Camille Gondral wrote:
But my partner and I are going back to France in early April, permanently. Since we won't have a UK address anymore, is it possible to remain a sole trader registered in the UK but with a foreign address, just for a few months?
I don't know UK law, but it is my understanding that, for tax purposes, in most countries, if you relocate and it is your intention to relocate permanently (i.e. become a resident of your new place of living), your residence status kicks in from the moment that you relocate, and not e.g. three months later or 6 months later, or not e.g. at the start of the new calendar year. If this applies here, it would mean that you would stop being a UK sole trader as soon as you emigrate. I'm not sure if it may be possible to "go on a long holiday" in France, before returning to the UK, and then emigrate to France.
...in September, "close" our sole trader status here in order to register in France...
In the Netherlands, where I currently live, it is highly beneficial to "start a business" on 1 January or as soon as possible thereafter (and very unbeneficial to start it late in the year), because some tax credits are calculated on the calendar year and not on the number of actual months of the first year of your business' existence. I did not know this when I started my "business" in the Netherlands in September, but it meant that my taxes for the last 4 months of the first year were quite a bit higher per month than they would have been if I had started on 1 April or 1 June or 1 January. Check if a similar thing applies in France.
[Edited at 2019-12-17 18:35 GMT]