Changing your French company’s address
Is it possible?
Transferring your business address to another country effectively means that your company will change its nationality. As such, while it is technically possible, this procedure can be incredibly complex.
Indeed, changing your company’s nationality essentially means closing the one you have in France and opening a new one in the country of your choice. It also means that you’ll have to make sure that your new company follows the law in the new country.
Finally, keep in mind that you need to pay all the taxes on your company, including the taxes on “latent added values”. This essentially means that you might have taxes to pay beyond the bills you’ve already received, so make sure you’re aware of everything before moving!
How can I do it?
There are several steps to creating a company in another country:
- Making a company transferring project. Indeed, the first thing you need to do is to plan out all the potential consequences of moving, and figure out how you’ll deal with it. You need to make sure that contracts end properly, that there are no unpaid debts, etc.
- Having the project voted in an Extraordinary General Meeting. Generally, the decision needs to be unanimous: given how important the decision is, it’s difficult to impose it to an associate.
Of course, you’ll have to modify the by-laws as well. - You then need to publish this project in a Legal Announcement Journal, and file a notice to the appropriate Commercial Court.
- A notary also has to issue a certificate verifying that you’ve made every step necessary to the transfer.
- Now, you can close the existing company, by liquidating, and then dissolving the company.
- Finally, you can create your new company! You should also notify the Commercial Court that the company’s been created, so that it can update the Commerce and Companies Register.
Exceptions
If you’re transferring your company in another country of the European Union, the procedure is slightly easier. You still have to go through all the steps listed earlier, but you won’t have to worry about additional taxes.
Depending on the Legal status of your company, the procedure is also easier if the new company has signed an agreement with France.
