Auto-entrepreneur in Tours: declaring a business address

You are launching your micro-entreprise in Tours or elsewhere in Indre-et-Loire, and from the very first steps one question keeps coming up: which address should you give for your business? The matter seems secondary amid everything you have to prepare, yet it shapes your registration, what appears on your business documents and the privacy of your home. Taking the time to think it through spares you from having to backtrack once the declaration is validated. Here is what an auto-entrepreneur who is starting out has every reason to know before entering this address.

A business address is not a registered office

Since 2023, all auto-entrepreneurs are registered with the national business register (RNE) and must declare a business address. This address is not the same as the registered office of a company. The auto-entrepreneur operates as a sole proprietorship: there is no legal entity separate from the person, only a natural person declaring an activity. Where a company has a registered office set out in its articles, the micro-entreprise simply has an address of record. That address serves to locate the business in the registers, to receive official correspondence from the authorities and to appear on your documents. Keeping this distinction in mind avoids a good deal of confusion when filling in the form, where the wording sometimes borrows from that of companies.

Registration is free of charge

Contrary to what many people imagine, registering an auto-entreprise costs nothing. No court registry fees, no legal notice to publish in an approved journal, no share capital to lodge in a blocked account. This often surprises those who have in mind the creation of a company, where these steps represent a start-up budget. Declaring your activity and being assigned your SIRET number are done without paying a single euro to the authorities. The only possible expense concerns the domiciliation service, if you decide to declare an address other than your home. In other words, the choice of address is the main decision that may carry a cost, and it remains optional.

A micro-entreprise with no premises: is that a problem?

Many auto-entrepreneurs have no commercial premises and carry out a service activity from home or at their clients' sites. This way of working is perfectly accepted, as the micro-entreprise does not require having dedicated premises. Declaring an address therefore does not mean renting offices. You are simply indicating the administrative point of reference for your business, whether that is your home or a domiciliation address. The question of premises, when it arises, relates to your operational needs (receiving clients, storage, workspace) and is dealt with separately from the address declaration alone.

Where and how to declare your address

Whatever the nature of your activity, commercial, artisanal or professional, the declaration goes through the INPI one-stop shop. It is the mandatory entry point to set up your business, enter the address you have chosen and attach the corresponding supporting document. You have two main options: declare your home, or declare the address of a domiciliation company. In the latter case, the domiciliation contract serves as proof of the right to occupy the premises, the document the one-stop shop expects in order to validate your registration. Without an acceptable supporting document, the declaration stays blocked, so it is better to prepare this item in advance.

• The address chosen for the business: your home, or the address of a domiciliation provider.
• Proof of the right to occupy the premises: a proof of occupancy for your home, a domiciliation contract for a dedicated address.
• The identity details and the description of the activity requested during the declaration.

Home or domiciliation company: how to choose

Declaring your home is still possible and free, but it means having your personal address appear on the public registers, on your quotes and on your invoices. Anyone who looks up the RNE or receives one of your business documents then knows where you live. For an activity carried out at home, or simply out of a concern for discretion, this exposure is not always desirable. Going through a domiciliation company lets you avoid it. You also have a stable address that does not change if you move house, which spares you from updating your business documents and your registration every time you change home. To find out more, see our page on the domiciliation of an auto-entrepreneur.

An address in Tours for an activity in Indre-et-Loire

If you work in Tours, in Joué-lès-Tours, in Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire or in a neighbouring town, an address in the urban area gives your business a clear local footing for your clients and partners. Whether you work from home, at your clients' sites or constantly on the move, the declared address remains the official point of contact for your activity and the one that appears when people look for your business. A city-centre address can also reassure local customers who are used to dealing with people close to them. Our page on business address in Tours sets out this option in detail.

Your address has no effect on your taxes

One common misconception deserves to be set aside: choosing one address or another does not reduce your taxation. The local business property tax (CFE) is tied to the place where the activity is actually carried out, not to the address you declared through the one-stop shop. Registering your business at a given address therefore does not lower the CFE owed in respect of your real place of activity. You should not expect domiciliation to have a tax effect that it does not have. Its value lies elsewhere: the privacy of your home, the stability of your point of contact and the clarity of your location, not tax optimisation.

Updating your address if it changes

Your business address is not fixed forever. If you change your home or your domiciliation provider, you must report this change to the one-stop shop so that your registers stay up to date. This is precisely where a domiciliation address shows its practical value: as long as the contract runs, your business address does not move, even if your personal home changes. In this way you keep the update formalities to a minimum and you keep the same address on your documents over time.

The case of an auto-entrepreneur living abroad

An auto-entrepreneur who lives outside France also needs a French address in order to register. This address is a condition of registration with the RNE, but it settles neither your social security affiliation nor your taxation, which follow their own rules depending on your situation. It would therefore be misleading to believe that a mere address in France is enough to settle these questions. If this applies to you, it is better to rely on support dedicated to this particular situation rather than to reason from the declared address alone.

In summary

Declaring a business address is a simple step, provided you understand what it involves. It has been mandatory since 2023, it appears on your registers and your documents, and it has no effect on your taxes. Registration itself remains free. What is left is choosing between your home and a dedicated address, depending on how much importance you place on the privacy and the stability of your point of contact. If you are starting out in Tours or in Indre-et-Loire, take the time to settle this question before validating your declaration through the INPI one-stop shop.

Sources as at 20 September 2026: national business register (RNE) and INPI one-stop shop; rules on the local business property tax (CFE); service-public.fr. Domisiège, business domiciliation in Tours, backed by the firm Épiphyse Conseil. This article provides general guidance and does not replace a review of your own situation.