What is CFE and should I pay it?

By Valérie Aston on 13 November 2020 · Viewed 9969 times · Questions

You have a business in France and have just received a CFE bill - Contribution Fonciere des Entreprises. You are wondering whether it is a scam and if/how you should be paying it? I have recorded a short CFE video explanation for you.

What is CFE - Contribution Fonciere des Entreprises

Contribution Fonciere des Entreprises (CFE) is a small tax due by all businesses from their second year in activity. This tax is based on a calendar year. So if you registered your business in 2020, you will not be paying it until December 2021. If you created your business in 2019 or before, you have to pay this CFE tax.

Good news: if your turnover is lower than 5,000€ you can request a CFE exoneration from the tax office. Use your messagerie in your business  Impot Gouv account to ask for a CFE exoneration and provide proofs of your turnover (for instance your turnover declaration for a micro entrepreneur). You can attach some documents to your message.

If you have some difficulties to pay your CFE, you could ask the tax office to spread the payments over a few months. Use your business Impot Gouv account's messagerie to request some instalments.

Watch the CFE video explanation to understand if you should be being it and how.

Deadline to pay your CFE tax: 15th December 2020

You have more questions on Contribution Fonciere des Entreprises (CFE)? Join the Start Business In France forum .

Why should I create an Impot Gouv account for my French business?

In this video, I also explain the 3 reasons why you should be creating an Impot Gouv account for your business.

  1. To get some advice from your tax office.
  2. To request your TVA number and complete your TVA declaration as your business grows.
  3. To validate and pay your CFE tax.
What is CFE and should I pay it?

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.