Sharing economy and digital platforms
This page provides access to useful information on the obligations relating to operations carried out on sharing economy digital platforms.
What is a sharing economy activity ?
The sharing economy is defined as an economy based on the sharing or exchange between individuals of goods (cars, housing, parking spaces, power tools, etc.), services (passenger transport, do-it-yourself, etc.), or knowledge (computer courses, learning communities, etc.), with monetary exchange (sale, rental, provision of services) or without monetary exchange (donations, barter, volunteering), through a digital platform.
What are the tax and social obligations related to income from sharing economy activities ?
The sums received in the context of sharing economy operations may constitute an income that must, as such, appear in the recipient's tax return.
Are you a private individual ? A company ?
Whether you are a private individual or a company, the tax rules are described in the information sheets available on this page.
In any case, if you carry out a taxable activity (for example one of the activies described in the information sheets mentioned above), you must register this activity with a Centre for Business Formalities (known as CFE).
To find out which CFE to which you belong, you can consult the article "The different CFEs".
For more information on the micro-enterprise tax scheme applicable to small business activities, see our dedicated pages.
Income from the sharing economy may also be subject to social security contributions, regardless of the beneficiary's status (seller or service provider) or the amount of thier turnover. To find out about the conditions for being subject to social security contributions, consult the information sheet on the URSSAF website , responsible for collecting those contributions.
What are the obligations of sharing platforms ?
Operators of sharing economy platforms located in France or abroad whose users (sellers, service providers in particular) reside in France or carry out sales or services in France are required to inform these users of their possible tax and social security obligations. Operators must also provide these users with an annual summary of the number and amount of transactions carried out by them over the past year and of which the platform is aware. Except in special cases, these operators must also submit to the DGFiP an annual file containing all the information communicated to their users.
For more details on these obligations, consult the legal and regulatory texts and administrative coments on this page in the "Legal and regulatory texts" section as well as the technical documentation in the "Useful documents" section (technical documents available in English).
For any additional information on their obligations, operators of sharing economy platforms can address their questions to the following address
collecte-ecocollab@dgfip.finances.gouv.fr
What is the support service offered to sharing economy platforms ?
The platforms have all the information available on this page (see in particular the "Useful documents" section).
If necessary, the platforms can contact the tax administration :
- either at the following e-mail address: collecte-ecocollab@dgfip.finances.gouv.fr, for any question related to the general information to be included in the file to be submitted ;
- or via the TOSCANE assistance service, for any question relating to the technical format of the file, its transmission to the DGFiP, the rejection notices and second-level reports (in particular when encoutering problems in downloading these rejection notices or second-level reports, as well as questions relating to the information contained in them). This helpdesk can be contacted :
- by calling 0809 400 210, Monday to Friday, from 8:00 am to 7:30 pm, Paris time ;
- by electronic contact form on the website /contacts.
MAJ le 13/01/2021