A €800 day rate: your marginal tax rate shapes the set-up
At this rate every extra euro is taxed at 41% as a sole trader, and how you pay yourself changes everything.
Figures checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we calculate
This day rate by legal form
Annual turnover
€160,000
| Micro (BNC), monthly | over the ceiling |
| EURL, monthly | €7,436 |
| SASU, monthly | €7,235 |
| Umbrella (8% fee), monthly | €5,429 |
On an €800 day rate, the micro-enterprise (France’s simplified self-employed scheme) is out beyond 104 billed days, and the question becomes one of tax. As a sole trader on real profit (EI), 200 days, or €160,000, give €117,997 of taxable income for a single person: the top band reached is the 41 % band, which starts at €84,577. Take-home falls to €6,865 a month. In an EURL (single-member limited company), the engine pays 80 % of profit as the manager’s pay, just enough to stay in the 30 % band, and pays the rest out as dividends: €7,436 a month, the best result. A SASU follows at €7,235. Dividends bear the 31.4 % flat tax (PFU), of which 12.8 % is income tax, far less than the 41 % band. With children, the benefit of the family quotient is capped at €1,807 per half share. These figures are estimates, not tax advice.
The 41 % band: the threshold that shapes the set-up
The 2026 French income tax scale (service-public, sheet F1419) moves from 30 % to 41 % above €84,577 per share. At €800 a day, a single sole trader crosses that line from 160 billed days. From there, every extra day is taxed at 41 % after contributions, and it no longer pays to put all business income through your personal tax return. That is the difference with a €600 day rate, where the issue was corporate tax: here personal income tax sets the line. A company paying corporate tax (IS) lets you draw pay up to the top of the 30 % band, then leave the surplus in the company, taxed at 15 % up to €42,500 of profit (service-public, sheet F23575), before taking it out as dividends under the flat tax. The set-up does not make tax disappear; it swaps a 41 % band for a lighter stack of levies, and it means paying the profit out or leaving it in the company.
Marginal rate and take-home, 160 to 220 days
| Days billed | Turnover | Marginal rate as EI | EI net/month | EURL: share as pay | EURL net/month | SASU net/month | Umbrella net/month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 160 | €128,000 | 41 % | €5,698 | 100 % | €6,008 | €5,863 | €4,442 |
| 180 | €144,000 | 41 % | €6,282 | 89 % | €6,723 | €6,547 | €4,935 |
| 200 | €160,000 | 41 % | €6,865 | 80 % | €7,436 | €7,235 | €5,429 |
| 220 | €176,000 | 41 % | €7,446 | 74 % | €8,124 | €7,919 | €5,923 |
At 160 days the EURL still pays everything as pay. From 180 days the share drops: the engine keeps pay roughly constant, set below the €84,577 line, and everything else becomes dividends. The gap with the EI widens on every row. For other households or real expenses, the legal form comparison reruns the numbers.
Flat tax against the scale
By default dividends bear the 31.4 % flat tax (prélèvement forfaitaire unique): 12.8 % income tax and 18.6 % social levies (service-public, sheet F32963). Opting for the scale gives a 40 % allowance, but in the 41 % band 24.6 % income tax remains: the flat tax wins clearly. One EURL quirk: the part of dividends above 10 % of share capital and shareholder loans bears self-employed contributions (Urssaf), which the engine includes with €1,000 of capital. See EURL dividends and the dividend flat tax.
The family quotient cap
A child adds half a share, but the tax saving it brings is capped at €1,807 (service-public, sheet F2705). As a sole trader on 200 days, a single parent pays €30,372 instead of €32,179: the cap is reached. At this day rate, family situation cuts tax by a fixed amount without lowering the 41 % rate on the top slice.
The previous level, €600, shows the split from the SASU side, and the day rate calculator tests your own number of days. These are estimates: the tax office and the Urssaf set the final amounts.