The accumulation of the status of’auto-entrepreneur and unemployment is it possible ?

Unemployed people often fear losing their benefits by starting or taking over a business. Indeed, the initiative leads to a change in status of the recipient of unemployment. An entrepreneurial project exposes however to risks of absence or cessation of activity.

Thus, the fear is understandable for job seekers and self-employed people in difficulty.

Is it possible to receive unemployment while being an autoentrepreneur ?

The cumulating unemployment and autoentrepreneur is possible until the exhaustion of the rights to the ARE (help to return to work). The allowance will allow, for example, to complete your income or your financing during the start of the activity. You can take advantage of various practical advice on the Passion-Entrepreneur platform.

However, this accumulation is subject to certain conditions.

Once added up, your allowance and your income as an auto-entrepreneur must not exceed your last average salary. The reference amount is the value used to calculate your unemployment benefit. In other words, you can retain your right to unemployment if you have little or no income.

Your situation will be reconsidered, if your new activity improves its turnover (CA).

You will continue to receive full unemployment benefits if your micro-business does not generate income. Your allowance will, however, be partial if the activity is remunerative. In this case, you will have to subtract 70% of your professional income from the usual amount of your rights.

These remunerations are calculated according to the nature of your activity. They represent :

• 71% of the turnover for commercial and similar activities;
• 50% of the turnover for furnished rentals and services;
• 34% of the turnover for the BNC (non commercial profits).

If you rent a furnished apartment, for example, you will have to multiply your monthly turnover by 50% (professional income), then by 70%. You will then have to deduct this result from the amount of the ARE that can be obtained in case of absence of activity.

What steps must be taken to be in good standing ?

You must first declare your new activity to Pôle emploi in order to benefit from the combination of unemployment and self-employment. In addition, you are required to declare your monthly income to this organization. You may request a temporary exemption for this second condition by presenting valid reasons.

However, you will have to regularize your declaration the following month.

As an unemployed person, you must update your situation every month with Pôle Emploi. You will be asked to indicate, among other things, your hours worked and your income (salaried or non-salaried) over this period. This step is used to calculate the amount of your ARE.

You must therefore update your situation every month, even if you declare your income to the URSSAF on a quarterly basis.

In practice, you are supposed to inform Pôle Emploi as soon as you create your microenterprise. You will also have to send each declaration of CA to the local branch of the entity. However, you must check the rules concerning the deduction before applying it to your income.

To speed up the procedure, you can also download the document from your account on the Pôle emploi website.

What are the penalties if you do not declare your activities ?

The Combining unemployment and self-employment requires regular declarations to URSSAF and Pôle Emploi. As a reminder, you must update all information related to your professional situation every month. The declaration of turnover can, on the other hand, be made by month or quarter, depending on the option indicated to URSSAF.

Attention ! You will have to declare systematically the turnover of your microenterprise, even if you have not received any income during the period in question. Failure to declare is subject to a penalty (51.42 euros per failure in 2022). This sanction also applies to delays.

If you have no income, you must write “nil” in the field provided for monthly or quarterly turnover.

A zero turnover automatically leads to a non-taxation of your autoentrepreneur activity, independently of the chosen tax system. L’absence of income However, in order to benefit from this measure, you must declare your activities to the competent organizations. If your turnover remains at zero for 24 consecutive months, you will be immediately struck off the RCS (register of commerce and companies). You will also lose the advantages of the microenterprise status.

You will automatically switch to the TNS regime.