Registering as an AE

[GML]

Appreciate any help or guidance. My wife wants to register as an AE so to try and do things properly we hired an accountant....mistake. After a few months of chasing he had her fill in forms etc following which she submitted them and was phoned by the registration office to be told the forms were wrong and did not make sense.

So, trying again online I was doing fine on her behalf until it asked us to select a Mutuelle and gave a choice of 4. Can someone explain what this is about and how does one choose? I thought that the Mutuelle was an addd extra that you selected to recover the 30%?

Also, just a little unsure as to how to register her. Basically her trade is cleaning and repairing horse rugs which is not really an artisan but more an unskilled seasonal occupation. The repairs are skilled but maybe only a quarter at most of overall jobs. I am a bit unsure as to what area to register her as nothing was immediately apparent so I chose a miscellaneous agriculture section and gave details there.

Would appreciate any thoughts or advice.

Regards

Graeme

[GML]

Forgot to add that I have carte vitale due to disability and wife has card via this. Does this complicate?

[GML]

Really would appreciate some guidance here folk!

[Bevdeforges]

Took a quick look through the sign-up process on the AE site, and the only choices I saw there were for which agency (URSSAF vs. RSI) you register with to pay your cotisations. Are you registering through the official AE portal? Portail officiel des auto-entrepreneurs

There are some other sites out there, more than happy to sign you up (for a fee) and to sell you other services along the way.

For what it sounds like your wife is doing (though I'm not sure what a "horse rug" is), I would think that she would be considered a "service" business, which probably puts her in the "artisanale" category - but don't worry, if you choose the wrong category someone will get back to you.

- ACTIVITES ARTISANALES :
L'activité artisanale consiste en un travail de fabrication, transformation, réparation ou prestation de service.

I've sent in questions to the AE portal and gotten a fairly quick response, along with links to the appropriate websites. Check their FAQs and then ask if you don't see your specific question answered.
Cheers,
Bev

[GML]

Thank you Bev I will try again. I was on the official site but was not registering as an Artisan so will give it another go.

cheers

Graeme

[GML]

Thanks to Bev for advice. Did the registration on line, was sent some additional info forms by email and had telephone call today to say registration done in time for 1st August. All in all pretty impressive.

Have an additional problem though which seems a bit bizarre......a potential client has said they cannot use my wifes service cleaning horse rugs as she is an AE and not a business. Wants to be able to reclaim tax......has anybody come across this before and have any ideas or suggestions as to how, if at all, she can counter this?

[Bevdeforges]

The whole point of being an AE business is that you aren't part of the VAT regime. If your wife were responsible for VAT, then she'd have to charge 19.6% more (and then track all VAT she pays to deduct it). That all goes against the grain of the whole "simplicity" idea of the AE system.

It's probably not worth pointing out to your potential customer, but it seems something of a false economy to not do business with an AE simply because there's no VAT to offset against the VAT they're collecting from their customers. I wouldn't imagine there are loads of people out there doing the same kind of work your wife is doing - but you have to wish him luck finding a business that will charge him more for the same work.
Cheers,
Bev

[GML]

Originally Posted by Bevdeforges

The whole point of being an AE business is that you aren't part of the VAT regime. If your wife were responsible for VAT, then she'd have to charge 19.6% more (and then track all VAT she pays to deduct it). That all goes against the grain of the whole "simplicity" idea of the AE system.

It's probably not worth pointing out to your potential customer, but it seems something of a false economy to not do business with an AE simply because there's no VAT to offset against the VAT they're collecting from their customers. I wouldn't imagine there are loads of people out there doing the same kind of work your wife is doing - but you have to wish him luck finding a business that will charge him more for the same work.
Cheers,
Bev

I completely agree, it is bizarre! Not sure what he gains as a race horse trainer and we have 4-5 other trainers who are happy to use her. The joys of living in France I guess!

Thanks again

GML