The French micro-enterprise scheme: how it works and what it leaves you
A light form of sole trading where almost everything is worked out from the money you receive.
Figures checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we calculate
Your take-home as a micro-entrepreneur
Monthly take-home, before CFE
€2,351
| Contributions (25.6 %) | €10,240 |
| Training and chamber levies | €80 |
| Income tax (single) | €1,468 |
| Net for the year | €28,212 |
In 2026 a French micro-entrepreneur hands the Urssaf, the agency that collects social contributions, between 12.3 % and 25.6 % of the turnover actually received, depending on whether they sell goods or work as a freelance professional. Income tax then applies to that turnover after a flat allowance of 34 % to 71 %, which stands in for business expenses. The micro-enterprise, still widely called auto-entreprise, is not a company: it is a sole-trader business run in your own name under two simplified regimes, micro-social for contributions and micro-fiscal for tax. You can use it as long as yearly receipts stay below €203,100 for sales or €83,600 for services. A translator receiving €42,000 in 2026 pays €10,752 of contributions and €1,679 of income tax as a single person with no other income, keeping €29,485, or €2,457 a month before CFE local business tax. Contributions are final, and a month with no income costs nothing.
One status, two simplified regimes
People arriving in France often hear “micro-enterprise” as if it were a type of company. It is closer to a tax and social security setting for a sole trader. The micro-social side decides your contributions: a fixed share of the turnover you receive, paid with each return, with no profit calculation (Urssaf, key facts about the scheme). The micro-fiscal side decides your income tax: the tax office removes a flat allowance meant to cover your expenses and adds the rest to your household income on the progressive scale (service-public, sheet F23267). Both stay in place while your receipts remain under the ceiling; exceed it two years running and you leave both.
You trade as an entreprise individuelle (sole trader), in your own name, with no company and no share capital. Everything hangs on one figure, the money you actually receive, which is why so many newcomers start here before deciding whether a company makes sense.
| Activity | Contributions | Tax allowance | Turnover ceiling | No VAT up to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Selling goods, accommodation | 12.3 % | 71 % | €203,100 | €85,000 |
| Commercial or craft services (BIC) | 21.2 % | 50 % | €83,600 | €37,500 |
| Unregulated freelance (BNC) | 25.6 % | 34 % | €83,600 | €37,500 |
| Freelance under the Cipav fund | 23.2 % | 34 % | €83,600 | €37,500 |
BIC and BNC are French tax categories: BIC covers commercial and craft income, BNC covers non-commercial professional income such as consulting, design or translation. Note that the turnover ceiling and the VAT exemption limit are two separate numbers. Between €37,500 and €83,600 a service provider remains a micro-entrepreneur but has to charge VAT: see the VAT exemption threshold and the turnover ceiling.
Three people, three results
The site’s engine applies the 2026 Urssaf rates, the training levy, the chamber levy where one applies and the income tax of a single person with no other income. CFE is left out because it depends on the commune (municipality) where you are based.
| Profile | Turnover | Social levies | Income tax | Net per year | Net per month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Market stallholder (goods) | €55,000 | €6,828 | €0 | €48,172 | €4,014 |
| Bicycle repairer (craft) | €32,000 | €7,034 | €0 | €24,966 | €2,081 |
| Translator (freelance BNC) | €42,000 | €10,836 | €1,679 | €29,485 | €2,457 |
The stallholder seems to do best at €4,014 a month, but her €55,000 of sales include what she paid for the stock, which the table does not remove. The bicycle repairer owes no income tax on €16,000 of taxable income thanks to the French low-income discount (décote), yet his spare parts come out of his own pocket too. The translator has almost no costs and carries the heaviest rate, 25.6 %.
The pattern is clear: the scheme rewards low real expenses. If purchases or subcontracting are a big part of your turnover, run the numbers on micro versus real profit before you register.
What the scheme will not do
It never deducts costs from contributions. A laptop, office rent or a train ticket to a client leaves your Urssaf bill unchanged. For income tax the allowance is the same whether you spent a lot or nothing, it cannot exceed your turnover and it never falls below €305.
Nor does it remove the CFE local business tax, owed even when you work from home from the second year, or income tax, paid either on the household scale or, if your income qualifies, through the flat-rate option known as versement libératoire. Start-up relief (Acre) is no longer automatic in 2026: you must apply within 60 days of starting, as explained on the Acre page.
Paying as you earn
Every month or every quarter, as you choose, you declare online the turnover received in the period, on autoentrepreneur.urssaf.fr or in the Urssaf app, and pay at the same time (service-public, sheet F36232). Once a year the same gross figure goes on your French income tax return. Deadlines are listed on declaring your turnover.
For someone used to an annual self-assessment system, this rhythm takes some getting used to, but cash flow follows activity: a quiet quarter costs little and nothing lands eighteen months later.
Signs you have outgrown it
Real expenses well above the flat tax allowance. Turnover heading towards €83,600 for services, the point where you start planning an exit (service-public, sheet F32353). A wish to bring in partners or to wall off personal assets, which only a company organises: the micro-enterprise or SASU comparison puts figures on that choice. You may also opt for a real-profit regime voluntarily.
Figures on this page are estimates built on the published 2026 rules, not personal advice; the Urssaf and the French tax office set the amounts you actually owe.