CFE (Cotisation Foncière des Entreprises) - Exemptions?

phillister · Nov 14, 2017

Hello,

I have an issue with a letter that i received recently La CFE (Cotisation Foncière des Entreprises) pour auto entrepreneur et micro entrepreneur. It is a tax that i was not aware of that we as auto entrepreneurs had to pay.

I started doing private english lessons and decided to be correct and declare them by becoming AE (Auto entrepreneur) I received a letter saying they wanted my RIB and that i had not yet opened up my personal space. I investigated this further, opened my personal space but i am awaiting for my second part password etc. I decided to send them an email to as to what the letter was about and i looked online at this website CFE Auto Entrepreneur - myAE : Cotisation Foncière des Entreprises
to try to understand. My gist of the situation is if you earn under 10000 in the year you have to pay 200€ charge. I work full time as an employee and these lessons were just extra pocket money. Firstly i dont know what period/year it relates to, i must have earnt 150 in the year, all declared etc... So i get an email back saying this:

Bonjour,
tout est indiqué sur le courrier que vous avez reçu.
Le montant à régler est de 143 €.
Vous pouvez régler soit en adhérant au prélèvement à l'échéance avant le 30 novembre, soit en payant directement en ligne sur le site :
impots.gouv.fr / votre espace professionnel (en haut à droite) / payer mes impôts locaux en ligne (en vert)
en utilisant votre n° fiscal et la référence de l'avis que vous avez recopié dans votre mail.
A votre disposition.
Cordialement

SO i got rather upset with them and got this as their response!

vous avez vous-même scanné et envoyé par mail le courrier reçu.
la base d'imposition à la CFE est constituée d'un seul élément : la valeur locative de l'ensemble des immobilisations corporelles passibles de taxe foncière dont a disposé le redevable pour les besoins de sa profession (locaux ou terrains occupés).
Lorsque la base nette de cet établissement est inférieure à la base minimum fixée par la collectivité (absence de locaux spécifiques par exemple), une cotisation minimum est établie au lieu du principal établissement.
Une cotisation minimum de CFE est due par tous les contribuables au lieu de leur établissement principal, y compris par ceux dont les bases d'imposition sont très faibles.
Le montant de la base minimum est fixé par la commune ou l'EPCI par tranche de chiffre d'affaires (< 10 000 €, de 10 000 € à 32 600 €, etc)
Vous avez été taxé sur la plus faible base minimum fixée par l'intercommunalité de Bain-de-Bretagne pour la tranche de chiffre d'affaires inférieur à 10 000 €.
Il n'y a pas d'exonération prévue pour votre activité de consultant.
Cordialement

My questions:
1. Am i correct in thinking it as outrageous that i have to pay 143€ on 150€ earnings?
2. What year is this current CFE based on?
3. Is there any exemptions that i could ask for?
4. If i refuse to pay what would happen?

I require responses from people who are aware of this situation, as per usual bev or other people with experience. Please do not give Speculation or opinions this does not help. I have a baby and child, my partner goes back to work this december and money a real worry. To be stung with 143€ at christmas with everything else to pay for is just too much. Just for me being honest, declaring my earnings and paying 25%

thanks all

Bevdeforges · Nov 14, 2017

Had a brilliant reply all done and then our Internet went out and I lost it. So here goes again:

Everything is answered on the Service Public site starting here: https://www.service-public.fr/professionnels-entreprises/vosdroits/F23547 and then there is a page devoted to the exonerations: https://www.service-public.fr/professionnels-entreprises/vosdroits/F31913

You may be eligible for exoneration if it's your first year of operation as an AE - and if so, you have until December 31st to submit the form to request exoneration.

OTOH, the CFE for AEs is not based on your earnings. (Actually, nothing in the realm of AEs is based on earnings.) Like everything else, they base all your cotisations and taxes on your turnover (i.e. gross revenue for those lurking). AE businesses don't track their expenses and don't have a "balance sheet" that can be assessed for CFE purposes.

OK, for your specific questions:

1. Am i correct in thinking it as outrageous that i have to pay 143€ on 150€ earnings?
2. What year is this current CFE based on?
3. Is there any exemptions that i could ask for?
4. If i refuse to pay what would happen?

1. No. It's not based on your earnings. It's based on your turnover. However, do look into the exoneration for a "new business" if this is the first year you've had your AE set up.

2. Since an AE has no assets, you're simply assessed at the lowest level. But again, file the form for a first year exoneration and see what they say.

3. See the second link I gave you above.

4. Well, the day after the payment is due, you have an automatic 10% penalty added to the amount due. I've never let anything get past that point, so I can't really tell you from experience.
Cheers,
Bev

EuroTrash · Nov 14, 2017

As Bev says, you don't pay CFE in your first calendar year of trading. However if you started trading before 1.1.17 you are liable.

Word has it that if you ask for a reduction and exemption on the grounds of working part time and only recording a low income, they will usually grant this. However it's entirely at their discretion, so maybe start by building bridges and thanking them for taking the time to explain etc etc etc.

The amount you pay is in extremely broad bands. I think the band for the lowest rate of CFE goes from 0€ turnover to over 20k (from memory). Between those earnings, the rate you pay is based on your property, in line with taxe foncière/taxe d'hab, so varies a lot from one commune to the next. You'll find the barème online but you will be in the lowest band, and the figure would be the same if you'd earned far more than you did.

But basically CFE is clearly explained on the auto entrepreneur website and taking issue with the tax office for following the rules is a road to nowhere, and could be counter productive if you then ask them to use their discretion and give you a reduction so not a good idea.

For the future, you might be better off using the chèque emploi system if it's one to one lessons you give.

EuroTrash · Nov 14, 2017

as an afterthought - if you do decide to move over to chèque emploi, you need to close your micro before 31 Dec to avoid being liable for CFE again next year.

CFE (Cotisation Foncière des Entreprises) - Exemptions?

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