A default regime, two thresholds

Léa, a plumber trading as a sole proprietor, invoiced 168 000 € excluding VAT in 2025 and paid 11 200 € of VAT. She filed no monthly return at all: two debits in July and December, then one form in May. Her colleague, with 190 000 € of turnover but 16 400 € of VAT, files every month. Before you read on: what separates the two?

Between the exemption and the normal regime

VAT has three regimes. Below the thresholds of the basic exemption, the business does not charge VAT. Above the ceilings of the simplified regime, it files every month or quarter under the normal regime. In between, the simplified tax regime applies by default.

The entry thresholds are those of the exemption: 85 000 € for trade, catering and accommodation, 37 500 € for other services. The course on the basic exemption details how it works and its higher tolerance thresholds.

The exit ceiling is revised periodically, and two official pages read on 11 September 2026 do not write it the same way. The service-public fact sheet, checked in February 2026, carries 945 000 € for trade and 286 000 € for services; the impots.gouv.fr page, modified in May 2026, still carries 840 000 € and 254 000 €.

For Léa, at 168 000 €, the question does not arise. A business close to either amount will check article L. 162-4 of the code on taxes on goods and services, which the BOFiP names as the text carrying the limits.

The 15 000 € VAT threshold

Turnover is not enough. The simplified regime also requires that the amount of VAT payable for the previous year be below 15 000 €. It is this second condition, often overlooked, that separates Léa from her colleague.

With 11 200 € of VAT due in 2025, Léa stays under the simplified regime in 2026. Her colleague, at 16 400 €, crossed the threshold: from the following year, she files a VAT return every month, even though her turnover remains within the limits of the simplified regime for her profits.

The threshold is assessed on the net VAT due, not on the VAT collected. A business that collects 40 000 € but deducts 28 000 € on its purchases stays under 15 000 €, and therefore under the simplified regime.

Leaving, or opting for the normal regime

Exceeding the turnover ceiling, or the VAT due threshold, moves the business to monthly returns from 1 January of the following year. Exceeding the higher tolerance threshold of turnover acts at once: the normal regime applies retroactively from 1 January of the current year.

The option exists in the other direction. A business under the thresholds may choose the normal regime, with monthly or quarterly CA3 returns, while staying under the simplified regime for the taxation of its profits: that is the mini-normal. It suits those that often end up with a VAT credit.

Some activities are excluded from the simplified regime. New businesses in the building sector, or those taking over an existing activity, cannot come under it for their construction works during the start-up year and the following year.