France Auto-Entrepreneur (Micro-Entrepreneur) Guide: Thresholds, Taxes and How to Register

What the auto-entrepreneur regime is

The status combines two simplifications: a micro-fiscal tax regime (income tax on a flat-rate deduction of your turnover) and a micro-social social security regime (charges computed as a fixed percentage of turnover collected, declared monthly or quarterly). There is no separate company: you are a sole trader (entrepreneur individuel) with simplified obligations — no corporate accounts, no mandatory balance sheet, minimal accounting (you keep a book of receipts and, for sellers of goods, a purchase register).

Key consequences of the simplification:

• No deduction of actual business expenses. Instead, income tax is computed after a flat-rate allowance (abattement forfaitaire) on turnover: 71% for sales of goods, 50% for commercial or craft services, 34% for liberal professions (with a minimum deduction of €305). If your real costs exceed the allowance, the regime over-taxes you.
• Turnover ceilings are strict. Exceeding them for two consecutive years kicks you out of the micro regime into the standard (réel) regime the following January.
• Certain activities are excluded from micro-social or need specific registration: regulated liberal professions (doctors, lawyers, notaries, architects attached to the Cipav have their own rules but can be micro-entrepreneurs in some cases), and some artisanal activities require a professional qualification.

Who it suits — and who should skip it

Good fit: freelance developers, designers, consultants, translators, coaches, dropshippers and small e-commerce sellers, marketplace sellers, tutors, and anyone testing a business idea with low overhead. It also works well as a legal shell for a side income alongside a salaried job.

Think twice if: your expenses are a large share of revenue (wholesale purchase costs, subcontractors, advertising) — the flat-rate allowances may not cover them, and you cannot deduct the difference; your turnover will quickly exceed the ceilings; you want to reinvest profits or take on partners; or you need to charge and reclaim VAT on purchases (see the VAT section below).

2026 turnover thresholds

The ceilings were raised on 1 January 2026 and are fixed for the 2026–2028 period, per the official government pages:

Notes:

• The thresholds apply to turnover collected (cash basis) over a full calendar year, excluding VAT.
• If you start mid-year, the ceiling is prorated to the number of months of activity.
• Exceeding the ceiling in one year alone changes nothing; exceeding it for two consecutive years moves you to the standard tax and social regime the following January, and you lose the micro-entrepreneur status.

Registration: the Guichet unique (INPI)

Since the reform of business formalities, all business creation in France goes through the single Guichet unique operated by the INPI. You file your start-of-activity declaration online (accessible via the auto-entrepreneur portal at autoentrepreneur.urssaf.fr). Registration is free. You will need a valid ID, a French address, details of your activity, and your choice of declaration frequency (monthly or quarterly). After processing you receive a SIRET number, and you are registered with the URSSAF for social charges and with the tax office.

Practical points for newcomers:

• You must register before or at the start of the activity — not after you start billing.
• Choose your activity code (APE) carefully; it determines your social security fund (Sécurité sociale des indépendants vs Cipav for regulated liberal professions) and the applicable rates.
• Keep invoices with the mandatory mentions (SIRET, date, description, VAT note — see below).

Social charges (URSSAF): 2026 rates

Social charges are declared and paid on the turnover actually collected, with no charges if you invoiced nothing (except the small annual training contribution, the CFP — check the current amount on autoentrepreneur.urssaf.fr, it is on the order of a few dozen to ~€100/year depending on the activity). Rates for 2026:

A flat-rate training contribution (contribution à la formation professionnelle, CFP) is added: 0.10% for merchants, 0.30% for artisans, 0.20% for liberal professions.

ACRE: first-time business creators may qualify for the ACRE (Aide à la Création ou à la Reprise d'Entreprise), which reduces social charges during the first year of activity — apply when registering or within the deadline indicated on the URSSAF portal.

In return, you are covered by the French social system: health insurance, daily sickness benefits, family allowances, basic and supplementary retirement, and disability/death coverage. Note that retirement rights are validated per turnover band — very low turnover may not validate full quarters, so check the URSSAF pages if pension rights matter to you.

Income tax: versement libératoire vs standard

You have two options for income tax:

1. Versement libératoire (withholding-style option). You pay income tax together with your social charges, as a flat percentage of turnover:

Conditions: you must be under the micro-fiscal and micro-social regimes, and your household's revenu fiscal de référence (tax reference income) for the year N-2 must not exceed €29,315 per tax part (for 2026, this is the 2024 income). You request it from the URSSAF by 30 September for the following year — or within three months of creating the business. It is irrevocable for the year once chosen, and it definitively settles the income tax on that turnover — no further income tax is due on it, but it also cannot be reduced by deductions.

2. Standard micro-fiscal regime. You declare the turnover on your annual income tax return (déclaration de revenus), the flat-rate allowance applies (71% / 50% / 34%), and the net amount is added to your other household income and taxed at your marginal rate. This is usually better when your household is lightly taxed or the business is your only income.

Simple rule of thumb: the versement libératoire wins when your effective marginal tax rate would exceed the flat rate; it loses when your household pays little or no income tax. Run the comparison on the impots.gouv.fr simulator before choosing, because the wrong choice costs real money.

Declarations: monthly or quarterly

• You declare turnover and pay charges on autoentrepreneur.urssaf.fr, monthly or quarterly depending on the option you selected at registration (changeable).
• The deadline is the last day of the following month (for monthly declarants) or the last day of the month following the quarter (for quarterly declarants).
• Late declarations trigger penalties — declare even a zero-turnover period on time.
• Once a year, you also declare the turnover on your personal income tax return (or it is already settled if you chose the versement libératoire).

VAT: the franchise thresholds

By default, auto-entrepreneurs benefit from the VAT exemption scheme (franchise en base de TVA): you do not charge VAT and you do not reclaim it. You must print "TVA non applicable, art. 293 B du CGI" on invoices. Published thresholds for 2026:

If your turnover exceeds the base threshold in one year, you keep the franchise the following year only if you stay under the upper threshold; exceeding the upper threshold makes you liable for VAT from the day you exceed it. (A government proposal to lower these thresholds was debated in 2025 — check the official site for any change before invoicing near the ceiling.)

Opting out of the franchise is possible (and sometimes useful if you buy a lot of VAT-charged inputs or sell mainly to businesses that reclaim VAT).

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