Warning : Will auto-entrepreneurs have to comply with accounting controls?

By Valérie Aston on 28 November 2011 · Viewed 5621 times · Questions

The Nouveau Centre, Hervé Morin's political party, has requested an amendment to the Loi de Finance 2011, in order to submit auto-entrepreneurs to compulsory accounting controls. This amendment will be discussed in 29th November and may be voted by the National Assembly on Wednesday 30th November.

According to a press release published by AFP on 24th November, auto-entrepreneurs could be submitted to some compulsory controls in order to ensure that they do comply with the regime's accounting requirements. This amendment has been drafted by the Nouveau Centre political party and will be submitted to public discussion and may be voted at the National Assembly this week, as part of the Loi de Finance 2011 up-date.

Based on this new amendment, all auto-entrepreneurs in their third year would have to submit a certificate produced by an accountant or Organsime de Gestion Agréé (OGA), to confirm that they do comply with the auto-entrepreneur accountancy rules and that their turnover declaration reflect their book-keeping.

For instance, an auto-entrepreneur registered in 2009 would need to provide a certificate for the first time in 2012 as part of his-her activity in 2011. Failing to provide a certificate would result in an automatic switch to a standard regime such as micro entreprise.

Several bodies representing auto-entrepreneurs, including FEDAE and UAE have critised this amendment, as no professional body was consulted. The costs of these controls have not been mentioned either. Considering that over 850 000 auto-entrepreneurs have been created since 2009, how could URSSAF handle so many controls? Requesting a certificate from an accountant or CGA would also generate extra costs for auto-entrepreneurs. 

I will keep you posted on this subject later in the week. This measure, if voted, would be applied as early as 2011. This is another blow to the auto-entrepreneur system, further to the CAPEB's request that auto-entrepreneurs become liable to VAT


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.