still need an appropriate residence permit to actually reside and work in France as the company's manager, even though the company itself can technically be incorporated by a non-resident.
- Social Charges On Manager Pay
- A majority SARL/EURL manager is taxed as a self-employed worker (TNS) with social contributions of roughly 45% on their own remuneration; an SAS/SASU president is treated more like an employee, with social contributions that can run considerably higher (commonly cited around 75-80%) but which also confer employee-style social protection.
- Practical Note
- Setting up and running a full company requires a French business bank account, and in practice almost always requires an accountant (expert-comptable) to handle bookkeeping and the annual filing — a real added cost compared to micro-entrepreneur.
Corporate Tax Rate
- Standard Rate Percent
- 25
- Reduced Rate Applies To
- €42,500
- Reduced Rate Eligibility
- Applies to companies with turnover under €10 million where at least 75% of share capital is held by individuals; profit above the €42,500 threshold is taxed at the 25% standard rate.
- Reduced SME Rate Percent
- 15
Incorporation Process And Requirements
- Local Partner Or Sponsor Mandate
- None. France does not require a local partner, local majority shareholder, or 'sponsor' of any kind for foreigners to incorporate — this is a key difference from countries with local-sponsor rules. EU/EEA/Swiss citizens can create and run a French company with the same rights as French nationals and do not need a visa or residence permit to do so. Non-EU/EEA citizens can also own 100% of a French company and can direct it remotely without a French residence permit; a residence permit is only required if the non-EU founder intends to physically live in France and actively manage the business day-to-day there.
- Jurisdiction Note
- Tignes (Savoie department, France) has no city-specific incorporation regime — company formation is governed entirely by French national law and processed through the national one-stop portal. A company registered with its seat in Tignes would fall under the Tribunal de commerce de Chambéry (Savoie) for commercial registry matters.
Timeline
- Detail
- Sources describe an average processing time of about 1 to 3 weeks once a complete file is submitted to the Guichet Unique, with some estimates citing 10 to 30 working days for standard filings; a well-prepared remote setup (documents, translations, and bank KYC ready in advance) is commonly cited as achievable in 3 to 4 weeks. The most frequent bottleneck for foreign founders is bank KYC/account opening, not the registry filing itself.
- Typical Range
- 1 to 4 weeks in total from a fully-prepared file to receiving the Kbis
Core Steps
- Confirm legal eligibility: EU/EEA/Swiss citizens can incorporate freely; non-EU citizens who plan to reside and actively manage the business in France need a residence permit (e.g. Talent Passport 'entrepreneur' card or the entrepreneur/profession libérale card) before or alongside registration — this is not required if directing the company remotely from abroad.
- Choose a legal structure (SASU, SAS, SARL/EURL, or micro-entreprise) based on liability and tax goals.
- Check the company name is free via the INPI/Infogreffe database.
- Draft the Statuts (Articles of Association) in French, covering company name, purpose, capital, shareholders, and governance.
- Secure a registered office address in France (a lease, a domiciliation service contract, or, in limited cases, a home address) — a French address is mandatory to obtain the registration number.
- Open a French business bank account and deposit the share capital (for SAS/SARL/EURL); obtain the bank's capital-deposit certificate. Non-resident founders can often use a French neobank (e.g. Qonto, Shine) for remote video KYC rather than a traditional bank, which usually needs an in-person visit.
- Publish a formation notice (avis de constitution) in an authorized legal journal (journal d'annonces légales) and obtain the publication certificate.
- File the complete application online through the Guichet Unique (INPI's single formalities portal at procedures.inpi.fr), uploading Statuts, ID/passport of directors and shareholders, proof of address, the capital-deposit certificate, and the publication certificate.
- Guichet Unique automatically forwards the file to the Registre du Commerce et des Sociétés (RCS), tax authorities, and social security bodies; upon approval you receive your Kbis certificate (proof of legal existence), SIREN/SIRET number, and VAT ID.
Official Links
- https://procedures.inpi.fr (Guichet Unique — the mandatory national one-stop portal for all French company registrations)
- https://formalites.entreprises.gouv.fr (redirects to the same Guichet Unique system)
- https://www.inpi.fr (Institut National de la Propriété Industrielle — company name and trademark checks)
- https://www.service-public.fr (general French government portal, including guidance on Kbis and business formalities)
Typical Cost EUR
- Basic Registration Fee
- €290
Approximate midpoint of the commonly cited €260–€320 basic Guichet Unique filing range for standard company registration.
- Legal Notice Publication
- €121
Standard flat-ish fee for the mandatory formation notice (journal d'annonces légales); can run higher depending on notice length and department.
- Total DIY Setup Range Low
- €250
- Total DIY Setup Range High
- €1,500
Range for a SASU/SAS covering registration, publication, and modest legal support; costs rise further with a lawyer or accountant handling the full process.
- Domiciliation Service Monthly
- €60
Typical monthly cost of a virtual/registered-office address service (roughly €40–€80/month), commonly used by remote foreign founders who lack a physical French office.
- Working Capital Bank Deposit Reference
- €4,000
Some traditional banks expect a working deposit around this level at incorporation for credibility, though the legal minimum share capital for an SAS/SARL/EURL is only €1; this deposited amount is released back to the company once the Kbis is issued.
Common Legal Structures
SASU / SAS (Société Par Actions Simplifiée, Single or Multi-shareholder)
- Notes
- Most popular with foreign founders and startups due to flexible governance; minimum share capital as low as €1, though banks and suppliers generally expect more for credibility.
EURL / SARL
- Notes
- Single-member (EURL) or multi-member (SARL) limited liability company; more rigid governance than SAS.
Micro-entreprise / Auto-entrepreneur
- Notes
- Simplified solo-freelancer regime; open to non-EU citizens only once they hold a valid residence permit allowing self-employed work; not a 'company' in the corporate sense and comes with turnover caps.
Documents Typically Required
- Valid passport / national ID of all directors and shareholders
- Proof of address (in France or abroad, per residence status)
- Signed Statuts (Articles of Association), in French
- Bank capital-deposit certificate
- Proof of registered office address in France (lease or domiciliation contract)
- Certificate of legal-notice publication
- Declaration of beneficial ownership
- Declaration of no criminal convictions
- Residence permit or visa, only if the foreign founder intends to live in and actively run the business from France
- Certified French translations of any foreign-language documents (e.g. foreign birth certificate, if born abroad)
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.
More About Tignes
Data last updated July 2026 · Verify anything important.