Business licence France: Who needs one and how to apply

Does France require a business license?

France has no single document called a business license. The search term maps to four real layers: mandatory registration (immatriculation) that produces a SIREN and SIRET plus an entry in the Registre National des Entreprises (RNE), activity-specific authorisations for regulated sectors, qualification proof for roughly 250 regulated professions, and local permits. Registration is universal; the rest depend on your activity.

Regulated professions (professions réglementées) need documented qualification, a diploma, professional-body registration, or proven experience, in addition to registration. You upload that proof inside your Guichet unique dossier. The official process guidance sits at entreprendre.service-public.fr.

Who needs to register a business in France?

Almost everyone running a professional commercial, craft, liberal, or agricultural activity must register through the Guichet unique, micro-entrepreneurs included. Where your file routes and what it demands depends on your activity and legal form, as the table shows.

INSEE is the Institut National de la Statistique et des Études Économiques. RCS is the Registre du Commerce et des Sociétés. URSSAF is France’s social-security contribution collector.

Who counts as an artisan, and what does the CMA require?

An artisan runs a craft trade such as building, food preparation, hairdressing, or vehicle repair. For regulated trades, the Chambre de Métiers et de l’Artisanat (CMA) verifies professional competence. You must prove it with a CAP or BEP diploma in the trade, or with three years’ professional experience, according to cma-france guidance.

What about agricultural businesses on the MSA route?

Agricultural businesses file through the same INPI portal, but social-security affiliation and contributions run through the Mutualité Sociale Agricole (MSA), not URSSAF. The registration intake is identical. What differs is which body handles your social cover and collects your contributions, per service-public.fr.

Is any activity exempt from registration?

Only genuinely occasional, non-professional activity is exempt. Selling your own personal belongings once does not require registration, per service-public.fr guidance. Any activity you repeat for profit is professional and must be registered. There is no casual threshold that lets a habitual trader skip immatriculation.

How do you apply for a business license in France?

Every application goes through one portal, the Guichet unique run by INPI (Institut National de la Propriété Industrielle) at formalites.entreprises.gouv.fr, mandatory since 1 January 2023. It replaced six separate Centre de Formalités des Entreprises (CFE) networks and more than fifty Cerfa forms, per entreprendre.service-public.fr. The SIREN and SIRET are issued after validation, never applied for separately.

1. Choose the legal structure (micro-entreprise, EI, EURL, SARL, SASU, SAS, SA, branch, or subsidiary)
2. Draft the statutes (companies only)
3. Deposit the share capital (companies only)
4. Publish the legal notice (companies only)
5. Submit the full dossier on the INPI Guichet unique
6. INPI routes the dossier to INSEE, the SIE, URSSAF, and the Greffe
7. Receive the SIREN, SIRET, APE/NAF code, and Kbis or RNE extract
8. Complete any sector permits before you trade

In 2024 the portal processed 4.2 million formalities, 1.4 million of them new business creations, per the Direction Générale des Entreprises. The parallel paper backup channel closed on 31 December 2024, per economie.gouv.fr, so the portal is now the only route.

Step 2 to 3: statutes and the share capital deposit

Minimum share capital is €1 for a SARL or SAS, per service-public.fr. You deposit the capital into a blocked account at a bank or notary, which issues an attestation de dépôt des fonds. The funds release to the company account once the Kbis is issued.

Step 4: why the legal notice is mandatory

Companies must publish a legal notice (annonce légale) in an authorised journal before registration. It produces an attestation de parution that your dossier requires. The cost follows a regulated tariff, roughly €120 to €230 depending on legal form and department, per service-public.fr.

Step 6: what each body does with your dossier

INPI routes your file so each authority plays one role. INSEE validates the registration and assigns the SIREN, SIRET, and APE/NAF activity code. The Greffe du tribunal de commerce registers commercial companies in the RCS and issues the Kbis. The SIE (Service des Impôts des Entreprises) opens your tax accounts. URSSAF opens social-security affiliation. The CFE network handled all of this before 2023 and no longer accepts filings.

How do micro-entrepreneurs register?

Micro-entrepreneurs use the same Guichet unique portal with a simplified déclaration d’activité. There are no statutes, no capital deposit, and no legal notice, and registration is free. The SIREN and SIRET are issued the same way. Turnover ceilings have risen for the current period.

What documents do you need to register a business in France?

The dossier combines identity proof, an address for the registered office, and, for companies, formation deeds. Each document has a purpose, listed below.

What are SIREN, SIRET, and the Kbis?

The SIREN is a 9-digit identifier issued by INSEE for the life of the legal entity. The SIRET is 14 digits, the SIREN plus a 5-digit NIC code for each establishment, so multi-site firms hold several SIRETs under one SIREN. The Kbis is the official extract proving a commercial company’s registration, issued by the Greffe.

Banks and suppliers often ask for a Kbis issued within the last three months. Non-commercial registrants use the RNE extract instead. Copies come through monidenum or Infogreffe. The RNE itself is the national register created by Ordonnance n° 2021-1189 of 15 September 2021 and operated by INPI. SIRENE is INSEE’s directory of businesses, not the number itself. INSEE also assigns the APE/NAF code that identifies your main activity.

How do foreigners register a business in France?

Foreign founders use the same INPI portal and the same process. The difference is residence status and extra identity documentation. EU, EEA, and Swiss citizens need no permit. Non-EU founders face residence rules that depend on whether they live in France.

Do EU and non-EU founders face different rules?

EU, EEA, and Swiss citizens establish freely and need no residence permit. A non-EU founder living in France needs a status that allows self-employment, such as the entrepreneur or profession libérale residence permit or the talent passport business-creation track, per service-public.fr. A non-resident can own and register a French company from abroad without a visa, but managing it on French soil requires the appropriate permit.

Can a foreign company register from abroad?

A foreign company chooses a branch (succursale) or a subsidiary. A subsidiary is a separate French entity; a branch is an extension of the parent that still registers in the RNE and gets a SIRET. Both register through the same Guichet unique. A foreign seller with no French establishment may need VAT registration only, plus a fiscal representative for certain non-EU businesses.

Do you need VAT registration in France?

A French VAT (Value Added Tax) number is separate from business registration and is handled by the tax office. The SIE assigns the intra-community VAT number at registration for domestic firms, per impots.gouv.fr. Foreign businesses with no French establishment register through a dedicated foreign-business office. The essentials are below.

What are the franchise en base de TVA thresholds?

The franchise en base de TVA lets small businesses below set thresholds avoid charging and reclaiming VAT. These thresholds are separate from and lower than the micro-entrepreneur ceilings. A 2025 reform proposed a single €25,000 threshold, then suspended it, so confirm the current figure at impots.gouv.fr before relying on it. Intra-community VAT numbers can take several weeks.

Which sectors need specific permits in France?

Regulated sectors need an authorisation from the relevant body on top of registration. France has no federal system; these are national regulators and professional orders. The main ones are below.

ARCOM (Autorité de régulation de la communication audiovisuelle et numérique) took over broadcasting from the defunct CSA under Loi n° 2021-1382 of 25 October 2021. Cross-border traders need an EORI number from French customs.

What municipal permits apply in Paris and other cities?

Municipal permits sit on top of national registration for premises-based businesses. There is no blanket city license. Instead the mairie grants activity-specific authorisations: terrace and étalage permits, signage authorisation, alcohol licences, and ERP opening approval. Paris adds a strict change-of-use (changement d’usage) rule for converting residential space.

What alcohol licence does a restaurant or bar need?

A restaurant or bar needs a débit de boissons licence: licence III for fermented and light drinks, or licence IV for spirits. The operator must complete permis d’exploitation training before opening and file a prior declaration with the mairie. Licence IV numbers are capped, so they are usually bought or transferred rather than issued new.

What is ERP status?

ERP means Établissement Recevant du Public, any premises open to the public such as a shop, restaurant, or hotel. ERPs must meet fire-safety and accessibility rules. Relevant categories need an opening authorisation from the mairie after a safety commission review. This applies regardless of who owns the business.

How much does a business license cost in France?

Registration itself is cheap or free. The real costs come from company-formation steps and sector permits. The table lists the hard fees a founder should budget.

Do French business licenses need to be renewed?

No. Business registration in France does not expire and is never renewed. What recurs instead is ongoing compliance: tax filings for everyone, annual accounts for companies, and separate validity rules for some sector permits. The recurring obligations are below.

What are the penalties for operating without registration in France?

Unregistered professional activity is travail dissimulé (concealed work) under the Code du travail. It covers both concealed activity, an unregistered trader or company selling without immatriculation, and concealed employment, undeclared staff. It therefore applies to a solo founder, not only to employers. The sanctions are below.

Trading without registration also blocks legal invoicing, voids insurance, and makes contracts hard to enforce.

How long does it take to get a business license in France?

A straightforward registration completes in roughly one to four weeks once the dossier is complete. Foreign founders, regulated activities, and opening a bank account to deposit capital all extend that. The Guichet unique had technical backlogs after its 2023 launch, flagged by the Cour des comptes, so build in a reliability margin. Sector permits run on their own clocks.

How we help you register and stay compliant in France

France rewards founders who treat registration as the first step, not the finish line. Commenda’s incorporation service sets up your French entity, handling the structure choice, statutes, capital deposit, and the Guichet unique filing so your SIREN, SIRET, and Kbis arrive without guesswork. Commenda’s entity management platform then tracks your ongoing filings, documents, and deadlines across every jurisdiction you operate in.

Check your name before you file with the company name checker, confirm cross-border tax IDs with global tax ID verification, and keep every French and multi-country deadline in one place with the compliance calendar. Book a demo to map every registration and permit your French launch needs.