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WORKING IN FRANCE

URSSAF: What is it, how it works, and how it affects you

if you are working as a freelancer, contractor or have set up a business in France you will need to become familiar with the social security collections agency Urssaf. Here's what it is and how it works.

Published: 19 April 2024 12:20 CEST
A woman uses her laptop computer in a park
A woman uses her laptop computer in a park. (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP)

Unions de Recouvrement des Cotisations de Sécurité Sociale et d’Allocations Familiales – more usually known, because that’s a mouthful, by the acronym Urssaf – are the administrators who collect social security contributions that fund a large part of France’s labyrinthine social security system, including, notably, health insurance.

It is responsible for collecting some €534.4 billion from 9.8 million users every year to help fund social security in France.

If you’re an employee in France, you will probably have nothing directly to do with Urssaf, because – for the most part – dealing with it will fall into the realms of Somebody Else’s Problem (ie your employer). 

But if you are freelance, a contractor or set up your own business you will almost definitely have to deal with Urssaf. 

Type of regime

Many people working for themselves in France use the simplified Micro Entrepreneur regime – often still referred to as auto entrepreneur – which sets up a basic sole trader-style business. 

Its advantage is (relative) simplicity but it has limits on earnings as well as other limitations like being able to write off business expenses.

Micro-entrepreneur: How to set up as a small business in France

Other options for freelancers or sole traders include the Entrepreneur individuel à responsabilité limitée (EIRL – basically a limited liability sole trader); Entreprise unipersonnelle à responsabilité limitée (EURL – another sole trader option), Société par Actions Simplifiée Unipersonnelle (SASU); or Société à Responsibilité Limitée (SARL).

These allow for higher earnings but are more complicated and may require an accountant to set up.

If you start off as a micro-entrepreneur but then your earnings go over the threshold you can switch to another regime without attracting a penalty.

How to register 

These days the whole registering a business thing can be done online. For a simple micro enterprise, you can create an account on autoentrepreneur.urssaf.fr, then give details of the business you intend to run, and your social security numbers. 

If you’re looking to set-up a more complex business structure such as a EURL, SARL, SASU, or SAS, you should start with the portail e-procédures at procedures.inpi.fr.

You must then send off the declaration, which is registered with the relevant Centre de formalités des entreprises;

  • For commercial businesses eg shops or bars, this is the Chambre de commerce et d’industrie;
  • For artisans, craftspeople, tradespeople and some other commercial businesses, it is with the chambre de métiers et de l’artisanat;
  • For professions libérales – including, for example, freelance journalists – it is with Urssaf.

Within 15 days of registration, you should receive your business registration number, known as the SIRET number.

Notice that you have been signed up to the relevant social security regime should follow in a few weeks. 

Since 2020, all independent workers belong to the Assurance Maladie health regime, and a few professionnels libéraux are signed up to the standard Assurance retraite for their pensions. 

How much does it cost to set up a business?

That depends on your business. Setting up as a micro entrepreneur (auto entrepreneur) costs nothing administratively and is the simplest way for freelancers to set up for themselves. 

Technically speaking it is a tax status rather than a business structure. 

Then what?

Once you’re up and running, the most regular contact with Urssaf should be when you file your earnings online, which – for micro entrepreneurs – can be done monthly or quarterly using the auto entrepreneur website.

You will then be informed how much you owe in cotisations, (social security contributions) which will be taken out of your bank account around a month later.

 If you have a French-incorporated business, such as EURL, SARL, SAS or SASU, you will use URSSAF’s main website www.urssaf.fr, or get your accountant to do so. Some business set-ups in France require you to use an accountant.

READ ALSO Ten tips for working as a freelancer in France

Banks

Note that you will need to set up a dedicated bank account for your business. As a micro entrepreneur, despite claims from banks, it does not have to be a business account (which attract larger fees). But it should be separate from your personal bank account, and just used to pay your charges, for any business expenses (which you cannot claim for, if you’re a micro entrepreneur). 

Other business regimes, such as the Entrepreneur individuel à responsabilité limitée (EIRL – basically a limited liability sole trader); Entreprise unipersonnelle à responsabilité limitée (EURL – another sole trader option), Société par Actions Simplifiée Unipersonnelle (SASU); or Société à Responsibilité Limitée (SARL), have certain advantages on allowable earnings, compared to the very basic micro-entrepreneur regime – but will incur a sliding scale of charges on set-up, and require different book-keeping and accounting systems. Some will also require you to be registered for VAT.

Do I need an accountant?

This is really a personal choice – the micro-entrepreneur regime is designed to be simple and to be used by individuals, but some people still prefer to use an accountant.

The business structures for higher earners are a little more complicated and may require an accountant to set up. Most people use accountants if they are within these structures, unless they are confident in both their French and their book-keeping abailities.

If you have an accountant you can nominate them to be your representative in any dealings with Urssaf, although note that you are still responsible for any fees and charges, even if they are incurred by your accountant making a mistake.

Okay — how much do you pay in charges?

For micro-entrepreneurs, social charges can be paid monthly or quarterly. They are calculated as a fixed percentage of your earnings, depending on the type of work.

Rates are 12.8 percent for the sale of goods, 22 percent for artisanal and commercial services, 22 percent for professions libérales attached to the standard Assurance Retraite for retirement, and 22.2 percent for a small number of professions libérales attached to Cipav. 

A levy of 0.1 percent to 0.3 percent is also charged. It goes to the CPF fund giving all workers the right to a financial contribution for training.

Note, micro-entrepreneurs are limited in the amount they can earn: for business activities and the supply of accommodation (hotels, bed and breakfasts, rural cottages classified as furnished apartments, furnished apartments), the threshold is €188,700.

For service and professional activities, the threshold is €77,700.

Micro entrepreneurs will be obliged to step up to another business regime if they break these earnings thresholds.

For other business types, these maximum earnings thresholds do not exist, but bosses will have other requirements, for example, they may need to use the services of an accountant, and will have to be audited once they cross a certain earnings threshold.

Taxes

It’s important to note that Urssaf deductions are only part of the story – there are also other taxes to consider.

Personal income tax is covered in the annual income tax declaration, while businesses taxes fall under a range of tax regimes, depending on your type of business.

Commercial, industrial, or manual/trades/crafts businesses fall under the Bénéfices Industriels et Commerciaux (BIC) system. Professional businesses fall under the Bénéfices non Commerciaux (BNC) system. Agricultural businesses use the Bénéfices Agricole (BA) system.

Don’t forget, either, the Contribution Fonciere des Entreprises (CFE) property levy, a local tax payable by any company or self-employed person earning more than €5,000 per year, even if they conduct their business at home, at the kitchen table. This one is due every December.

What if I have a problem?

You can contact Urssaf staff online via the website, or arrange an appointment for a face to face meeting at their offices, if you prefer. Contrary to popular opinion, they’re there to help you.

Urssaf, in the past, had a poor reputation. But, as with all French bureaucracy, it’s better to work with it rather than try to fight or resent it.

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READER QUESTION

Can I work on a laptop in a French café?

As cafés in Spain launch a crackdown on remote workers who hog tables for hours without buying anything, what's the etiquette over working from a café in France?

Published: 16 May 2024 16:30 CEST
Can I work on a laptop in a French café?

Reader question: I’m visiting France shortly and I will need to do some work while I’m there – is it socially acceptable to go to a café and use my laptop there?

Over the border in Spain, cafés in Valencia, Barcelona and Santiago are reportedly ‘on a war footing’ against laptop-users, with some cutting the wifi during peak hours or just banning them altogether.

Fortunately in France, things are a little more relaxed – although this will depend on exactly where you are and how busy the café is. 

First things first – there are no local or national laws about laptop use in cafés (which you might think is a given but France does love to legislate) so the rules are up to the individual café owner and their staff. 

Culturally, however, there is something of a tradition of working in French cafés – famous writers from Victor Hugo to Ernest Hemmingway wrote novels while loitering in cafés, philosophers from Voltaire to Jean-Paul Sartre held discussion groups in Paris cafés and poverty-stricken artists have attempted to pay for their drinks with paintings (usually unsuccessfully).

In more modern times it’s completely normal for work-related meetings to be held in cafés while in cities where people tend to live in small apartments it’s common for social groups such as book clubs to meet in cafés.

But how does this all relate to opening up your laptop and getting down to work?

Well is varies, but there are a few things to think about;

Location – working on a laptop is undoubtedly more common in cities than it is in smaller places and in areas like the Paris or Bordeaux businesses districts it is a common site to see people typing away, perhaps in between business meetings that they have lined up in the café. 

Café size/occupation – take a look around you, is the café busy with people waiting for tables? Is it a tiny place with only space for a few tables? In these cases you’re less likely to be welcome to loiter for hours. If, however, things are quiet and there are plenty of tables it probably won’t be a problem to spend a few hours catching up with work 

Time of day – while this may vary in smaller towns, most city cafés are open all day – catering for the breakfast crowd, then into morning coffee, lunch and leading into the apéro hour and dinner.

Naturally cafés get busier at lunchtime (12 noon to 2pm) and when apéro starts (usually about 6pm) so you’re likely to be less welcome to take up a table for long periods during these times. If you’ve been there all morning and the server pointedly starts adding cutlery to your table, it’s probably a sign that they want the table back for the lunch-time busy period. You could of course order lunch yourself. 

Type of café – not all cafés are created equal and there are many different types. While most places have no problem with people working there, in recent years some Paris cafés have decided to impose limits on laptop use.

One of those is the Fringe café in the trendy Marais district. Owner Jeff told The Local: “I’m not against laptops, but I am against the minority of users who will sit down for four or five hours, with the cheapest drink. That’s not respectful to the space, so the decision came about because of those few who do that. We call them squatters.”

However this view is far from universal. Nix Audon, a server at Café de la Poste, said: “We evolve with the times, we even offer wifi for free. People can come, relax, and do what they need to.”

Before Nix worked at Café de la Poste, he was a customer. “I would come here every day after work just to relax. For me, café culture is about being able to chill, and sit for however long you want. Cafés are a huge part of social life for Parisians and café culture is intended to be inclusive of everyone, including those who want to sit and work on their laptops.”

While this isn’t a hard-and-fast rule, we’ve noticed that most of the places that do have laptop bans are more ‘coffee shops’ in the American style (think loads of different coffee types with elaborate alternative milk options and big slabs of cake) than traditional French cafés (oat milk is for baby oats but the wine selection is excellent).

Do you need to order something? Yes, absolutely, it is only polite to order something if you intend to take up a table for long periods and no that thing cannot be tap water (which is free in French bars, restaurants and cafés).

How much you need to order depends on how long you want to stay – but staying all day and ordering a single espresso (roughly €2) would definitely be regarded as pushing your luck.

That said, French cafés mostly have a ‘no hurry’ policy and you’re unlikely to be rushed out as soon as you have finished your drink unless the café is very busy and you’re in a very touristy area. Lingering over a single coffee while you people-watch and/or think great thoughts is definitely part of France’s traditional culture.

Just ask – of course, you can just ask if it’s OK to work there. The places that don’t appreciate laptop users usually have a sign up to that effect, sometimes just covering a specific time like asking people not to use laptops at weekends or in the evening.

But if you’re unsure, just ask your server 

J’aimerais travailler sur mon ordinateur pendant quelques heures, si c’est possible ? – I’d like to work on my laptop for a couple of hours, if that’s OK?

Je peux utiliser un ordinateur portable ici ? – Is it OK to use a laptop here?

Alternatives – if you want to do more than a couple of hours of work, you might look for a more formal solution. France has a variety of options for people who need a work space, with the most popular being ‘un co-working‘ – a shared workspace where you pay for your time by the hour or the day.

Many of the larger and more business-orientated hotels also offer work spaces and meeting spaces.

Meanwhile in the larger cities there is the trend of ‘un co-homing‘ where people open up their apartments – for a fee – to people who need a space to work, plus a little social interaction.

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