Accounting & Tax Compliance in France
Statutory accounts, VAT returns, corporate tax filings, and compliance aligned with French accounting standards (PCG).
FranceCurrency
EUR
Corporate tax rate
25% standard · 15% reduced rate on first €42,500 of profit for qualifying SMEs
VAT standard rate
20%
Legal forms
SAS · SARL
Bookkeeping standard
Plan Comptable Général (PCG)
Annual filing
Annual accounts filed with the Commercial Court Registry within 7 months of fiscal year-end (extended by 1 month if filed electronically)
How accounting and tax compliance work in France
France applies a uniform national framework for corporate and labour law, with a standard corporate tax rate and a social contribution system that is detailed by international standards: employer contributions alone can represent over 40% of gross salary, spread across more than a dozen distinct components.
Operating in France requires coordination across a corporate tax regime that is comparatively simple and a social contribution system that is comparatively complex, with dozens of individually tracked line items per payslip.
Discuss your France accounting setupRate structure and what it applies to
25% standard · 15% reduced rate on first €42,500 of profit for qualifying SMEs
- Employer social contributions — exceeding 40% of gross salary, across pension, health, unemployment and other schemes
- Mandatory supplementary pension — (AGIRC-ARRCO) on top of the base state pension system
- Collective bargaining agreements — that can override statutory minimums by sector
- 35-hour statutory work week — with overtime and compensation rules tied to it
Rates that apply in France
| Rate | Applies to |
|---|---|
| 20% | Standard rate — most goods and services |
| 10%, 5.5%, and a super-reduced 2.1% | Reduced rate(s) — defined categories of goods and services |
Plan Comptable Général (PCG), and when an audit is required
Statutory bookkeeping in France follows Plan Comptable Général (PCG). A statutory auditor (commissaire aux comptes) is mandatory above 2 of 3 thresholds: €5.5M balance sheet, €11M turnover, 50 employees — aligned with EU harmonized thresholds.
Confirm your audit obligationAnnual accounts and registration
Annual accounts filed with the Commercial Court Registry within 7 months of fiscal year-end (extended by 1 month if filed electronically).
Entity registration runs through the Commercial Court Registry (Greffe du Tribunal de Commerce), via the INPI one-stop portal, typically taking 1–3 weeks for a SAS/SARL with standard bylaws.
Plan your filing calendarFrequently asked questions
Talk to a France accounting expert
The density of the French social contribution system makes manual payroll administration a structural risk, not an operational inconvenience. A single governance layer with continuous regulatory tracking reduces this exposure more reliably than periodic local reviews.