Between the micro regime and the full actual regime

Karim runs a delicatessen as a sole trader. Turnover: 231 000 € in 2024, 248 000 € in 2025. He has never drawn up a balance sheet, and his neighbour assures him that a shopkeeper under the actual regime must produce a thirty-page return. Before you read on: how many schedules does Karim really have to fill in, and can he skip the balance sheet?

The thresholds, and an option that cannot be undone

The micro-BIC regime applies to 2026 income if turnover excluding VAT in 2025 or in 2024 did not exceed 203 100 € for a sales activity, or 83 600 € for the provision of services.

Above that, and up to 945 000 € of sales, the simplified actual regime applies by default. Karim, at 231 000 € and then 248 000 €, entered it without signing anything: both years exceed the micro threshold.

A micro-entrepreneur may also choose the simplified regime. The option is taken during the income tax return of the year before the one in which it is to apply; for a simplified regime in year N, it is filed during the filing season of N-1.

The option lasts one year and renews automatically each year. The direction of travel, however, is constrained: one can opt for a more demanding regime, never for one less demanding than the regime that applies by default.

• Sales of 2024 and 2025 below 203 100 €: micro-BIC by default in 2026, simplified regime on option.
• Sales above 203 100 € in both years, below 945 000 €: simplified actual regime by default.
• Sales beyond 945 000 €: normal actual regime, with the full 2050 to 2059 return.
• Provision of services: the entry threshold of the simplified regime is 83 600 €.

Super-simplified accounting

The simplified regime does not require accrual accounting all year round. Article 302 septies A ter A of the general tax code authorises super-simplified accounting: daily recording of collections and payments in detail, with receivables and debts recognised only at year end.

In practice, Karim keeps his cash position day by day, as a micro-entrepreneur would, then adds at 31 December the invoices issued but not collected and the supplier invoices not yet paid. The result then recovers an accrual basis, without the cost of permanent bookkeeping.

This choice is declared for each financial year, by ticking the box provided at the top of the 2031-SD results return. A forgotten box does not make the accounts wrong, but it removes the regulatory cover of the simplified method.

The same flexibility applies to inventories: natural persons placed under the simplified regime may carry out a simplified valuation of stocks and work in progress, following the method set by article R. 123-208 of the commercial code.

The balance sheet exemption

No balance sheet is required from sole traders subject to income tax under the simplified regime when their turnover does not exceed a specific threshold, revised every three years, which differs depending on whether the activity is sales or services.

Concretely, an exempt business may refrain from producing schedule 2033-A, the simplified balance sheet. The income statement is still due: the exemption covers the snapshot of assets and liabilities, not the film of the financial year.