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ShelfCompanies24 has been forming French companies for international founders since 1995. Our Paris team handles every step of company formation in France on a single fixed-price contract — from picking the right legal form through Guichet Unique RCS registration, DGFiP tax registration, RBE (beneficial-owner) filing and your first French bank account. Most clients are trading inside 2–4 weeks, or in 5–10 working days via a ready-made société préfabriquée.
Single payment covers Guichet Unique filings, RBE, virtual siège and our service fee.
SAS/SARL + siège + French banking + expert-comptable under one roof.
Standard formation 2–4 weeks via Guichet Unique. French-speaking case manager.
eIDAS-qualified e-signature, French consulate, or delegate to our Paris attorney via procuration.
We draft the statuts, file Guichet Unique, register TVA, file RBE.
Introduced in 1994 and progressively liberalised since, the SAS is the workhorse of modern French commerce — particularly for startups, foreign-owned subsidiaries, and sophisticated investor structures.
Traditional French private limited form, popular with family businesses.
For listed entities and capital-raising structures. Min capital €37,000 (€225,000 if listed). Min 2 actionnaires (7 if listed). Conseil d’administration or Directoire + Conseil de surveillance.
| Form | Min. capital | Formation time | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| SAS / SASU | €1 | 2–4 weeks | Default — modern, flexible |
| SARL / EURL | €1 | 2–4 weeks | Traditional family SMEs |
| SA | €37,000 | 4–8 weeks | Listed groups |
| SCI | €1 | 3–6 weeks | Real-estate holding |
| Succursale | Parent-dependent | 4–6 weeks | Foreign multinational presence |
| Société préfabriquée | €1+ (paid) | 5–10 days | Need immediate trading |
Confirm legal form (SAS vs. SARL primarily), shareholder structure, business activity (with NAF/APE codes — France’s NACE-aligned classification), siège social, capital and banking preferences.
SAS articles are drafted by our Paris attorney with bespoke provisions on share classes, voting, transfers, drag-along, exit. SARL uses more standardised articles. Bilingual French-English.
Open a compte de dépôt at a French bank, deposit €1+. Bank issues certificat de dépôt.
For SAS/SARL formation, founders sign the statuts directly (no notary required for either standard SAS or SARL — a major contrast with most other EU jurisdictions). Foreign founders can sign at any French consulate, via eIDAS qualified electronic signature, or delegate via procuration notariée to our Paris attorney.
A formation announcement (avis de constitution) must be published in a Journal d’Annonces Légales (an authorised legal-announcement newspaper) for the départment of the siège. Cost: ≈ €170–€220.
Since 2023 all formation filings flow through the centralised Guichet Unique at formalites.entreprises.gouv.fr. The single submission processes:
Processing: typically 1–4 weeks depending on commercial-court workload. Greffe fees ≈ €50.
The SIREN doubles as the tax identifier. Within 30 days the company files for:
Convert deposit account to operating account. French banks: BNP Paribas, Société Générale, Crédit Agricole, Crédit Mutuel, La Banque Postale, plus fintechs Qonto, Shine, Anytime.
| Scenario | Typical duration |
|---|---|
| SAS / SASU via Guichet Unique | 2–4 weeks |
| SARL / EURL via Guichet Unique | 2–4 weeks |
| SA | 4–8 weeks |
| Succursale of foreign company | 4–6 weeks |
| Société préfabriquée — transfer | 5–10 working days |
Standard SAS or SARL via Guichet Unique: 2–4 weeks. The Greffe processing is the variable element — Paris court typically faster than regional courts. Société préfabriquée transfer: 5–10 working days.
For 80%+ of foreign-investor scenarios, the SAS is the better choice — flexible articles, easier share transfers (0.1% stamp duty vs. 3% for SARL parts sociales), no member cap. SARL remains popular with traditional family businesses but is structurally less flexible.
No. Neither shareholders nor president/gérant need French or EU residency.
€1 for both SAS and SARL. Most companies operate with €1,000–€10,000+ for credibility.
25% IS standard, 15% on first €42,500 if SME-eligible. TVA 20% standard. 0% withholding to EU corporate parents. CIR can substantially reduce effective rates for R&D-intensive businesses.
Yes. France’s tax-residence test follows the place of effective management; substance considerations apply for double-tax-treaty interpretation.
The Crédit d’Impôt Recherche is one of the world’s most generous R&D tax credits: 30% of qualifying R&D expenditure up to €100m (5% above). Eligible expenses include R&D personnel costs, depreciation of R&D assets, subcontracted R&D to approved organisations. Cash-refundable for SMEs; offsets tax for larger entities.
DGFiP TVA registration, RBE filing (often automatic via Guichet Unique), bank account opening, expert-comptable engagement. Most clients are operational within 3–4 weeks.
Ready to register your French SAS or SARL? Contact our French desk.
France is one of several jurisdictions where ShelfCompanies24 maintains pre-formed entities and active formation services. Why pick France for your SAS specifically? EU’s second-largest economy, SAS flexibility is the headline reason — but it pays to understand the trade-offs against the alternatives. Below are concrete differentiators that matter when you’re pricing a structure decision against the actual operating profile of your business.
Cross-border corporate structuring in 2026 is governed by a tighter web of rules than in any previous decade. Three forces shape every decision:
For France specifically: 25% standard / 15% on first EUR 42,500 for SMEs; CIR R&D credit 30% on first EUR 100M; Guichet Unique replaced CFE since 2023.
Issues we routinely see when prospects come to us after attempting the process directly with local providers in France:
Yes. A name change is filed with the RCS via a directors’ resolution and a routine filing — typically clears in 5 days. We include up to one name change in the standard fee for both shelf-company purchase and new formation. Subsequent changes are billed at cost.
Yes. As a France-tax-resident SAS, your company has automatic access to the EU Parent-Subsidiary Directive, the EU Interest and Royalties Directive, and the network of France’s bilateral double-tax treaties (typically 70-90 partner countries). Treaty access is conditional on meeting the principal-purpose test (PPT) under the Multilateral Instrument and the relevant treaty’s anti-abuse provisions.
Client information is held under contractual non-disclosure plus the professional-secrecy obligations applicable to corporate-service providers in our home jurisdiction. We do not share client identity or transaction details with third parties beyond what is statutorily required (KYC reporting, beneficial-owner-register filings, AML/CTF reporting where triggered). Our internal access to client files is logged and access-restricted by need-to-know.
Material tax changes (rate moves, new minimum-tax regimes, treaty amendments) get communicated to active clients with our analysis of impact. Where the change is structural — for example the OECD Pillar Two implementation in France or a domestic tax-base reform — we proactively flag clients whose structures may need restructuring and offer a pricing-defined remedial path. The client is not left to discover material regulatory change from their accountant or from media reports.
A SAS is a separate legal entity French-tax-resident with its own corporate tax filings and beneficial-owner record. A branch is an extension of a foreign parent — the foreign parent is the legal entity, the France branch books local-source income but the parent’s overall tax liability cascades. Most foreign owners pick a SAS for liability ring-fencing and clean tax accounting; branches are sometimes preferred where the parent has specific group-relief or treaty considerations that depend on common legal personality.
Engaging us for your French new SAS formation covers the following deliverables under one fixed-fee proposal:
The deliverable scope is identical regardless of whether you are based in the EU, the US, the UK, the Middle East, or APAC — we operate the same fixed-fee model globally for French corporate setup. Optional add-ons (virtual office, accounting retainer, payroll, sector licences, transfer-pricing documentation) are quoted line-item separately so there is no scope creep on the headline incorporation or transfer fee.
Different jurisdictions are stronger for different commercial activities. France consistently performs well for international operators in:
None of these are exclusive — a French SAS can engage in any lawful commercial activity — but choosing a jurisdiction where the activity has a deep operating ecosystem (talent pool, regulatory familiarity, banking and supplier networks) materially shortens the time from incorporation to first revenue. Tell us your activity profile and we will confirm whether France is the right fit before we begin.
A French SAS sits within the EU treaty framework — automatic access to the EU Parent-Subsidiary Directive (zero withholding on intra-EU dividends meeting the holding test), the Interest and Royalties Directive, and France’s bilateral double-tax treaties with non-EU partners. The treaty network is shaped by the OECD Multilateral Instrument since 2017, which embedded a Principal Purpose Test (PPT) into existing treaties to deny benefits where a structure was set up primarily for tax advantage rather than genuine commercial purpose.
Common French SAS patterns we see: EU-wide trading hub with VAT one-stop-shop, IP holding with treaty-protected royalty flows, regional headquarters serving CEE/Western EU subsidiaries, and licensing-and-distribution structures using EU passport rights. Each pattern has its own substance and transfer-pricing implications which your consultant will map before structuring.
The 2026 corporate-law and tax landscape in France: 25% headline corporate tax. 25% standard / 15% on first EUR 42,500 for SMEs; CIR R&D credit 30% on first EUR 100M; Guichet Unique replaced CFE since 2023.
Beyond the headline number, three regulatory currents shape every French structuring decision in 2026: OECD Pillar Two and the local Qualified Domestic Minimum Top-up Tax (QDMTT) for groups above EUR 750M consolidated revenue; the EU’s progressive AML/CTF tightening (AMLD6 and AMLR transitioning into the Anti-Money-Laundering Authority’s direct supervision); and the RCS’s ongoing migration toward digital-only filing and real-time beneficial-owner reconciliation. Smaller entities below the Pillar Two threshold continue under the regular French tax regime, but reporting obligations to the RCS apply to every entity regardless of size.
We track these regulatory currents continuously and flag anything material to active clients within working days of the change being announced. You do not need to monitor France regulatory news yourself — that is part of what we provide for the annual retainer.
Three deadline buckets: RCS confirmation/return (typically annual, on the company’s accounting reference date), corporate tax return (filed via the France tax authority following the financial year-end, usually 6-12 months after period close), and VAT/sales-tax returns (monthly or quarterly cadence depending on turnover, where applicable). Beneficial-owner-register updates are event-triggered (filing required when ownership changes) rather than calendar-based.
Penalty consequences vary by jurisdiction but typically follow a pattern: small late-filing fee for short delays, larger automatic penalty for sustained non-filing, and ultimately strike-off from the RCS for prolonged non-compliance. Strike-off voids the company and may require court application to restore. Our retainer service handles the full filing calendar so this never happens to a client on our books.
Three layers determine the after-tax dividend: France corporate tax already paid at the SAS level on profits (25%); France withholding tax on outbound dividends, which is the variable that depends on where the recipient sits — zero under the EU Parent-Subsidiary Directive for qualifying EU/EEA corporate holders meeting the minimum holding test, reduced rates under bilateral treaties for non-EU recipients, default French statutory rate where no treaty applies; and recipient-country tax on the dividend in the parent’s hands (often subject to participation exemption at the recipient level). Your consultant maps this end-to-end in the initial scoping so the after-tax economics are clear before incorporation.