Aspiring entrepreneurs in France often choose the micro-entrepreneur scheme for its minimal financial and administrative hurdles. This flexible status supports a wide range of activities, whether as your primary occupation or a profitable side hustle.
As an individual entrepreneur, a micro-entrepreneur runs small-scale independent activities—craft, commercial, or liberal professions—either occasionally or regularly, with remarkable simplicity. These “small activities” include independent crafts, trading, or services, provided annual turnover stays below key thresholds. This regime is open to retirees, civil servants, employees, job seekers, and students, but excludes those on maternity, parental, paternity, or sick leave. Its standout feature? An ultra-simplified structure that cuts through red tape, letting you focus on growing your business.
The micro-enterprise is fundamentally a tax and social regime, not a separate legal status. Before 2016, it split into two: the micro-entrepreneur (micro-fiscal only) and auto-entrepreneur (both micro-fiscal and micro-social). A January 2016 reform merged them seamlessly. The “auto-entrepreneur” label faded away, replaced by “micro-entrepreneur.” Today, you can opt for the combined micro-fiscal and micro-social regime or micro-fiscal alone.
Eligibility requires keeping annual turnover under €70,000 for services or €170,000 for sales of food, goods, housing supplies, or similar. Taxes are streamlined: profits use flat-rate deductions, no full accounting needed. Income tax follows standard micro-regime rules or the simplified versement libératoire option (if eligible based on income).
No VAT applies if turnover stays below €35,200 for services or €91,000 for goods sales. You'll still pay the business property tax (CFE).
The micro-social regime simplifies contributions too: pay monthly or quarterly based on recent turnover. This covers family benefits, health-maternity insurance, retirement, CSG-CRDS, disability-death coverage, and vocational training contributions.
