# EIRL self-employed in France. Do I need to file a Form 5471 in US?



## Joe129akl (Mar 31, 2019)

Hello,

I'm a US citizen that is moving to France (I have citizenship from another EU country). I'm self-employed graphic designer and researching how I'll register as self-employed in France.

I see France provides two options for registering as self-employed: 1) the micro-entreprise scheme or 2) the EIRL scheme. It appears I'm ineligible for the micro-entreprise scheme as I make over the €32,000 limit, which means I'll need to register as self-employed under the EIRL scheme.

But I'm confused as to what registering under the EIRL scheme actually means. By registering under the EIRL scheme in France, are you forming a limited company with its own tax ID number? I'm confused by what I've read. I'm not sure if an EIRL self-employed person is actually forming a separate legal entity (a company), or if they still just pay taxes under their personal French tax ID number.

And as far as US tax returns are concerned, if I'm registered as self-employed under EIRL scheme in France, do I need to file a 5471?


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

An EIRL is a business entity in France. In a sense, it's like a corporation, though it isn't considered one by the IRS. (US tax law often makes no consideration for any sort of foreign stuff that's different from the US structures.)

In any event, what I would do in your situation is to treat your EIRL as your "employer" and skip the fancy reporting stuff for the US forms. I presume that your EIRL has a name - just list that as your employer and give your address as the employer's address (assuming you're running your business out of your home). The fact that you're "incorporated" means that you're paying your cotisations, and so are exempt from "self-employment tax" for the US forms. (And if anyone asks, you can always download your certificate from URSSAF showing that you're up to date on your cotisation payments.)

Now, for French taxes, there may be the same option that there is for an SARL - either the company pays its own taxes (in which case you can pay yourself a "salary") or you simply take the net income each year onto your personal tax forms (French and/or US). In either event, your "salary" is eligible for the US Foreign Earned Income Exclusion - or of course for the Foreign Tax Credit.


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