Entrepreneur individuel EIFrance
What it takes to form, own and run a sole trader in France, and how its profit is taxed. Each figure links to the page it was read from.
This company type
At a glance
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La création d'une entreprise individuelle exerçant une activité commerciale coûte
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Impôt sur le revenu (IR) mais option possible pour l'impôt sur les sociétés (IS)
Form it
Who registers it
- Registry
- Formed without visiting
- Not stated
The registry’s and the law’s own pages do not mention it.
- Formed online
- Yes
What it takes to form
Not in our records A notary, A resident director, Paying up the capital: none of these is in our records for the EI.
Own it
Who may own and run it
- Directors
- Does not apply
- Shareholders
- Does not apply
- Members
- At least 1 · at most 1 · one person may form it alone
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Détenue et dirigée par une seule personne (l'entrepreneur)
- A local company secretary
- Does not apply
- A local registered agent
- Not stated
The registry’s and the law’s own pages do not mention it.
Each year, at the registry
- Annual registry fee
- Not stated
The registry’s and the law’s own pages do not mention it.
- Accounts on the public record
- No
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Le dépôt des comptes est obligatoire uniquement pour les sociétés commerciales
- Audit for a small company
- Does not apply
- Audit
- Not in our records
Important dates
When each obligation falls due, as the authority states it.
- Deposit of annual accounts at the greffe
- Not required for this type
The INPI page states deposit is obligatory only for commercial companies; an EI is not a company.
What is public
Not in our records What the register shows the public is not in our records for the EI.
Tax
Tax on profit
How this company type is taxed, which can differ from its place’s headline rate.
Owners choose
Income tax (IR) by default, with an option for corporate tax (IS).
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Impôt sur le revenu (IR) mais option possible pour l'impôt sur les sociétés (IS)
- CFC rules in France
- Yes
Close it
Closing it
The other end, which most guides leave out.
Not in our records Route, Statutory fee: none of these is in our records for the EI.
Every business in France
VAT
- 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
Payment and banking services
7 services name France on their own list: Paysera, Airwallex, Stripe, Revolut, N26, bunq, Qonto. Each provider, and what a listing means.
Reference
Its name and code
- Kind
- Sole traderDerived our grouping, the same words in every country
- Name in law
- Entrepreneur individuel (EI)
- ISO 20275 code
- ZY9XSecondary GLEIF, Entity Legal Forms code list