Micro-entreprise (sole trader) in France 2026: permit, fees

A foreigner can open a micro-entreprise (formerly auto-entrepreneur, in Russian often just “IP”, a sole trader) in France if they live here and hold a titre that allows self-employment. It is a simplified form of sole-trader business: contributions are a percentage of turnover, not of profit. We, the “Vibe South of France” community, have gone through the 2026 rules on the service-public cards: who is eligible, how to register, what the ceilings and contributions are. The check was made on 19 October 2026. If you get stuck on a question about your own card, you can ask in the “Vibe South of France” community chat on Telegram whether anyone has set up a business at your prefecture.

In short, as of October 2026

• Who. Citizens of the EU, the EEA and Switzerland need no titre. Everyone else must live in France and hold a document that allows self-employment (activité non salariée).
• Registration. Online, free in most cases, no earlier than a month before you start and no later than 15 days after.
• Ceilings. €203,100 (trade), €83,600 (services and liberal professions), €15,000 (unclassified tourist accommodation).
• Contributions. 12.3% of turnover for trade, 21.2% for services, 25.6% for unregulated liberal professions, 23.2% for Cipav professions (furnished lets are in the table below); with zero turnover there are none.
• VAT. Not charged up to €37,500 (services) and €85,000 (trade) of last year’s turnover.
• Students. A micro-entreprise cannot be opened on a student card.

Which foreigners can open a micro-entreprise

Citizens of the EU, the EEA and Switzerland do not need a residence permit for this (F22494, checked 1 June 2026). For everyone else a micro-entreprise is a sole-trader business, and that “means living in France and holding a titre that allows non-salaried activity”. A foreigner can set up a company without living in France, but a micro-entreprise is a sole-trader business, so you do have to live here.

The same card F22494 lists the documents that qualify:

On a student card you cannot open a micro-entreprise, even within the 964 hours: those hours are allowed for employment only (F2713). The “visiteur” card gives no right to work at all, and when you receive it you sign a statement that you will not work either as an employee or as a self-employed person (more in the guide to types of residence permit).

For cards that are not on the list (family, résident and others) the page we read gives no direct answer. If you hold one, ask the prefecture or Urssaf before registering.

The “entrepreneur / profession libérale” card

This is the main route for people with no other basis. The business has to bring in at least €1,867.02 a month, which is the gross SMIC (F35795, checked 1 June 2026). The card is issued for a year and costs €350 (€50 stamp duty and €300 fee); renewing a temporary card costs €250. Among the conditions the card page names registration with the guichet unique. How to fit that registration together with getting the card, step by step, the page does not spell out: ask the prefecture of your département.

Do not confuse it with the talent card: €30,000 of funding is a condition of the passeport talent “porteur de projet”, not of the entrepreneur card. For the talent card the income must be at least the SMIC for a year, €22,404.20 gross (F16922). These figures are matched with the guide to salaries and the SMIC.

Temporary protection

Under card F299 the APS for temporary protection allows professional activity, and the protection has been extended to 4 March 2028 (details in the guide to temporary protection in France). The page says nothing about self-employment, for or against. We will not make up an answer on the prefecture’s behalf: first find out, in writing or through Urssaf, whether your documents will be accepted.

How to register

Registration is online at the guichet des formalités (formalites.entreprises.gouv.fr), the single registration window; there is no other way. You file no earlier than a month before you start work and no later than 15 days after. It is usually free. Only commercial agents, who must be entered in the RSAC register, pay: €23.21 (F36746, checked 18 March 2026).

What you will need: proof of address, for example a water, electricity or gas bill. The procedure page does not mention the titre in its list of documents, but under the rules in the section above you must hold one. The description names the Siren number and the APE activity code, which are assigned to the business. Turnover and contributions are afterwards declared and paid through Urssaf.

Turnover ceilings (limits) and the VAT threshold

The turnover ceiling is the limit up to which the regime applies. Ceilings are reviewed every three years: these sums are set for 2026, 2027 and 2028 (service-public, news item A18813). In 2026 the regime applies if turnover excluding VAT for 2025 or 2024 did not exceed the threshold (F23267, checked 13 May 2026):

For trade the ceiling in 2025 was €188,700. The two-year rule: if the threshold is exceeded in N-1 and N-2, the regime stops applying from 1 January of year N, and the single tax payment (VFL) goes with it. One year over does not end the regime.

VAT has thresholds of its own, and they are lower. In 2026 they did not change (F21746, checked 1 January 2026):

The idea of a single €25,000 threshold, floated in 2025, was abandoned; the €37,500 and €85,000 thresholds stay. Lawyers and authors have thresholds of their own. Our conclusion from the two tables: services at €50,000 a year still fit within the micro-entreprise regime, but VAT is already charged. How much that will affect your prices, work out for your own clients.

How much in contributions a micro-entrepreneur pays

Contributions are a percentage of turnover, not of profit. You must always declare turnover, either every month or every quarter. The 2026 rates (F36232, checked 1 January 2026):

The versement libératoire (VFL) is an option: you pay income tax together with the contributions, as the same percentage of turnover. You can choose it if your household’s taxable income two years back (the RFR on the tax notice) is below €29,579 for one person, €59,158 for a couple, €73,947.50 for a couple with one child and €88,737 for a couple with two children (F23267, data as of May 2026). The €29,579 figure is the top of the 11% band in the 2026 income tax scale (F1419).

An example for BIC services. Turnover for the month of €3,000: contributions at 21.2% come to €636, and with VFL at 22.9% it is €687 together with the tax (our calculation). For unregulated BNC the same €3,000 gives €768 in contributions or €834 with VFL. The sums leave out ACRE, CFE and expenses.

ACRE: relief for the first period

ACRE is not granted by itself: the application goes to Urssaf no later than 60 days after you start. Urssaf replies within 30 days, and if there is no reply the relief is treated as granted (F11677, checked 1 July 2026).

For micro-entreprises opened from 1 July 2026, the ACRE discount makes contributions 25% lower than usual; before, they were 50% lower (decree No. 2026-69 of 6 February 2026). The rate is 75% of the normal one: for services 15.9% instead of 21.2%. It applies until the end of the third calendar quarter after the quarter in which work began. Rates for the other types of activity have not been officially published, and we do not work them out.

You need one of these grounds:

• receiving the ARE or ASP allowance;
• being unemployed without benefit for more than 6 of the last 18 months;
• receiving RSA or ASS;
• being aged 18-25 (up to 29 with a disability), or under 30 without the right to ARE;
• taking over a business in a court procedure;
• a Cape contract;
• setting up in a QPV or in ZFRR zones;
• receiving PreParE.

Plus one condition: you have not received ACRE in the last 3 years. Citizenship is not on the list, and that is all we know: the page has no ready-made “foreigners are entitled”.

CFE, the account and insurance

CFE. The business tax (cotisation foncière des entreprises) is not paid in the first year, but by 31 December of the year you open you must post declaration 1447-C-SD to the tax office (SIE). Later, CFE is not charged if turnover two years earlier did not exceed €5,000. Everyone else receives the bill at the place of business (F23999).

Bank account. A separate account is compulsory if turnover is above €10,000 two years running, and for trade it is always needed. A personal account will do, but only for the business (F35991). How a newcomer opens one is in the guide to a bank account in France.

Insurance. For regulated professions civil liability cover (RC Pro) is compulsory, and in construction the ten-year guarantee (décennale) too. For everyone else it is recommended. The service-public page on this topic dates from 2023, so check the requirements of your own profession before choosing a policy.

How to close a micro-entreprise

Closing is free: the declaration of cessation is filed at the same guichet des formalités within 30 days of stopping work. The last turnover is declared to Urssaf after 30 days (if you declare monthly) or within a month after the quarter of closing (if you declare quarterly). If you paid VAT, the annual return is filed within 60 days (F20678, checked 9 December 2025). Fees are possible only for removal from certain separate registers.

Questions to ask before you register

There are three points where the open information ends and you need an answer from your prefecture or Urssaf: whether your particular card is enough for self-employment, in what order to file the entrepreneur card and the registration, and whether ACRE applies on your ground. We have no data from our chat on micro-entreprises yet, so we do not answer these for other people. If you have already gone through it, tell the chat how it went for you: we will add checked experience to this page.

If you are opening a business in the South of France, you can ask our chat what it looks like in practice at your prefecture.

The “Vibe South of France” community chat on Telegram - moving, work and your own business in the South of France

See also

• Moving to the South of France: paperwork step by step
• Taxes in France: residency, the scale, micro-entreprise
• Types of residence permit in France and what they allow
• Working in France as a Russian-speaker
• Working in France by citizenship: 9 countries
• Temporary protection in France
• A bank account in France
• Salaries in France: the SMIC and card thresholds