Entrepreneur in Andorra: moving with your company

Is this pathway for you?

This pathway concerns the entrepreneur in Andorra who wants to work there through their own company. It applies to you:

• if you are setting up an Andorran company, or taking one over, to develop a business there;
• if you run a business in France and are considering transferring your activity, or launching a new one from Andorra;
• if you practise a regulated profession, open to holders of a qualification: the law then provides for a separate route, with the authorisation to practise and registration with the professional body within 3 months.

If you work alone for clients located mainly abroad, compare with the international professional status, presented in the freelancer pathway. And if you intend to live on your income without running a business, read the investor, private income pathway: passive residency allows only the management of your assets, with unpaid directorships.

What are the conditions for self-employed residency?

Since Llei 2/2026, which came into force on 13 February 2026, the procedure has two stages: a reservation of the authorisation, then 6 months to gather the supporting documents (Article 38 ter of the qualified law on immigration, Llei 9/2012).

The AFA, the Andorran Financial Authority (formerly INAF), receives the €50,000 payment. Before 13 February 2026, it was a refundable deposit; it is now a sum that goes to the State. It may be waived for certain digital economy, entrepreneurship or innovation projects with high technological value, or projects selected by an approved entity. This payment is separate from the share capital: at least €3,000 for an SL (private limited company), €60,000 for an SA. The steps are detailed in Setting up a company and Foreign investment.

What tax will your company pay?

Corporate income tax (IS) is 10% of profit. Since 2024, a minimum tax has applied: the final tax cannot be less than 30% of gross tax, calculated on profit before prior losses are offset. Deductions and loss carry-forwards therefore cannot bring the tax below about 3% of profit; anything that could not be deducted is carried forward to the following six financial years.

• Hiring: a deduction of €1,000 per net job created, raised to €3,500 for an employee under 25, over 55 or with a disability, for Andorran contracts and people registered with the employment service.
• Special regimes: the former international trade regimes were abolished in 2018. The only one remaining is a reduced regime for the exploitation of patents, utility models and software, subject to prior authorisation.
• IGI: IGI, Andorra’s VAT, is 4.5% at the general rate. A service provided to a business established outside Andorra is not located in Andorra and is not subject to IGI there. Below €40,000 of annual turnover, a business is not liable, unless it opts to be.

For details, see Corporate income tax and IGI, Andorra’s VAT.

Paying yourself in Andorra: director’s salary or dividends?

You can draw an income from your company in two ways. Your remuneration as a director is taxed under IRPF, personal income tax, as business income, on the effective scale of 0, 5 and 10%. For the company, it is deductible only if the articles of association provide for it (Article 13 of the corporate income tax law). Dividends paid by an Andorran company are exempt from IRPF, having already borne the 10% corporate income tax.

Hence a simple logic. Up to €24,000, the remuneration is not taxed and it reduces the company’s tax by 10%; between €24,000 and €40,000, it is taxed at 5% and still reduces corporate income tax by 10%. Above €40,000, remuneration and dividends both bear 10%: the difference then comes down to social security contributions.

Indicative calculation. Assumptions: no other deduction or other income; remuneration counted in full as taxable income; CASS base of 100%, the 125% base being compulsory only above €40,000 of net income. In the first year, the reduced 25% base lightens the contribution.

How much would you pay?

Estimate your Andorran income tax in seconds.

Estimate my tax

How much does the CASS cost a company director?

In 2026, a company director generally pays €587.95 a month to the CASS, Andorran social security, as a self-employed worker. This is 22% of a base expressed as a percentage of the previous year’s average monthly wage, set at €2,672.52 for 2026. The obligation starts 30 days after the company is entered in the Companies Register.

The bases below 100% are optional and, for a director, reserved for companies whose turnover in the previous year was less than €300,000 (services) or €600,000 (other activities). The higher bases are compulsory as soon as their conditions are met.

If you are under 35, a special regime reduces the contribution for 24 months: €86.27 a month in the first year, then €189.81, without giving entitlement to cash benefits. Everything is detailed in CASS: social security contributions.

On the French side: departure, exit tax and substance

First of all, your departure must be genuine. Under Article 4 B of the French General Tax Code (CGI), you remain taxable in France if your household, your main professional activity or the centre of your economic interests remain there. Actually running a French business from France keeps you there; the directors of French companies with turnover of more than €250 million are even deemed to carry on their main activity there.

The exit tax if you hold securities

If you have been domiciled in France for at least 6 of the last 10 years and your household holds at least 50% of the profits of a company, or at least €800,000 of securities, your departure makes your unrealised capital gains taxable (Article 167 bis of the CGI):

• The rate: 12.8% income tax and 18.6% social levies for a departure in 2026, i.e. 31.4%.
• No automatic deferral: in the official notes to return 2074-ETD published in 2026, Andorra is not among the States that give entitlement to it. The tax is therefore payable, unless you request the deferral: return 2074-ETD no later than 90 days before departure, a tax representative in France and guarantees.
• Cancellation: the tax is cancelled, or refunded, if you keep your securities for 2 years (5 years if their value exceeded €2.57 million at departure).

Your company’s substance

An Andorran company managed from France may be taxed there. For a company, the treaty looks to its place of effective management (Article 4), and it taxes in France the profits of a permanent establishment located there, for example an office, or a person who habitually concludes contracts there in the company’s name (Articles 5 and 7). What anchors the company in Andorra:

• premises in Andorra;
• the director’s presence;
• decisions taken and documented in Andorra.

The details are in Economic substance.

Two further points. Directors’ fees paid by a French company remain taxable in France (Article 15 of the treaty). And if you remained a French tax resident, an Andorran company taxed at 10% could fall within the French anti-abuse rules targeting “privileged tax regimes” (Articles 209 B, 123 bis and 238 A of the CGI): this analysis should be validated by a professional. The guide relocating your business to Andorra presents the options.

Do you hold your shareholdings through a holding company, or are you considering setting one up? Its effective management, its substance and its possible transfer from France, exit tax included, are covered in our guide holding company in Andorra.

What can make the plan fail

• An underestimated entry cost. €50,000 for good, plus the capital, incorporation, accounting and premises.
• A company with no real activity. Without a registered business that is active within 3 months, residency is jeopardised.
• Fewer than 183 days in Andorra. The authorisation is not renewed; after two refusals, you must wait 12 months before applying again.
• Management left in France. Decisions, team and clients managed from France expose the company to French tax.
• The exit tax forgotten. Without a deferral request filed in time, the tax on your unrealised gains is payable for the year of departure.
• Incomplete articles of association. Remuneration as a director not provided for in the articles of association is not deductible.
• The quota. 200 self-employed authorisations in 2026 (Decree 75/2026): submit your application early in the year.

Your action plan, step by step

1. 1

   Take stock on the French side

   Exit tax, the fate of your French company, current contracts, tax domicile: work out the figures before committing yourself, with a professional.

2. 2

   Reserve the self-employed residence authorisation

   You then have 6 months to gather the supporting documents. The full procedure is in Active (self-employed) residency.

3. 3

   Obtain the foreign investment authorisation and incorporate the company

   More than 34% of the capital, a director’s position with effective management, articles of association that provide for your remuneration. The CASS is due 30 days after entry in the Companies Register.

4. 4

   Pay the €50,000 to the AFA

   Except where certain innovative projects are exempted. The sum is returned only if the initial authorisation is refused. The guide Costs and AFA deposit compares the sums required for each status.

5. 5

   Open the business within 3 months

   Premises, bank account, first invoices. See Business bank account and Accounting and obligations.

6. 6

   Leave France for tax purposes

   If you request the exit tax deferral, file return 2074-ETD no later than 90 days before departure. Then declare your income for the year of departure.

7. 7

   Maintain presence and substance

   At least 183 days a year in Andorra, decisions taken locally and up-to-date accounts.