Sumber malaysiakini
What financial assistance is available when a business is first set up?
- Entrepreneurs who set up a business while continuing a salaried activity are exempt from social security contributions for the first 12 months of operation.
- Jobseekers in receipt of benefits may either receive a capital sum at the start of operations or are allowed to keep drawing their unemployment benefit. They are also exempt from making any social security contributions for a period of 12 months (under the ACCRE scheme).
- Depending upon the area in which the business is located—a zone franche urbaine [urban area with a high level of social deprivation] for example—it may be allowed reduced tax and social security liabilities.
- With respect to loans, the state can provide a little help. The public investment bank, BpiFrance (formerly OSEO), provides loans to business start-ups without any guaranteeor personal security.
- Finally, many local authorities and other organisations assist business start-ups by providing grants or more often interest free loans (information is available from chambers of commerce and industry and from France Initiative).
How can entrepreneurs protect their personal wealth?
- 70% of business start-ups are registered as one-person businesses (and the owners of three quarters of those are classified as auto-entrepreneurs), while 30% of start-ups are registered as companies (most often as SARLs or private limited companies). In these circumstances the issue of how to protect one's personal assets is of great importance. Entrepreneurs who carry on their activity as a one-person business have a single set of assets which includes their professional and their personal assets without distinction.
- In the event of poor business or bankruptcy, auto-entrepreneurs, members of the accredited professions, artisans, traders and farmers have to meet their professional commitments out of all their assets (both professional and personal).
- It may be possible to get round this by signing a declaration of exemption from attachment, drafted by a notaire. With such a declaration, built and undeveloped land that is owned by the contractor but not used for its professional use (whether it is property, common property or even undivided property) becomes unseizable; That is to say they can no longer be seized (real estate, land, etc.). This exemption applies, however, only to professional creditors and only to debts arising after the publication of the declaration.
It should be noted that since the Macron law of August 6, 2015, the main residence of individual entrepreneurs is automatically rendered unseizable, without any particular procedure being required.
