Form a Company in France — Fixed-Price

Last updated: April 2026.

France is the European Union's second-largest economy and processed more than one million new business registrations through the INPI Guichet Unique in 2025. The dominant vehicle for foreign founders is the SAS — société par actions simplifiée — because it allows bespoke articles, flexible governance, and a free-to-set share capital starting at €1. The alternative, the SARL, follows a codified structure and suits smaller family businesses. Corporate income tax sits at 25%, with a reduced 15% band on the first €42,500 of profit for qualifying SMEs. The Kbis extract — the official proof of existence — is issued within one business day of a complete filing at the greffe du tribunal de commerce.

We form French SAS, SASU, SARL, and EURL companies end to end: name clearance, statuts, capital-deposit account, JAL publication, Guichet Unique filing, RBE beneficial-owner declaration, VAT activation, and a business bank introduction. Fixed price, dedicated French-speaking manager, all greffe, INPI, and JAL publication costs built in.

Quick facts	Value
Corporate income tax (Impôt sur les sociétés) — standard	25%
Reduced SME rate — first €42,500 of profit	15% (turnover < €10M, ≥75% held by individuals)
VAT (TVA)	20% standard / 10% / 5.5% / 2.1% reduced bands
VAT franchise — goods / services	€85,000 / €37,500 domestic thresholds
Minimum share capital (SAS, SASU, SARL, EURL)	€1 — freely set in the statuts
Minimum share capital (SA)	€37,000
Paid-up at incorporation	50% of SAS cash capital / 20% of SARL cash capital
Minimum directors / shareholders	1 président + 1 associé (can be the same person, can be foreign)
Residency requirement	None for directors or shareholders
Standard formation time	2–4 weeks; Kbis issued within 1 business day of a clean Guichet Unique filing
Government fees	Included in our packages
Language of filings	French
Currency	Euro (EUR)

Why Form a Company in France

France runs the EU's second-largest consumer market and anchors the single largest labour pool in the bloc. Three reasons foreign founders pick it over Germany, Spain, or the Netherlands.

A €1 SAS. The société par actions simplifiée has no statutory minimum capital. Shareholders set the amount in the statuts. Half of the cash capital is paid up at incorporation; the rest can be called up over five years. Compared with Germany's €25,000 GmbH minimum or the Netherlands's €0 but stringent notary regime, the SAS is the lowest-friction EU limited vehicle. A SARL costs the same — €1 statutory minimum — with 20% paid up at incorporation.

Contractual freedom in the SAS. Article L. 227-2 of the French Commercial Code lets the statuts define governance almost entirely. Multiple share classes. Bespoke transfer restrictions. Founder vetoes. Non-voting investor shares. Differentiated dividend rights. This flexibility is why almost every French venture-backed startup and most foreign-owned subsidiaries now incorporate as a SAS rather than a SARL.

The market itself. 68 million consumers. Public R&D tax credits — the Crédit Impôt Recherche — average 30% relief on qualifying research spend, one of the most generous in Europe. Paris is the EU's largest post-Brexit financial centre. Strategic industries from aerospace to luxury goods to nuclear cluster around identifiable regional hubs.

The trade-offs: filings are in French, payroll and social security costs are among the highest in the OECD, labour law protects incumbent employees aggressively, and the tax authority audits intra-group transfer pricing with high intensity. These are operational rather than formation issues — but they shape whether France is the right legal home for what you are building.

Company Types Available in France

French corporate law recognises eight principal forms. For almost every cf24 client, the choice sits between SAS and SARL.

SAS / SASU (Société par actions simplifiée)

The dominant vehicle for foreign-owned French subsidiaries, venture-backed startups, joint ventures, and holding companies. Limited liability up to paid-in capital. No statutory minimum — €1 is legal, though most founders settle between €1,000 and €10,000 for credibility. Governance is whatever the statuts say. The head of the company is the président, who can be a natural person or another company. Non-resident presidents are permitted. SASU is the single-shareholder variant. Used in roughly 65% of new French incorporations.

SARL / EURL (Société à responsabilité limitée)

The codified limited liability company. More rigid than the SAS — the manager is a gérant, governance follows the Commercial Code template, minor transactions between the gérant and the company require shareholder approval, and a gérant majoritaire pays social charges on the self-employed regime rather than the salaried employee regime. Minimum €1 capital with 20% paid up at incorporation. EURL is the single-shareholder variant. Still preferred for small family businesses, retail shops, and regulated trades where the SARL framework is expected.

SA (Société anonyme)

For listed companies and larger unlisted businesses. Minimum capital €37,000, at least 50% paid up at incorporation. Minimum two shareholders (seven if listed on a regulated market). Mandatory board of directors or dual management and supervisory boards. Mandatory statutory auditor. Most cf24 clients do not need a SA; the SAS delivers comparable liability protection with far less governance overhead.

SNC, SCS, SCA, Civil Companies

The société en nom collectif (general partnership with unlimited joint liability), société en commandite simple (limited partnership), société en commandite par actions (limited partnership by shares), and various civil companies (SCI for real estate, SCP for professions) serve specialist purposes — family succession planning, regulated professional groupings, or property holding.

Succursale (Branch)

A foreign company's French branch. Not a separate legal entity. Requires registration at the greffe and issues a Kbis in the parent's name. Useful when a foreign group needs French presence without forming a subsidiary — occasionally attractive for US and UK parents that want to preserve fiscal unity with the home structure.

Form	Min capital	Paid-up at incorporation	Liability	Tax	Common use
SAS / SASU	€1	≥50% of cash	Limited	CIT 25% / 15% SME	Default — startups, subsidiaries, holdings, JVs
SARL / EURL	€1	≥20% of cash	Limited	CIT 25% / 15% SME	Small family businesses, retail
SA	€37,000	≥50% of cash	Limited	CIT 25%	Listed cos, large unlisted
SNC	None	—	Unlimited joint	Tax-transparent by default	Specialist partnerships
SCS / SCA	Set by statuts	Varies	Mixed	CIT or transparent	Fund and family structures
Succursale	n/a	—	Parent's	CIT on FR-source income	Foreign branch presence

For an alternative to new formation, see our sister brand's pre-incorporated French SAS — transferable within days rather than weeks.

Step-by-Step Formation Process

A typical SAS formation for a non-resident founder follows these steps.

Name clearance. We check the proposed name against the INPI trademark database, the RCS for identical or similar existing companies, and domain availability. Two or three alternatives are normal — France protects a long list of regulated terms (bank, insurance, notaire, pharmacy, anything suggesting a regulated profession).

Statuts drafting. We draft the articles of association. For a SAS, this includes the share-class structure, president appointment and removal rules, transfer restrictions, drag-along and tag-along clauses, reserved-matter lists, and any founder-specific governance. For a SARL, the statuts follow the Commercial Code template with limited customisation. Foreign corporate shareholders provide apostilled certificates of incorporation, register of directors, and UBO confirmation — we arrange sworn French translations in parallel.

Capital deposit. Cash capital is paid into a capital-deposit account. The bank issues a certificat de dépôt des fonds, the formal receipt the greffe requires. Qonto and Shine issue this certificate fully online for non-resident founders; BNP Paribas, Société Générale, and Crédit Agricole all accept capital deposits through their corporate desks but typically request a meeting with the president. Deposit minimum: 50% of SAS cash contributions, 20% for SARL. Remaining capital must be paid up within five years.

Journal d'Annonces Légales. A formation notice is published in an approved legal-notice journal covering the département where the registered office is located. The JAL issues an attestation de parution, which the greffe requires. This step takes 24–48 hours.

Guichet Unique filing. Since 1 January 2023 all RCS formalities run through the INPI electronic single window at formalites.entreprises.gouv.fr. We upload the signed statuts, capital-deposit certificate, JAL attestation, president's ID and declaration of non-conviction, and the UBO information. The file is routed automatically to the greffe du tribunal de commerce (or the tribunal des activités économiques from 2026 onwards) covering the registered office.

Kbis extract. The greffier reviews the file and, when complete and compliant, issues the Kbis extract within one business day. SIREN (entity identifier) and SIRET (establishment identifier) are attributed at the same time. The VAT number (numéro de TVA intracommunautaire) is normally issued within a further 5–10 days via the SIE (local tax office).

RBE filing and post-incorporation. Beneficial owners must be declared in the Registre des bénéficiaires effectifs within 15 days of the RCS registration. Penalties for late or false filings reach €7,500 plus imprisonment for the responsible officer. We handle the RBE filing, the intra-EU VAT activation, and social-security employer registration (URSSAF) where the SAS will hire.

End-to-end timeline from KYC clearance: 2–4 weeks is realistic. The Guichet Unique filing itself clears in 1–3 business days; the JAL publication and the capital-deposit certificate are the typical bottlenecks.

Required Documents

For each shareholder, president, gérant, and beneficial owner:

Passport (mandatory for non-EU founders) or EU national ID
Proof of residential address dated within three months — utility bill, bank statement, or residence certificate
Declaration of non-conviction (déclaration de non-condamnation) and parental affiliation for the president or gérant
Tax residence certificate, where claiming DTT benefits

For corporate shareholders:

Apostilled certificate of incorporation
Apostilled register of directors / certificate of incumbency
UBO declaration identifying the natural persons ultimately owning more than 25% or exercising control
Sworn French translation by a traducteur assermenté — mandatory for the greffe

You also confirm the registered office address (we provide a domiciliation address in central Paris if you do not have your own French premises), the share capital and share-class allocation, and the APE / NAF activity code describing the main business.

Costs and Timeline

French formation costs depend on the entity type, whether the statuts are standard or bespoke, whether you need ongoing accounting (mandatory for any commercial company — annual accounts are filed at the greffe, and a bilan and compte de résultat are prepared each year), and whether the company will employ staff immediately.

Our packages cover full incorporation — name clearance, statuts drafting, capital-deposit account setup, JAL publication, Guichet Unique filing, greffe fees, RBE filing, VAT activation, URSSAF employer registration where applicable, registered office for year one, and a business bank introduction. Contact us for a fixed-price quote — there are no hourly fees and no incidentals invoiced after the work is done.

Typical timeline from KYC clearance:

Day	Milestone
0	Engagement, KYC submitted
1–3	KYC cleared, statuts drafted, foreign documents translated
4–7	Capital-deposit account opened, funds paid in, certificate issued
7–8	JAL publication, attestation received
8–10	Guichet Unique filing submitted
10–14	Kbis extract, SIREN and SIRET issued
14–17	RBE filing, VAT activation, operational bank account follow-up
17–30	Business bank account fully operational (variable per bank)

Tax Overview for French Companies

French corporate taxation is territorial — French-resident companies are taxed on French-source profits only (foreign branches and foreign permanent establishments fall outside the scope).

Corporate income tax (impôt sur les sociétés): 25% — the headline rate for all French companies from 2022 onwards. Applies to every SAS, SASU, SARL, EURL, and SA unless they elect transparent-company treatment (some EURLs can opt for personal income tax).

Reduced SME rate: 15% on the first €42,500 of taxable profit, for companies with turnover below €10 million and at least 75% of share capital held by individuals (or by other companies meeting the same test). Above €42,500 the 25% rate applies. For an early-stage SAS at €42,500 of profit, this delivers an effective blended rate below 17%.

Exceptional contribution on high profits (CDHR). The 2025 and 2026 Finance Laws retained a temporary surtax on very large companies (French turnover above €1 billion). This does not affect cf24 clients.

Pillar 2 minimum tax. France has transposed the 15% global minimum tax for groups with consolidated turnover above €750 million.

VAT (TVA): 20% standard rate. Reduced rates of 10% (hotels, food services, certain books and transport), 5.5% (essential food, medical devices, cultural tickets), and 2.1% (newspapers, reimbursable medicines). Domestic small-business thresholds are €85,000 for goods and €37,500 for services — a uniform €25,000 threshold proposed in 2025 was abandoned in December 2025. Non-resident suppliers register on the first taxable supply regardless of turnover.

Withholding tax on outbound dividends to non-resident corporates is 25%, reduced to 0% under the EU Parent-Subsidiary Directive for qualifying ≥10% EU parents, and typically 5–15% under France's 120+ double-tax treaties. Dividends to non-resident individuals face a 12.8% flat-rate levy (PFU). Interest paid by a French company to non-residents is generally 0% withholding, except when paid to a beneficiary in a non-cooperative jurisdiction, in which case a penal 75% rate applies. Royalties are 25%, reduced under the EU Interest-Royalties Directive and DTTs.

R&D tax credit (Crédit Impôt Recherche). 30% of qualifying R&D spend up to €100 million, 5% beyond. Refundable for SMEs, carryforward for larger groups. One of the most generous R&D regimes in the EU and a major reason software, pharma, and industrial R&D operations base in France.

E-invoicing (facturation électronique). Mandatory e-invoice receipt capability for all companies from 1 September 2026; large and mid-sized enterprises must also issue e-invoices from that date. Micro, SME, and small businesses must issue from 1 September 2027. Accepted formats are Factur-X, UBL, and CII, routed through certified PDPs. We include e-invoicing platform configuration in our accounting packages.

Banking for French Companies

French business banking is split between four traditional pillar banks and a fast-growing domestic EMI sector. For a foreign-controlled SAS, the practical starting point is almost always an EMI for speed, with a traditional relationship added later for credit lines.

Qonto is the dominant EMI for foreign-owned French entities. Licensed as an établissement de paiement under the Banque de France. 100% online onboarding, IBAN issued in 5–7 days for clean files, and — crucially — Qonto issues the certificat de dépôt des fonds required for RCS registration, which most foreign EMIs do not. Multi-currency wallets, corporate card issuance, accounting software integrations, and transparent fees.

Shine (Société Générale group) is the second principal EMI. Similar feature set to Qonto, slightly more freelancer-leaning in positioning, and also issues capital-deposit certificates.

BNP Paribas is France's largest bank and the standard choice for operating companies with real substance. The International Clients division at BNP handles foreign-director corporate onboarding with English-speaking relationship managers. Typically a four-to-six week timeline with two or three document exchanges. Lending capacity, FX, trade finance, and payroll all integrated once the relationship is active.

Société Générale runs a similar international corporate desk. Appetite varies by branch — the Paris-La Défense international business centres are the usual route for foreign-founded SAS accounts. Crédit Agricole is mutualistic and regionally federated; CA Île-de-France, CA Provence Côte d'Azur, and CA Centre Est are the most active regional caisses for foreign clients. CIC (part of Crédit Mutuel) maintains a dedicated international clients team.

Revolut Business works for SAS structures where at least one director has an EEA residential address and is comfortable for cross-border cash management. Wise Business is excellent for multi-currency trading but does not issue the RCS capital-deposit certificate, so it cannot be used for formation — it is a post-formation operational account only.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between a SAS and a SARL in France?

Both have limited liability and a €1 statutory minimum capital. The SAS — société par actions simplifiée — allows almost complete contractual freedom in the statuts, multiple share classes, and flexible governance. The SARL follows a codified Commercial Code framework, is more rigid, and suits smaller family businesses. For foreign-owned subsidiaries and venture-backed startups, the SAS is the standard choice.

How long does it take to form a company in France?

The Kbis extract is issued within one business day of a complete filing through the INPI Guichet Unique. End-to-end from engagement to operating entity with a bank account is typically 2–4 weeks. The slowest steps are usually the JAL publication (24–48 hours) and the opening of the capital-deposit account, not the greffe registration itself.

Can a foreigner open a company in France?

Yes. French company law imposes no nationality or residency requirement on shareholders or directors. A non-resident foreigner can be the sole shareholder and sole président of a SAS from day one. Foreigners who intend to physically run the business from France need an appropriate residence permit, but a non-resident who directs the company from abroad does not require one.

What is the minimum share capital for a SAS in France?

There is no statutory minimum share capital for a SAS — the amount is freely set in the statuts and can legally be €1. Fifty percent of cash contributions must be paid in at incorporation; the remainder must be paid up within five years. Most foreign founders settle between €1,000 and €10,000 of initial capital for commercial credibility and banking purposes.

What is a Kbis extract?

The Kbis (extrait Kbis) is the official document certifying a company's existence in France. It is issued by the greffe du tribunal de commerce on registration and summarises the company name, SIREN, registered office, legal form, share capital, president or gérant, and APE activity code. Banks, suppliers, and public authorities require a recent Kbis — dated within three months — for most dealings.

What is the corporate tax rate in France?

The standard corporate income tax rate is 25%. Qualifying SMEs pay 15% on the first €42,500 of taxable profit, where turnover is below €10 million and at least 75% of share capital is held by individuals. Above €42,500 the 25% rate applies. There are no regional corporate tax variations; the rate is uniform across France.

Do I need to visit France to form a company?

No. All formation steps can be completed remotely. The statuts are signed electronically, the Guichet Unique filing is entirely online, and the capital-deposit certificate is issued by Qonto or Shine without a physical visit. A personal visit can speed up the opening of a traditional operating bank account, but it is not required for incorporation.

Get Started — Form Your French Company

A fixed-price quote in 60 seconds. Kbis extract within one business day of a clean Guichet Unique filing. Capital-deposit account and bank introduction included. Statuts drafted by our French-qualified counsel, sworn translations handled in-house.

Call +48 2222 5 2222 or email [email protected] to start. Most French SAS formations are complete and operating with a bank account within 3 weeks.

Content prepared by Julia Thompson, Corporate Client Service Specialist. Approved by Tomasz Bielski, Managing Director.

Company Formation in France