# France micro-entreprise: ceilings, VAT, URSSAF

The micro-entreprise (auto-entrepreneur) regime lets a sole trader pay social contributions and, by option, income tax as a flat percentage of turnover. You declare your takings to URSSAF every month or quarter, and you pay nothing when you earn nothing. In exchange, you stay under turnover ceilings and keep light books: a sales ledger (livre des recettes), plus a purchase register if you sell goods. Most micro-entrepreneurs also sit in the VAT franchise, so they bill without VAT.

## Who

Any sole trader whose turnover in 2024 or 2025 stayed under €203,100 for sales and accommodation, or €83,600 for services and liberal professions. Crossing a ceiling one year changes nothing; crossing it two years running moves you to the real regime from the next 1 January. VAT works on separate, lower thresholds: €85,000 for sales and €37,500 for services.

## Dates

- 2025-02-14: The finance law for 2025 plans a single €25,000 VAT franchise threshold. The measure was later abandoned, so the €85,000 and €37,500 thresholds stay in force.
- 2026-01-01: For 2026 income, the micro regime applies if 2024 or 2025 turnover stayed under €203,100 for sales and €83,600 for services.
- 2026-09-01: Micro-entrepreneurs must be able to receive e-invoices from suppliers through an approved platform.
- 2026-09-30: Last day to opt for the versement libératoire from 1 January 2027.
- 2027-09-01: Micro-entrepreneurs must issue e-invoices to French business customers and send e-reporting data.

## Tools

- Indy: yes. Compliant invoices, automatic bookkeeping, prefilled URSSAF turnover returns and alerts near the micro and VAT thresholds. (https://www.indy.fr/auto-entrepreneur/, 2026-10-05)
- Abby: yes. Official URSSAF partner: files your turnover and pays contributions in the app, with an automatic livre des recettes and VAT threshold alerts. (https://abby.fr/, 2026-10-05)
- Freebe: yes. Invoices with the legal mentions, a livre des recettes kept from your transactions, URSSAF filing and a dashboard against the caps. (https://www.freebe.me/, 2026-10-05)
- Tiime: partial. Free invoicing with the mandatory mentions and register exports for the livre des recettes. No URSSAF filing shown on the page. (https://www.tiime.fr/factures, 2026-10-05)
- Qonto: partial. A dedicated business account opened online, with quotes, invoices and payment links. No URSSAF filing or threshold tracking. (https://qonto.com/fr/open-an-account/micro-entreprise, 2026-10-05)
- Pennylane: partial. Free plan for micro-businesses: up to 1,200 Factur-X invoices a year, sent and received. URSSAF filing is not part of it. (https://www.pennylane.com/fr/facture-electronique-gratuite, 2026-10-05)

## Questions

### What happens if I go over the VAT threshold?

Under the franchise, you bill without VAT up to €85,000 of sales or €37,500 of services a year. If you go over that base threshold but stay under €93,500 or €41,250, you keep the franchise for the year and charge VAT from 1 January of the next one. If you pass the higher figure, you charge VAT from the day you cross it. You then tell your tax office, add VAT to your invoices and file VAT returns, while your URSSAF contributions stay on the micro rates.

### Do I need a separate bank account?

Yes, once your turnover passes €10,000 for two years in a row. The account must be dedicated to the business, but it can be a plain personal current account: a paid business account is not required. Many micro-entrepreneurs open one from day one so their sales ledger matches their statements.

### How do I declare my turnover to URSSAF?

You declare online on autoentrepreneur.urssaf.fr, monthly or quarterly depending on the option you chose. Monthly returns are due by the end of the following month; quarterly ones by 30 April, 31 July, 31 October and 31 January. You declare the amounts you actually received, and you still file a zero return in a period with no sales. Contributions are a share of that turnover: 12.3% for sales, 21.2% for BIC services and 25.6% for non-regulated liberal professions in 2026.

### Is the versement libératoire worth it?

With the versement libératoire, you pay income tax with your URSSAF return as a fixed share of turnover: 1% for sales, 1.7% for BIC services and 2.2% for BNC activities. It is open only if your household's reference tax income two years earlier stayed under a limit, €29,579 for a single person. It suits you if your household would otherwise pay a higher marginal rate. You opt in before 30 September for the next year, or within three months of starting.

### What must appear on my invoices?

Your name followed or preceded by "EI" or "entrepreneur individuel", your SIREN number, the customer's details, the date, a number in an unbroken sequence and the price before tax. Under the VAT franchise, you add the mention "TVA non applicable, art. 293 B du CGI". Leaving that line out exposes you to a tax penalty on audit. From 1 September 2027, invoices to French business customers also go through an approved e-invoicing platform.

## Sources

- [service-public.gouv.fr: Dépassement des seuils de chiffre d'affaires d'un micro-entrepreneur](https://entreprendre.service-public.gouv.fr/vosdroits/F32353)
- [service-public.gouv.fr: Franchise en base de TVA](https://entreprendre.service-public.gouv.fr/vosdroits/F21746)
- [service-public.gouv.fr: Régime fiscal de la micro-entreprise](https://entreprendre.service-public.gouv.fr/vosdroits/F23267)
- [service-public.gouv.fr: Cotisations sociales d'un micro-entrepreneur](https://entreprendre.service-public.gouv.fr/vosdroits/F36232)
- [service-public.gouv.fr: Compte bancaire d'un micro-entrepreneur](https://entreprendre.service-public.gouv.fr/vosdroits/F35991)
- [service-public.gouv.fr: Mentions obligatoires sur une facture](https://entreprendre.service-public.gouv.fr/vosdroits/F31808)
- [impots.gouv.fr: En tant que micro-entrepreneur, puis-je être redevable de la TVA ?](https://www.impots.gouv.fr/professionnel/questions/en-tant-que-micro-entrepreneur-puis-je-etre-redevable-de-la-tva)
- [BOFiP: Sortie de la franchise en base de TVA en 2025 à la suite de l'abaissement du seuil (BOI-RES-TVA-000198)](https://bofip.impots.gouv.fr/bofip/14620-PGP.html/identifiant=BOI-RES-TVA-000198-20250303)
- [impots.gouv.fr: Je découvre la facturation électronique](https://www.impots.gouv.fr/professionnel/je-decouvre-la-facturation-electronique)