Auto-entrepreneur time limit

By Valérie Aston on 16 April 2013 · Viewed 5206 times · Questions

Auto-entrepreneur businesses are facing uncertainty and maybe subject to a time limit of 5 years or less.

Ms Fleur Pellerin, Minister Delegate with responsibility for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises and Innovation, announced on 10th April that the auto-entrepreneur regime would be limited in time from 1 to 5 years. She refused to confirm the length of this limitation, but did confirm that a decision would be taken by the summer.

Ms Pellerin suggested that the auto-entrepreneur with a business income representing less than 50% of their overall income, could remain under the auto-entrepreneur regime with no limitation in time. In this scenario the auto-entrepreneur is referred to as activité complémentaire

Unfortunately for the auto-entrepreneur with a full time activity, i.e where the main income is generated by their business, this would mean having to switch to a different regime after 1 to 5 years. This would involve moving to a more expensive business type such as entreprise individuelle under régime reel simplifié, starting a limited company (SARL or EURL). Some people may even choose to close their auto-entrepreneur business and stop trading altogether.

Here's what is currently unclear:

  • The time limit on the auto-entrepreneur
  • If the the new auto-entrepreneur law will be retroactive
  • Will businesses automatically close or move up to a different regime

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Valerie Lemiere: Start Business in France

About the author: Valérie Aston

I've been helping people who want to start or already have a small business set up in France since 2009. After graduating from a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree, I worked as a senior marketing consultant in the UK and France for various International companies. I worked as a conseillère en création d'entreprises (senior business advisor) for BGE here in France and run this independent business on a daily basis.