This blog is a difficult one to write. I am not an expert in Coron Virus and certainly would not expect anyone else to be, excepting the medical professionals and scientists however we find ourselves in the middle of a crisis that everyone needs to pull together their skills to help. Not only dealing with this medical catastrophe but also the economical fall out.
As we start our second week of confinement, the team at LBS are just like many of our clients; faced with dealing with the Coron Virus; with children now permanently at home, with families and elderly parents and loved ones in other affected countries and we know we wont see them for a while. Many facebook pages are pulling together to help everyone with ideas for children, for businesses and general information, so if you are a facebook user then for once I would recommend it. I am doing what I can, dealing with paperwork be that to do with business impacts or other issues. Life does and will go on, even if its baby steps.
For businesses, this is the time to think how you can prepare for the ‘after’ as there will be a before and after Coron Virus. How can you adapt your business to meet the needs of your clients using social media, videos and ebooks. If you cant, then think of how you can keep in contact with your clients so that they will come straight back to you when we are through this crisis. I for one will be straight back to my hairdresser once I can leave the house!!
For us at LBS and many of you :
- Working at home is nothing new
- Juggling between home life and business life is nothing new.
- Having to manage the children at home whilst working is nothing new.
What is new is the unknown, how long will this last and what can we do in the meantime to keep our families safe and to ensure our businesses continue. Here at LBS we are just trying to do what we do best, keep our clients informed as regularly as possible without panic.
France is currently on stage 3 of their pandemic plan. Which has the objective to limit its spread. Hence the governments decision to close all non-essential shops, closing of all schools. Followed by complete confinement which happened in France on 16th March for a minimum of 15 days although this will likely be extended.
Government website on Coron Virus : click here
If you feel you have symptoms or need more information on the virus, call the free number 0800 130 000 or call 15
As I write this, there are currently 340 067 cases of the virus and over 14 000 deaths worldwide and unfortunately this will not be the last number. If you want to keep up to date daily with the worldwide number, here is a good website. However note that the numbers infected are just an indication as some countries, like France, only test those who have been to the hospital and who have symptoms. Some of the questions that may help you as you learn to accept this new way of living.
If you are salaried and need to stop working to look after your children
This ‘arret de travail’ is initially for 14 days and then will be reviewed depending on the situation. Only one parent at a time can have this. Here is the declaration page however as a salaried person it is your employer that is responsible to do the declaration for you : click here
I’m an Auto Entrepreneur, I have no one to take care of my children, can I stay at home?
Yes much like salaried workers above you can stop working to look after your children under the age of 16 if you cannot work from home.
Here is the declaration page and you need to do this yourself : click here
I am an auto entrepreneur : how can I pay less social charges
If you are on monthly declarations your February declaration should be made by end of March 2020. If you have already made this declaration but would like to modify it, then you can still do so on the URSSAF website until the end of March. For those on quarterly declarations the Jan, Feb & March declarations would be declared before the end of April 2020. You can adjust your turnover in your declaration to be less in order to pay less during this difficult time. You can then report your actual numbers later in the year when things (hopefully) get back to normal. You can send the URSSAF an email for help if you need this or contact them on 3959. More details here
If you are an Enterprise Individuelle but in the ‘réel’ system for social charges, you can modify your quarterly declarations to reflect your decrease in earnings.
My revenue has drastically decreased, can I benefit from a reduction in my income taxes?
If you are currently paying your income tax each month or even quarterly and if you consider your earnings will considerably drop during this period of virus. Then you can go online to your personal online space in the tax website and modulate your tax amounts each month.
Here is the website for this : click here
Bercy has also given some measures to help bigger businesses with their tax and social obligations here
How can I get financial support, I’ve lost my business revenue due to the confinement?
For entrepreneurs who would like to claim the support of 1 500 euros that the government has proposed to help businesses. This will be via your tax office. You will need to prove that your March 2019 earnings are -70% in comparison to your March 2020 earnings. Checks will no doubt be made via your social charges declarations and/or bank accounts. You can send them an email via your online account or you can send them an email directly to them if you dont have an online account asking about the formalities for this. This is particularly for those businesses that have had to close down or reduce their activity. The form to make the claim will not be available before 31st March but you can send your tax office a request via your online personal account. Their website is here
In what circumstances can you go out?
The 3 words of the moment are Stay At Home however in the following circumstances you may go out if respecting the sanitary conditions :
- To do your food shopping (locally)
- To visit a pharmacy or doctor
- To work if you cannot work from home, for essential work only
- To help someone else or to take your children to garderie (for nurses & doctors)
- To exercise, alone or with your children, around your home
It is true that working is the ‘grey’ area of the confinement. Our work is essential to our lively-hood so we all want to be able to go back to work in some capacity. I cant answer all of these questions but I would say that common sense has to prevail. You need to be able to each time consider if you are putting yourself or others at risk each time you go out. If the job entails contact with others, then this would be a risk.
If you are leaving the home for professional purposes, ensure you have the attestation from your employer durely completed and signed. See here
What measures need to be taken if you leave your home
If you need to leave your home for one of the above circumstances, then ensure you take with you an Attestation de deplacement derogatoire. One per person and only one box can be ticked at a time. You can download this from here
Ensure that if you are out for work reasons that you have the work attestation also to hand.
Print it, complete and sign it. If you have no printer, then copy it out by hand.
If you fail to do this you will get a fine of 135 euros.
Top tips for the children
France 4 from this week will be having lessons for children so check this out. There is also ‘My class at home’ organised by the CNED which have some excellent lessons to keep our children up to speed on their work. So check out their programmes here
I am with you, this is not easy for anyone but its something that we have never experienced before. Lets try and stay positive and get through this together, one step at a time. There is always always someone worse off than us, so please let’s hang in together and when its over, try and go back to the hairdressers and suppliers you used, that’s how we will get the economy back on its feet.