We assist you in the creation of your own small business in France, or extension of a U.S. or other business into France. We create French and U.S. corporate and other business structures. We actually create the business entity - French or U.S., including registrations with appropriate Governmental agencies.

• We help determine the appropriate form (corporation, partnership, sole proprietorship, etc.) best suited for your business needs. We help determine whether a sole proprietorship (self-employed, or "travailleur indépendant") activity is a suitable format for your French business.
• In the business context, we identify corporate and personal tax problems and advise on tax planning strategies.
• We interpret, negotiate and draft business contracts of various kinds, including with distributors, suppliers and shareholders’ agreements.
• If a French corporation seems to fit the bill, which, among the various possible forms, is most suitable to your needs? What are the pros and cons of each choice - the tax impact, the operational costs, the related issues of hiring and firing employees, Social Security charges for employees, whether as owner you can be salaried, and, moreover, from a cost point of view, whether you should be an employee? Are there other options, such as operating a business already created in the U.S. or other country as a French branch?
• We assist you in determining what is the appropriate visa and work permit for you in order to operate your business. If you are not from a country within the European Union, special issues must be dealt with. U.S. citizens have rights under treaty to enter France in order to create a French business. Once the appropriate visa for you (and your family) is decided, we can help you to prepare the dossier for submission to the Ministry of Labor so that it will go through as quickly as possible.
• Should you set up a liaison office (bureau de répresentation)? What are the pros and cons?
• Should a U.S. corporation be set up as part of an overall structure?
• Among the numerous other items we can help you to understand are TVA, personal social security obligations, other business taxes, engaging an outside accountant, joining a special organization (Société de Gestion Agréée) that offers a variety of benefits, including tax-savings.
• Last but not least, we prepare appropriate personal and business tax returns (for all but French companies -a French accountant is required for that). If an American citizen becomes owner of a French company, he or she is required to file a special form (5471) with the IRS to disclose certain required information on an annual basis, which is attached to his or her tax return.
  

Intellectual Property Issues.

• We assist a company to prepare and file a French (and other) trademark, including a visual trademark (logo or “sigle”).
• We assist clients whose trademark filing is challenged by a so-called prior user, a seek arguments whereby such challenge can be defeated.
• We defend a challenge to registration of a trademark.

Non-Profit, or Not-For-Profit, Organizations.

• We create and represent U.S. and French non-profit organizations, such as 1901 Associations (in France) and Section 501(c)(3) organizations in the U.S.
• We create private foundations as well as public charities (as defined in the U.S. tax code).
• We enable (but do not do) the accounting for such entities, working with qualified firms, usually in the U.S.
• We have several NGOs among our clientele, and advise them in all areas, including the set-up phase, and the ongoing phase, including employment contracts and labor disputes, compliance with French regulations, and special contract or other problems as they arise.