Plan contractor hiring in Monaco

A Monaco-resident contractor should sign and invoice through a locally opened activity whose authorized scope matches the services. A foreign-national individual needs an authorization from the Minister of State; a Monaco national uses a declaration unless the activity itself requires approval. Delivery should start after the resulting decision or receipt, followed by NIS registration, the tax existence declaration, and CAMTI and CARTI membership. The customer should collect the authorization or declaration receipt and the NIS certificate, then match the supplier name on those records to the contract and invoice. Residence alone does not decide the entry route, because nationality and activity type control the first step.

Sources: Law 1.144 on the exercise of economic and legal activities, MonEntreprise, create a business in one's own name, Monaco Social Funds, self-employed membership

If the line is crossed

Once the performed relationship contains paid work and legal subordination, Monaco can treat it as an employment contract despite an independent-services label or the absence of an employment writing. The cross-border contract then follows a different governing-law rule. For work habitually performed from Monaco, Monaco law applies by default, and a chosen foreign law cannot remove the mandatory protection that the worker would receive under that default. The foreign customer should therefore stop using contractor controls, determine whether the operating facts can be corrected prospectively, and move an employment relationship onto a compliant local arrangement before delivery continues.

Sources: Monaco Labour Court, 15 October 2020, case 19367, Monaco Code of Private International Law, Article 71

Facture

Invoice

This is the tax document the Monaco supplier issues to the foreign business for the service. The supplier must ensure that it is issued and retain a duplicate. A customer or third party may prepare it under the contractor’s mandate and subject to the contractor’s acceptance of each invoice; Article 71 excludes an agent in a country lacking a comparable mutual-assistance instrument. A correction must refer to the original invoice specifically and unambiguously and carry the mandatory particulars.

Issued by: The contractor, or the customer or a third party acting under a billing mandate and subject to the contractor’s acceptance, provided the agent is not established in an Article 71-excluded country.

Timing: At completion of the service in principle. For a qualifying EU customer-liability service, no later than the fifteenth day of the following month.

Sources: Monaco Turnover Tax Code, Article 71

An ordinary B2B service to a foreign business falls outside Monaco VAT when the customer has neither its business seat nor the receiving fixed establishment in Monaco. The contractor still applies Monaco’s invoice rules. Those rules expressly reach a Monaco supplier’s service located elsewhere when an EU customer owes the tax and when the service sits outside the EU. Property-linked work and access to in-person events can move the tax place, so procurement should classify the service before approving a no-Monaco-VAT invoice.

Sources: Monaco Turnover Tax Code, Articles 11, 12, and 71-0

What an invoice has to show

• TVA non applicable, article 87 du Code des taxes, when the contractor uses the base franchise

  Article 90 requires this exact Monaco statement and prohibits the franchise supplier from showing VAT. Ask for a corrected invoice if the contractor claims the franchise and leaves the statement out or adds a tax amount. The phrase identifies the supplier’s own franchise status.

  Sources: Monaco Turnover Tax Code, Article 90

• Autoliquidation and, for an identified contractor, both VAT numbers when the foreign customer owes tax

  Article A-153 bis calls for the word Autoliquidation and the provider and customer VAT numbers in this recipient-liability branch. The requirement applies when the Monaco contractor is identified and the foreign customer owes the tax. Give the correct customer number before the invoice is created. The identified contractor files the Monaco DES within ten working days of the month after invoice, and invoice issuance starts that filing clock.

  Sources: Monaco Turnover Tax Code, Articles A-153 bis and A-160 A, MonEntreprise, European services statement procedure

The contractor bills when the service is performed, or consolidates several services for the same customer within one calendar month and closes that periodic invoice by month end. Put the commercial due date in the signed contract, because Monaco law makes the agreed terms binding. The parties may choose the law governing payment. Without a choice, Monaco’s conflict rule points a service contract to the provider’s domicile. Monaco law is therefore the default only if the provider is domiciled in Monaco. The contract should align acceptance, invoice issuance, due date, and the first collection step.

Sources: Monaco Turnover Tax Code, Article 71, Monaco Code of Private International Law, Articles 68 and 69, Monaco Civil Code, Article 989

When invoices are settled

The contract should supply the payment clock and the event that starts it, such as invoice receipt after accepted delivery. Under Monaco law, that agreed date binds the parties. Once a money debt remains unpaid, Civil Code Article 1008 gives legal interest from the formal demand to pay unless a law makes interest automatic. A Monaco court refused a rate of 1.5 percent per month that appeared only on the invoice because the parties had never agreed it, and awarded legal interest from the demand instead. Put any late-interest rate in the signed contract and preserve proof of the invoice receipt, due date, and demand.

Sources: Monaco Civil Code, Articles 989 and 1008, Monaco Court of First Instance, 19 December 2013, case 11690

The currency on the invoice

A Monaco invoice may use any currency. If Monaco VAT is payable or later adjusted, the tax amount must be determined in euros through the Turnover Tax Code’s conversion method. That is a tax calculation requirement; it does not force the parties to price or settle the service in euros. State the debt currency in the contract, use the same currency on the purchase order and invoice, and assign any conversion cost or rate source expressly. Where the invoice contains Monaco tax, retain the euro tax calculation beside the foreign-currency commercial amount so a later correction uses the same basis.

Sources: Monaco Turnover Tax Code, Article 71 III

Starting delivery before the required declaration or authorization

Starting without the required declaration or authorization carries a fine, with permanent closure and confiscation also available to the court. A scope mismatch creates separate consequences. Article 9 permits suspension of a declaration and suspension or revocation of an authorization when the work departs from its approved scope. Article 13 applies the fine and accessory penalties to other or over-limit activity. Make the required declaration or authorization and its exact activity description conditions to the first start date.

Sources: Law 1.144 on the exercise of economic and legal activities

Accepting a franchise invoice without the Article 87 statement

The base franchise is a distinct reason for an invoice with no Monaco VAT. A contractor using it relies on Article 87 and must print the exact Article 87 statement. Record that reason during onboarding and verify that the invoice carries the prescribed wording. An accounts-payable rule that accepts a tax-free invoice without checking its legal basis can miss the required franchise statement.

Sources: Monaco Turnover Tax Code, Article 90

Adding a late-interest rate only after it appears on the invoice

A rate typed onto the invoice can fail when the signed service agreement never adopted it. The Monaco Court of First Instance rejected a 1.5 percent monthly rate on that basis and applied legal interest from the formal demand to pay. Agree the due date and any late-interest rate in the contract before work starts, then repeat them consistently on the invoice. If the contract is silent, send a traceable demand promptly after the amount becomes due, because Article 1008 starts legal interest from that demand under the Monaco default rule.

Sources: Monaco Court of First Instance, 19 December 2013, case 11690, Monaco Civil Code, Article 1008