A €500 day rate: when micro is not enough, which company?
At this rate a full year breaks the micro-enterprise ceiling; the choice is then between a sole trader on real profit, an EURL and a SASU.
Figures checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we calculate
This day rate by legal form
Annual turnover
€100,000
| Micro (BNC), monthly | over the ceiling |
| EURL, monthly | €4,732 |
| SASU, monthly | €4,662 |
| Umbrella (8% fee), monthly | €3,622 |
At €500 a day, the micro-enterprise (France’s simplified self-employed scheme) no longer covers a full working year: 167 billed days bring you to €83,500, just under the €83,600 ceiling, and day 168 takes you over. Beyond that, the choice is between three set-ups taxed on real profit. On 200 days, or €100,000 of turnover, the engine gives €4,732 a month in an EURL (single-member limited company) paying all profit as the manager’s pay, €4,662 in a SASU (single-shareholder simplified company) with 32 % as salary and the rest as dividends, and €4,554 as a sole trader (EI, entreprise individuelle). All three are within €179 a month of each other, for a single person with no expenses or other income. The gap comes mostly from income tax, not contributions, which are identical for EI and EURL. Staying micro is still possible by capping the year at 167 days: €4,360 a month. These are estimates to test against your own situation.
167 days: micro no longer covers a full year
€500 is the first day rate (TJM) at which the micro-enterprise becomes a part-time option. The €83,600 ceiling (service-public, sheet F32353) equals 167 billed days, and a freelancer on a continuous assignment bills more. The one-year tolerance delays the deadline without removing it. So the real question at this level is no longer micro or not, but which real-profit set-up: the sole trader (EI), whose profit is directly your income; the EURL, a company you run as majority manager while paying self-employed contributions; or the SASU, where you are a president treated like an employee for social security. All three end up close, and that is what makes the choice tricky: a few tens of euros a month separate them, while bookkeeping, social cover and flexibility of pay differ a lot. The table gives the scale, and the sections after it explain where the gaps come from.
How the three real-profit set-ups rank
| Legal form | 160 days | 180 days | 200 days | 220 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Micro (BNC) | €4,201 | over ceiling | over ceiling | over ceiling |
| EI, real profit | €3,733 | €4,120 | €4,554 | €4,992 |
| EURL, corporate tax | €3,875 | €4,279 | €4,732 | €5,190 |
| SASU | €3,808 | €4,235 | €4,662 | €5,090 |
| Umbrella employment | €3,018 | €3,316 | €3,622 | €3,886 |
| Share of profit as salary (SASU) | 41 % | 36 % | 32 % | 29 % |
The EURL leads as soon as micro drops out, closely followed by the SASU and then the EI. Umbrella employment stays well behind, €1,111 under the EURL on 200 days. For other assumptions, expenses or household, the legal form comparison reruns the numbers.
EURL against sole trader: a matter of income tax
An EURL’s majority manager pays the same scale as a sole trader (Urssaf, 2026 self-employed scale): on 200 days, €30,859 either way. When the whole margin is paid as pay, the EURL owes no corporate tax. The difference shows on your income tax return, where the manager’s pay gets the 10 % flat deduction (service-public, sheet F1989): €2,139 less tax over the year. The sole trader keeps lighter paperwork in return.
The SASU: fewer contributions, more company taxes
In a SASU the engine pays a moderate salary, €18,044 net over the year on 200 days, because each euro of salary carries general-scheme contributions, with no unemployment cover for a company president. The rest of the profit bears €12,750 of corporate tax, then €17,349 of dividend flat tax once paid out. Total contributions are far lower than in the EURL, but tax taken at company and dividend level cancels almost all of it. The EURL or SASU page covers the other criteria.
Capping your days to stay micro
Some freelancers stop at 167 days to keep micro. That pace leaves €4,360 a month, while 200 days in an EURL leave €4,732. It depends on what those free days are worth to you. At €400 micro still lasted up to two hundred days; at €600 the question becomes the split between salary and dividends. The day rate calculator tests your own figures. These are estimates, not personal advice.