A €300 day rate: micro-enterprise holds, VAT comes first
At this rate the micro-enterprise turnover ceiling stays out of reach; the VAT threshold is the line you cross first.
Figures checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we calculate
This day rate by legal form
Annual turnover
€60,000
| Micro (BNC), monthly | €3,295 |
| EURL, monthly | €3,025 |
| SASU, monthly | €2,887 |
| Umbrella (8% fee), monthly | €2,466 |
At €300 a day, a freelancer registered as a micro-entrepreneur (France’s simplified self-employed scheme) keeps €2,751 a month after social contributions and income tax when billing 160 days a year, and €3,295 on 200 days, for a single person with no other income and no expenses. That is the best result of the five set-ups compared, at every number of days tested: on 200 days an EURL (single-member limited company) leaves €3,025, a SASU (single-shareholder simplified company) €2,887 and umbrella employment €2,466. The €83,600 turnover ceiling would only be reached after 278 billed days, so it is not a constraint. The line that matters is the VAT exemption: €37,500 received, or 125 days. Above it, VAT applies from the next 1 January; above €41,250, reached on day 138, it applies at once. These are estimates: the Urssaf and the tax office set the real amounts.
The threshold at this level: VAT at 125 days, not the ceiling
A €300 day rate (TJM, taux journalier moyen, the figure French clients negotiate) is the only level in this series where the micro-enterprise never meets its ceiling over a full year: you would need 278 billed days to pass €83,600 (service-public, sheet F32353). What changes things here is VAT. While turnover received stays under €37,500, you are in the franchise en base, the small-business exemption: your invoice states “TVA non applicable, art. 293 B du CGI” and the client pays exactly your price. Day 126 in a calendar year ends the exemption from the next year; day 138 ends it mid-year, on the day you pass the higher €41,250 threshold (service-public, sheet F21746). A business client reclaims the tax and barely notices. A private client or a charity sees your price jump overnight, or your margin shrinks if you hold the price including tax. So state from the first quote that your rate is before VAT (hors taxe, HT).
What 160 to 220 days at €300 leave you
| Days billed | Turnover | Micro (BNC) | EI, real profit | EURL, corporate tax | SASU | Umbrella |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 160 | €48,000 | €2,751 | €2,468 | €2,553 | €2,323 | €2,102 |
| 180 | €54,000 | €3,023 | €2,695 | €2,790 | €2,605 | €2,284 |
| 200 | €60,000 | €3,295 | €2,919 | €3,025 | €2,887 | €2,466 |
| 220 | €66,000 | €3,567 | €3,149 | €3,265 | €3,169 | €2,628 |
Micro comes out on top on every row. On 160 days it beats the EURL by €197 a month: at this turnover, the 25.6 % rate on receipts (Urssaf) and the 34 % flat tax allowance cost less than the contributions of a company director. The table assumes no expenses: if you rent an office or buy costly equipment, rerun the numbers in the legal form comparison.
Why a company cannot catch up at this level
For a SASU the engine looks for the share of profit paid as salary that gives the best take-home. On 160 days it keeps only 12 %: the profit left in the company then stays under €42,500, taxed at the reduced 15 % corporate tax rate (service-public, sheet F23575), and goes out as dividends. Even tuned that way, the SASU trails. The EURL pays almost everything as the manager’s pay (99 % of profit) and ends up close to the sole trader. Setting up a company for €48,000 of turnover adds full bookkeeping and filings with no gain in income.
The flat-rate tax option, a lever for low rates
Taxable income stays modest here, so the versement libératoire can pay off: 2.2 % of turnover paid with your contributions instead of income tax on the scale. On 160 days, take-home rises from €2,751 to €2,880 a month. The condition is about income: for 2026, a 2024 reference tax income (revenu fiscal de référence, shown on your French tax notice) of at most €29,315 per share (impots.gouv.fr). If you only arrived in France recently and have no French notice, check with your tax office.
Umbrella employment, if you want to stay an employee
On 200 days, portage salarial leaves €829 a month less than micro, with the management fee assumed at 8 % here (there is no official scale). The gap buys employee contributions as an executive, including French unemployment insurance. More on umbrella or micro.
The next level, a €400 day rate, brings the micro ceiling within reach. To test your own number of days, the day rate calculator runs the same engine. These figures are an estimate, not personal advice.