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You are (or are becoming) a micro-entrepreneur

Succeeding as a micro-entrepreneur

Understand the regime, register the business with the single window, work out how far the small-business exemption keeps you out of VAT, then price it: the start-up contribution relief, contributions, micro against actual expenses, the flat-rate income tax option, daily rate and withholding — before filing the 2042-C-PRO. 12 steps, from the status to the return.

Start here: Starting and running a French micro-enterprise

Understand: the micro regime, registration, the VAT small-business exemption

  1. Step 1 of 12
    CoursePaid individually26 min

    Starting and running a French micro-enterprise

    Contributions by activity, the Urssaf declaration, the 2042-C-PRO, flat-rate withholding, thresholds and leaving the regime: three numbers-first modules with Sofiane, a micro-regime developer. All the prose is free to read; only the quizzes are sold.
  2. Step 2 of 12
    CoursePaid individually26 min

    Registering your business

    The INPI single gateway in force since 1 January 2023, the six categories article L123-36 covers and the window from one month before to fifteen days after, then the documents, the registers and the numbers delivered. Three modules on opening a retail shop. All the prose is free to read; the case study and quizzes are sold.
  3. Step 3 of 12
    CoursePaid individually26 min

    The small-business VAT exemption

    The two rows of ceilings by year assessed, the ban on deducting and the exact wording required on invoices, then leaving on the date of the overshoot or by an election that commits for two years. Three modules on a ceramics workshop. All the prose is free to read; the case study and quizzes are sold.
  4. Step 4 of 12
    CoursePaid individually25 min

    Deductible costs and the actual-costs regime

    The break-even point between the micro regime's flat-rate allowance and actual costs, an inventory of what the law lets you deduct, and how to apportion mixed-use expenses: three modules following Thomas, a consultant billing €92,000. All the prose is free to read; only the quizzes are sold.

Compute: start-up relief, contributions, micro or actual expenses, flat-rate option, VAT threshold, daily rate, withholding

  1. Step 5 of 12
    CalculatorFree result

    ACRE: start-up contribution relief

    Work out what ACRE saves you in your first year: full versus reduced contributions under the micro regime, exemption rate against the PASS thresholds under the standard regime.
  2. Step 6 of 12
    CalculatorFree result

    French micro-entrepreneur simulator

    Estimate your micro-entrepreneur contributions and net income with the 2026 rates per activity (12.3%, 21.2% or 25.6%).
  3. Step 7 of 12
    CalculatorFree result

    Micro-enterprise vs actual regime: comparison

    The micro regime wins when your actual expenses stay below the flat-rate allowance of your activity; above it, the actual regime deducts them and often wins — the regime retained is the one leaving the most net income after expenses, contributions and tax.
  4. Step 8 of 12
    CalculatorFree result

    Flat-rate income tax payment

    The flat-rate payment (1%, 1.7% or 2.2% of turnover) compared with the tax the progressive scale would actually charge on your micro income, plus eligibility based on your reference tax income.
  5. Step 9 of 12
    CalculatorFree result

    French VAT exemption threshold

    From your activity and your turnover for the previous and current years, the calculation tells whether the VAT exemption is kept, lost on the following 1 January or lost from the day the threshold is exceeded, with the remaining margin and the theoretical VAT at the standard rate.
  6. Step 10 of 12
    CalculatorFree result

    Freelance daily-rate calculator (France)

    Start from your target net income and work back to the daily rate to invoice, charges, costs and billable days included.
  7. Step 11 of 12
    CalculatorFree result

    French withholding tax (PAS) simulator

    Estimate your withholding-tax rate from the 2026 scale, or apply the rate sent by the French tax administration.

File: form 2042-C-PRO, self-employed income

  1. Step 12 of 12
    FormFree20 min

    Form 2042-C-PRO — self-employed income

    The annex for the self-employed: where to report micro revenue (gross, automatic 71/50/34% allowances), the flat-rate withholding option, the real regime — decisive boxes, deadlines and mistakes to avoid.

The other paths

A different procedure, the same principle: the three pillars in order.

Read in French