France offers an incorporation regime under the Code de commerce, with companies registered at the Registre du Commerce et des Sociétés ("RCS") through the Guichet unique operated by INPI. It is a large EU market with a strong deep-tech and startup ecosystem (La French Tech) and research-and-development incentives such as the Crédit d'Impôt Recherche.
Most founders use the société par actions simplifiée ("SAS", or single-member SASU) under the Code de commerce, valued for its governance flexibility. Alternatives include the société à responsabilité limitée ("SARL"/single-member EURL), the société anonyme ("SA", €37,000), and a branch.
There is no minimum capital for an SAS or SARL — €1 (≈ $1.16) is sufficient — while an SA requires €37,000 (≈ $42,920). There is no residency requirement for the president or manager, but a French registered office is required and capital is deposited into a blocked French bank account. Registration is filed electronically through the Guichet unique (with beneficial owners filed to the Registre des bénéficiaires effectifs, "RBE", and a legal-notice publication), and the K-bis extract usually issues within a few business days. The RCS registration fee is about €37 (≈ $43), with a mandatory legal-notice publication of roughly €120–200, giving a total commonly around €200–530.
The Direction générale des finances publiques charges corporate income tax (impôt sur les sociétés) at 25%, with a reduced 15% rate on the first €42,500 (≈ $49,300) of profit for qualifying SMEs (turnover under €10 million); VAT (TVA) is 20%. Dividend withholding is 25% (reduced by treaties/EU directives). A statutory auditor (commissaire aux comptes) is required only above size thresholds, and beneficial owners must be filed to the RBE.