France
France: 7 company types, its taxes, banking and business environment, and what it is known for.
Forming a company
Company types in France
The 7 forms a founder can choose here, each with its own figures. Open one for its sources.
What it is known for
Where France is in the world’s top 10 on a measure anyone can check, the best rank first. Only the top is shown; a low rank is never stated.
- World’s1stTax-treaty network Income-tax treaties in force122 of 100 treaty networks we hold the tax authority's own list (tax-treaties collection) See the top 10
- World’s2ndWorld-leading exports Aircraft, spacecraft and satellitesOther aircraft (for example, helicopters, aeroplanes), except unmanned aircraft of heading 8806; spacecraft (including satellites) and suborbital and spacecraft launch vehiclesUS$32.2 bn · 21.3% of world exports of 135 exporters · 2024 CEPII BACI, January 2026 release See the top 10
- World’s2ndWorld-leading exports Jewellery of precious metalArticles of jewellery and parts thereof, of precious metal or of metal clad with precious metalUS$13.3 bn · 10.8% of world exports of 209 exporters · 2024 CEPII BACI, January 2026 release See the top 10
- World’s3rdWorld-leading exports Turbojets, turbopropellers and other gas turbinesUS$21.7 bn · 10.9% of world exports of 189 exporters · 2024 CEPII BACI, January 2026 release See the top 10
- World’s8thResearch and technology Patent applications by residents12,751 of 121 economies · 2024 World Bank, World Development Indicators See the top 10
- World’s8thForeign investment Foreign direct investment received, a year on averageUS$47.1 bn of 182 economies · 2023–2025 World Bank, World Development Indicators See the top 10
- World’s9thResearch and technology High-technology exportsUS$116.6 bn of 123 economies · 2024 World Bank, World Development Indicators See the top 10
- World’s10thDigital services ICT service exportsUS$28.8 bn of 133 economies · 2025 World Bank, World Development Indicators See the top 10
A rank is among everything the source reports for that year, so it moves when the source adds or drops economies. Exports include goods passing through for re-export. Nothing here is a recommendation.
Doing business here
Business accounts
Providers whose own published list of countries names France. A listing means a company formed here may apply, not that it will be accepted.
Not in our records No provider's country list has been read for France.
EU listings
Two lists a bank checks when it opens an account for a company or its owner.
- EU high-risk third countries (AML)
- Not listed
- EU non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes
- Not listedOfficial EUR-Lex, 52026XG01465, Annex I as of 2026-02-17
Official sites
The authorities’ own sites for France: where to register, file and check.
Blocs and agreements
The trade arrangements France belongs to, as each arrangement’s own texts state them: since when, and what each covers. What a membership means for a business is for you to judge.
- European Union: internal market and customs union
- Single market · since 1958
Covers goods, services, establishment, capital, movement of people, a common external tariff.
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EU Member State since 1958, Euro area member since 1999, Schengen area member since 1995 and more about France’s participation in the EU.
- European Union: VAT territory
- Inside it
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‘Community’ and ‘territory of the Community’ mean the territories of the Member States as defined in point (2);
- Euro area
- Monetary union · since 1999
Covers a common currency.
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EU Member State since 1958, Euro area member since 1999, Schengen area member since 1995 and more about France’s participation in the EU.
- Schengen area
- Free movement area · since 1995
Covers movement of people.
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EU Member State since 1958, Euro area member since 1999, Schengen area member since 1995 and more about France’s participation in the EU.
- European Economic Area
- Single market · since 1 January 1994
Covers goods, movement of people, services, establishment, capital.
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which now covers the EU and its 27 Member States, and three of the four EFTA members: Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.
Regional and customs arrangements only, 36 of them; bilateral trade agreements are not yet in our records.
Tax
Company tax
Tax, and what the company owes the registry each year.
- Corporate income tax
- 36.13%
- Distributions
- Not in our records
- Audit
- Not in our records
- Small-company relief
- Not in our records
- Annual obligations
- Not in our records
- Annual registry fee
- Not in our records
VAT
The tax on what the company sells in France, and when it must register, as the tax authority states it.
- Standard rate
- 20%Official European Commission, Taxes in Europe Database situation on 2026/07/01
- Other rates
- 10% Meals and food served in restaurants, including takeaway meals and non-alcoholic drinks served in containers that cannot be kept
- 5.5% Food sold in shops and supermarkets, water and non-alcoholic drinks in sealed containers
- 2.1% Newspapers and periodicals tied to current affairs, condoms and feminine hygiene products
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Il existe un taux réduit de 5,5 %, un taux intermédiaire de 10 % et le taux plein (ou normal) à 20 %.
- Registration threshold
- EUR 85,000
turnover from sales and lodging (franchise en base de TVA); EUR 37,500 for services and non-regulated liberal activities; unchanged for 2026; previous calendar year
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précédente (N-1) est inférieur ou égal à 85 000 € (seuil de la franchise en base de TVA)
- Voluntary registration
- Yes
A business under the franchise thresholds may opt to be subject to VAT by written request to its service des impots des entreprises; the option runs for two calendar years and renews by tacit agreement.
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L'entreprise qui le souhaite peut opter pour être soumise à la TVA bien qu'elle respecte les seuils de chiffres d'affaires (CA) pour bénéficier du régime de la franchise en base de TVA.
- A foreign company
- needs a local tax representative
A business established outside the European Union that makes VAT-taxable supplies in France must appoint a fiscal representative (service-public, F23570). For a business established in another EU state the franchise rules also apply (F21746); the pages read give no other non-resident rule.
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Une entreprise située en dehors de l'Union européenne qui réalise des opérations imposables à la TVA doit désigner un représentant fiscal.
- Returns filed
- Depends on the business
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L'entreprise soumise à un régime simplifié de TVA doit faire une déclaration de TVA annuelle au plus tard le 2e jour ouvré suivant le 1er mai.
- Tax authority
- Direction générale des finances publiques (DGFiP), Ministère de l'Économie et des Finances
Tax calendar
When the main returns and payments fall due in France, tax year 2025, as the tax authority states it.
- Corporate tax return
- 3 months after the end of the accounting period · each year
the return of results (liasse fiscale) is filed within three months of the close of the financial year (art. 223-1 CGI); for a company closing on 31 December that is the following 31 March. The DGFiP grants a systematic additional delay, so in practice the date for a calendar-year company falls in early May — the DGFiP's 2026 professional calendar lists the 2065 return for the year closed 31 December 2025 in May 2026, with 15 further calendar days for taxpayers using the electronic procedures.
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Date limite de souscription de la déclaration de résultats n° 2065 de l'exercice clos le 31 décembre 2025 pour les entreprises passibles de l'impôt sur les sociétés
- Corporate tax, final payment
- 3 months and 15 days after the end of the accounting period · each year
the balance of the corporate income tax is paid at the latest on the 15th day of the fourth month following the close of the financial year — 15 April for a 31 December close — by the relevé de solde n° 2572. Where no financial year closes during the year, the balance is due 15 May of the following year.
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le versement du solde de l'IS est effectué au plus tard le 15 du quatrième mois qui suit la clôture de l’exercice
- Corporate tax, instalments
- 15 March · each quarter
the corporate income tax acomptes must be paid at the latest on the 15th of March, June, September and December. The rule records the March instalment; the dates shift with the company's closing date (they are the 15th of the third, sixth, ninth and twelfth month of the financial year), and a company whose reference IS is below €3,000, or in its first year, is exempt from acomptes.
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Les acomptes doivent être payés au plus tard le 15 des mois de mars, juin, septembre et décembre.
- Personal income-tax return
- Set each year by decree · each year
there are three filing deadlines, fixed each year according to the taxpayer's zone of residence; for the 2025 income declared in 2026 the online deadlines were Thursday 21 May 2026 (departments 01 to 19 and non-residents), Thursday 28 May 2026 (departments 20 to 54) and Thursday 4 June 2026 (departments 55 to 974/976), with a single paper deadline of 19 May 2026. The rule lists the three dates published for the current year.
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1 ère zone : jeudi 21 mai 2026 pour les départements n° 01 à 19 ainsi que les contribuables non résidents en France ; 2 ème zone : jeudi 28 mai 2026 pour les départements n° 20 à 54 ; 3 ème zone : jeudi 4 juin 2026 pour les départements n° 55 à 974/976
- Personal income tax, final payment
- 15 September · each year
the income tax and social levies are put into recovery (mise en recouvrement) in the summer and the date limite de paiement shown on the avis d'impôt is 15 September; where the DGFiP holds the taxpayer's bank details the solde is debited on 25 September (or, above €300, spread over four monthly debits from 25 September to 28 December).
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Impôt sur le revenu et prélèvements sociaux mis en recouvrement en juillet N pour un montant de 225 euros, avec une date limite de paiement au 15 septembre N.
- Personal income tax, instalments
- Day 15 of the following month · each month
income not received from a third-party collector (self-employed and agricultural income, rental income, maintenance payments) is paid through acomptes debited by the DGFiP on the 15th of each month, or on option each quarter (February, May, August, November). The rule records the 15th of each month.
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ces derniers continueront d'être prélevés le 15 du mois
- VAT return
- Day 15 of the following month · each month
a business under the normal VAT regime must file a CA3 return each month on which it computes the VAT that became chargeable during the previous month; the exact deadline is between the 15th and the 24th of the following month according to the taxpayer's file (stated in its professional space), so the rule records the 15th. Where annual VAT is below €4,000 the return may be filed quarterly; the régime réel simplifié files an annual CA12 with two acomptes (July and December).
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Vous devez télétransmettre une déclaration CA3 chaque mois, sur laquelle vous calculez la TVA devenue exigible au cours du mois précédent.
- Payroll withholding
- Day 15 of the following month · each month
for employers using the déclaration sociale nominative the withholding is remitted the month following the month of the withholding and at the latest on the 15th of the month for employers with at most 49 employees, on the 5th of the month for larger employers. An employer with fewer than eleven employees may opt for a quarterly remittance, at the latest on the 15th of the first month of the quarter following that of the withholdings.
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Le versement doit être effectué au plus tard : - le 15 du mois pour les entreprises comptant au maximum 49 salariés ; - le 5 du mois pour les autres.
Running the company
Running a company here
Not in our records The authorities’ pages on running a company have not been read for France yet.
Economy and trade
What it exports
Goods France exported, by product, as a share of its goods exports each year. Exports include goods passing through for re-export. A share describes France’s own trade; it does not compare places.
| Product (HS heading) | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Value, 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Other aircraft (for example, helicopters, aeroplanes), except unmanned aircraft of heading 8806; spacecraft (including satellites) and suborbital and spacecraft launch vehicles HS 8802 | 4.0% | 4.4% | 5.1% | US$32.2 bn |
| Medicaments (excluding goods of heading 3002, 3005 or 3006) consisting of mixed or unmixed products for therapeutic or prophylactic uses, put up in measured doses (including those in the form of transdermal administration systems) or in forms or packings for retail sale HS 3004 | 4.2% | 4.2% | 4.4% | US$27.7 bn |
| Motor cars and other motor vehicles principally designed for the transport of persons (other than those of heading 8702), including station wagons and racing cars HS 8703 | 3.7% | 4.2% | 4.0% | US$25.1 bn |
| Turbojets, turbopropellers and other gas turbines HS 8411 | 2.3% | 2.9% | 3.4% | US$21.7 bn |
| Parts and accessories of the motor vehicles of headings 8701 to 8705 HS 8708 | 2.6% | 2.5% | 2.3% | US$14.5 bn |
| Articles of jewellery and parts thereof, of precious metal or of metal clad with precious metal HS 7113 | 1.3% | 1.9% | 2.1% | US$13.3 bn |
| Wine of fresh grapes, including fortified wines; grape must other than that of heading 2009 HS 2204 | 2.2% | 2.1% | 2.0% | US$12.9 bn |
| Trunks, suitcases, vanity cases, executive-cases, briefcases, school satchels, spectacle cases, binocular cases, camera cases, musical instrument cases, gun cases, holsters and similar containers; travelling-bags, insulated food or beverages bags, toilet bags, rucksacks, handbags, shopping-bags, wallets, purses, map-cases, cigarette-cases, tobacco-pouches, tool bags, sports bags, bottle-cases, jewellery boxes, powder boxes, cutlery cases and similar containers, of leather or of composition leather, of sheeting of plastics, of textile materials, of vulcanised fibre or of paperboard, or wholly or mainly covered with such materials or with paper HS 4202 | 1.8% | 1.9% | 1.9% | US$12.2 bn |
| Beauty or make-up preparations and preparations for the care of the skin (other than medicaments), including sunscreen or suntan preparations; manicure or pedicure preparations HS 3304 | 1.7% | 1.9% | 1.9% | US$11.9 bn |
| Parts of goods of heading 8801, 8802 or 8806 HS 8807 | 1.2% | 1.8% | 1.7% | US$10.9 bn |
Total goods exports, 2024: US$636.4 bn. The ten largest headings are shown.