Declaring your micro-enterprise turnover: the two returns
A short, frequent return to the Urssaf and one line a year on your tax return: what each asks for and what it costs.
Figures checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we calculate
What you will pay for this return
Due to the Urssaf
€2,322
| Social contributions | €2,304 |
| Training and chamber levies | €18 |
| Flat-rate income tax | €0 |
Zero turnover: nothing to pay, but you must still file.
A French micro-entrepreneur declares turnover twice, to two different bodies. To the Urssaf, the agency that collects social contributions, you file online every month or every quarter, depending on your choice, the amounts received during the period, and pay the matching contributions straight away. In 2026, €10,000 declared as a liberal profession (independent professional services such as consulting or translation) costs €2,560 in contributions at 25.6 %, plus €20 of training levy, and €220 more with the versement libératoire, the optional flat-rate income tax, making €2,800. The first return comes no earlier than ninety days after you start. A period with no income is still declared, as zero, and costs nothing. Once a year, gross turnover then goes on your household income tax return, form 2042-C-PRO, with no costs deducted: the tax office applies the flat allowance itself, 34 % for liberal professions. These are estimates; the Urssaf and the tax office set the amounts due.
Two returns, two rhythms
A micro-entrepreneur keeps no profit accounts, but still has to file. On one side there is a periodic return to the Urssaf, which triggers payment of social contributions, the training levy, any chamber levy and, if you chose it, the flat-rate income tax (Urssaf, key facts about the scheme). On the other, a yearly line on your household income tax return. Both cover the same turnover received; they serve different purposes. If you come from a country where the self-employed file a single annual return, this split is the first French habit to learn.
The Urssaf return, step by step
You file online, on the Urssaf portal for auto-entrepreneurs or its mobile app, monthly or quarterly as you chose (service-public, sheet F36232). You enter the total received in the period, split by category if your activity is mixed, and the amount due appears at once. A few points to keep in mind:
- The first return cannot be filed before ninety days of trading.
- A period with no income is filed as zero: nothing is owed, but skipping the return is not an option.
- The contributions are final: no provisional demand and no adjustment the next year, unlike self-employed people taxed on real profit.
The table shows what each category pays for €10,000 declared in a period, flat-rate income tax included.
| Activity | Contributions | Training and chamber levies | Flat-rate income tax | Total to pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Selling goods | €1,230 | €12 | €100 | €1,342 |
| Commercial services (BIC) | €2,120 | €14 | €170 | €2,304 |
| Skilled trade (BIC) | €2,120 | €78 | €170 | €2,368 |
| Liberal profession (BNC) | €2,560 | €20 | €220 | €2,800 |
| Cipav profession | €2,320 | €20 | €220 | €2,560 |
Without the flat-rate option, drop that column: income tax is then calculated the following year on the progressive scale, through your income tax return.
Monthly or quarterly: an example
A freelance translator receives a steady €2,700 a month. Filing monthly, she pays €697 each month; filing quarterly, €2,090 for €8,100 declared. The cost is the same; only the calendar differs. Monthly suits someone who never wants a large bill to build up; quarterly suits someone who wants less admin. If she has Acre, the Urssaf applies the reduced rate of 19.2 % automatically: €1,555 of contributions for the same quarter instead of €2,074.
The mini-calculator at the top of the page runs this for your own amount and category. For the whole year, with income tax and CFE, use the full calculator.
The income tax return: one line, the right one
Each year, the gross turnover of the previous year goes on the supplementary form 2042-C-PRO, in the box for your category (service-public, sheet F23267). You deduct neither costs nor contributions: the tax office applies the flat allowance. In February the Urssaf provides a tax certificate summarising what you declared during the year.
For the translator, €32,400 received over the year gives, after the 34 % allowance, taxable income of €21,384. For very small turnover the minimum allowance kicks in: on €600 it reaches €305, leaving only €295 taxable. The tax calculation itself is on income tax for micro-entrepreneurs.
If you chose the flat-rate income tax
The tax is already settled, period by period. The 2042-C-PRO line is still compulsory: turnover after the allowance counts towards your revenu fiscal de référence, the reference income printed on your French tax notice, and it sets the rate applied to the household’s other income (impots.gouv.fr, the flat-rate payment). One more step: in your personal tax account, cancel the prélèvement à la source instalment, France’s pay-as-you-go withholding, calculated on this activity, or you will pay twice. The comparison with scale-based tax is on the flat-rate tax page.
What these returns do not cover
The CFE local business tax has its own channel. The notice is posted in your professional account on impots.gouv.fr and is generally paid by 15 December, online or by direct debit (service-public, sheet F23547). Nothing is due in the year you start; after that the amount depends on your commune, see the CFE page.
If you become liable for VAT (TVA), the VAT you collect is not part of the turnover declared to the Urssaf, which stays a before-VAT figure; it follows its own obligations with the SIE, the business tax office.
Slips that cost money
Skipping an empty period gains nothing: the zero return is still compulsory and costs nothing. Declaring an invoice before the client has paid makes you contribute too early. Entering a figure net of costs on form 2042-C-PRO distorts your tax, since the allowance is meant to cover costs already. And leaving the withholding instalment running alongside the flat-rate tax means paying income tax twice. These figures are estimates; the Urssaf and the tax office set what is really due. For how the rates break down, see micro-enterprise contributions.