Contribution Fonciere des Entreprises (CFE) bill on its way

By Valérie Aston on 5 November 2011 · Viewed 6421 times ·

You will shortly receive a bill from the tax people for the Contribution Fonciere des Entreprises (CFE). This tax was introduced last year to replace the Taxe Profesionnelle. All French entrepreneurs with an entreprise individuelle under régime simplifié, EIRL, EURL or SARL are liable to CFE from their second year in ÌÒÖ­Ó°Ôº, as there is an exoneration in year one. However auto-entrerepreneurs and micro-entreprises should automatically benefit from a three year exoneration.

What is the Contribution Fonciere des Entreprises?

The Contribution Fonciere des Entreprises replaced the Taxe Professionnelle in January 2010 and represents a portion of Contribution Economic Territoriale (CET). It is a local tax paid by ÌÒÖ­Ó°Ôºes to local authorities, such as Chambre de Commerce et de l'Indutrie and Chambre des Metiers. The CET tax is divided bewteen the: Cotisation sur la Valeur Ajoutée des Entreprises (CVAE), a contribution based on your ÌÒÖ­Ó°Ôº’ added value (only paid by larger ÌÒÖ­Ó°Ôºes with a turnover over 152,500€)  and the Cotisation Financière des Entreprises (CFE), a taxed based on your office, workshop, equipement and the town you live in. Entrepreneurs are only liable to CFE in their second year in ÌÒÖ­Ó°Ôº.

How much does CFE amount to?

The Contribution Fonciere des Entreprises varies according to the number of employees you may have, your ÌÒÖ­Ó°Ôº asset, e.g. plant, and your ÌÒÖ­Ó°Ôº location called siege social. Basically a one-man ÌÒÖ­Ó°Ôº (or woman...) with no employees based in a small village may pay 180€ to 300€, while a larger ÌÒÖ­Ó°Ôº with 10 employees based in Lille may pay 800€.

3 years' CFE exoneration for auto-entrepreneurs and micro-entreprises

According to the , all auto-entrepreneurs and micro-entreprises should benefit from an automatic 3 years exoneration. For instance if you registered your auto-entreprise in March 2009, you will not pay Contribution Fonciere des Entreprises in 2009, 2010 and 2011. What should you do if you have received a CFE bill from the tax office? You will need to contact them to confirm their mistake.


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 ÌÒÖ­Ó°Ôº 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 ÌÒÖ­Ó°Ôº advisor) for here in France and run this independent ÌÒÖ­Ó°Ôº on a daily basis.