Autoentrepeneur not always right

YOUR letter from Jean Ashcroft needs answering, as she is unhappy she cannot deduct overheads from her income as an auto-entrepreneur.

The auto-entrepreneur system is meant to be a simple small business model, including the book-keeping and tax aspects, and it does the job provided the business is appropriate.

To be frank, she chose the wrong business model; if she had taken advice from a professional (lawyer, accountant) before registering, she would have been advised against the auto-entrepreneur regime because of the inability to deduct overheads.

It is wholly inappropriate where the overheads exceed 15-20 per cent of turnover; she should re-register as an ordinary self-employed service provider (prestataire de services) and keep proper books, declaring her income and overheads under the ordinary BNC rules.

Gerard Barron
Avocat and British solicitor,
hon. British consul
Boulogne-sur-Mer

AS A French reader of Connexion, I can understand the dismay of British people about French bureaucracy, but the auto-entrepreneur régime, although not perfect, is by far the easiest way to run a small business.

I am an accountant employed in two small businesses, both under the régime simplifié, and a self-employed trainer, as an auto-entrepreneur, and I can say there is a big difference between the two regimes.

If Jean Ashton wants to offset expenses for her equestrian centre against turnover, she should move to the régime simplifié. However, the accounts would be much more
complicated and she would pay social contributions according to actual profit, instead of turnover, and at higher rates.

D. JARNET
35350 Saint-Méloir-des-Ondes