Running a micro-enterprise alongside a salaried job in France
Your salary does not change the contributions on your side business, but it largely decides how much income tax the business costs you.
Figures checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we calculate
What the side business adds to your salary
Extra take-home a month
€544
| Business contributions | €3,096 |
| Extra household tax | €2,376 |
| With the flat-rate option | €264 |
| Share of turnover kept | 54 % |
If you work as an employee (salarié) in France, you can also register a micro-enterprise, the simplified self-employed scheme, and invoice clients on the side. The side business pays its own social contributions to the Urssaf, the collection agency, on the turnover it receives, at the same rates as anyone: 25.6 % for unregulated freelance work, 21.2 % for commercial or craft services, 12.3 % for selling goods. Your job matters for income tax. After a flat allowance, the side income is added to your salary on the household tax return and taxed at the bracket your salary has already reached. A single person with €30,000 of taxable salary who receives €12,000 of freelance fees pays €3,096 in contributions and training levy, then €2,376 of extra income tax, keeping €6,528 over the year, €544 a month. The flat-rate tax option would raise that to €8,640, if household income allows it.
Two incomes, two separate systems
Your employer deducts contributions from your payslip. Your micro-enterprise does its own thing: you declare its turnover online to the Urssaf every month or quarter and pay contributions at that moment, at the rate for your activity (service-public sheet F36232). Neither reduces the other. They meet once a year on your income tax return: the salary where it always goes, and the gross turnover of the business on the additional form 2042-C-PRO, with no expenses deducted.
That is where your salary matters. The tax office applies a flat allowance to turnover (34 % for freelance fees, 50 % for BIC services, 71 % for sales) and adds what is left to your household income (sheet F23267). France taxes households, not individuals, using a quotient familial (family quotient) of one share per adult plus extra shares for children. The side income sits on top of your salary in that calculation.
What the business adds, by size
Take a single person whose salary leaves €30,000 of taxable income after the 10 % employment-expense deduction, adding freelance consulting on the side.
| Received in the year | Contributions and training levy | Extra income tax (scale) | Kept, scale | Kept, flat-rate option |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| €6,000 | €1,548 | €1,188 | €3,264 | €4,320 |
| €12,000 | €3,096 | €2,376 | €6,528 | €8,640 |
| €24,000 | €6,192 | €4,752 | €13,056 | €17,280 |
At this salary each euro of side income first bears 25.6 % of contributions, then tax at 30 % on the part left after the allowance. On €12,000 you keep €6,528, 54 % of turnover.
Same side business, three salaries
| Taxable salary | Tax caused by the business | Kept from the business per year | Per month |
|---|---|---|---|
| €18,000 | €1,265 | €7,639 | €637 |
| €30,000 | €2,376 | €6,528 | €544 |
| €45,000 | €2,376 | €6,528 | €544 |
At €18,000 part of the side income still falls in the 11 % band. Above roughly €29,579 of taxable income per share, all of it is taxed at 30 %, which is why the two higher salaries give the same result (2026 scale, sheet F1419). Couples spread income over more shares; the full calculator lets you set your household.
The flat-rate option, mostly for modest salaries
The versement libératoire (flat-rate income tax payment) swaps scale tax on the business for a fixed share of turnover: 2.2 % for freelance fees, 1.7 % for BIC services, 1 % for sales (impots.gouv.fr). For someone already in the 30 % band, that is a big saving. The catch is the entry test: the 2024 reference tax income, salary included, must not exceed €29,315 per share for 2026, €58,630 for a couple. Those who would gain most are often the ones shut out.
If you do opt in, the side income still counts when setting the tax rate on your salary, and you should cancel the withholding instalment (prélèvement à la source, France’s pay-as-you-earn system) on the business in your online tax account so you do not pay twice. More on the flat-rate option.
When the side business resells goods
Sales get a 71 % allowance. An employee on €30,000 reselling €15,000 of goods pays €1,862 in social levies and €1,305 of extra tax. That turnover includes what the goods cost you, so the real margin is thinner; see selling goods as a micro-entrepreneur.
What being an employee does not give you
Acre, the reduced start-up rate, is no longer automatic from 2026 and its list targets jobseekers, people on minimum income, some young founders and a few other cases. A regular employee is not on it, unless taking over a company in insolvency proceedings; see Acre in 2026.
The usual ceilings still apply: €83,600 for services, €203,100 for sales. So does the VAT exemption: above €37,500 of service turnover you charge VAT from the next 1 January, and from the day you pass €41,250.
The first months, in order
Your first Urssaf return comes at the earliest ninety days after your start date, then at the rhythm you chose. The CFE (cotisation foncière des entreprises, a local business tax) is not due in year one, is halved in year two, and is not due at all while turnover two years earlier stayed at or under €5,000 (sheet F23547).
The figures on this page are estimates based on the 2026 scale, not personal advice; the Urssaf and the tax office set what you actually owe.