France Auto-Entrepreneur 2026: TVA & Micro-Regime

Quick Answer

If you bill as a freelancer / sole operator in France and your annual chiffre d'affaires (CA) stays below the micro-entreprise thresholds, you can register as auto-entrepreneur / micro-entrepreneur in under 15 minutes on autoentrepreneur.urssaf.fr. You don't need a SIRET to start, but you do need one before your first invoice. Three numbers define the regime:

You pay cotisations sociales of roughly 12.3% of CA (services / BNC) or 21.2% (commercial / BIC) directly to URSSAF, monthly or quarterly. If you opt for versement libératoire de l'IR, you also pay income tax quarterly at a flat rate tied to your activity type. Otherwise you declare CA in your annual *déclaration de revenus* and pay marginal IR. Every invoice you issue must carry 7 mentions obligatoires under Code de la consommation art. L441-9 + CGI art. 289: sequential invoice number, issue date, your identity (nom + adresse + SIRET), customer identity, description of service, unit price + quantity, total HT, and any TVA wording (or the literal franchise exemption line). Our free FR invoice template at /fr/fr/invoice-generator produces TVA-liable + franchise variants with all 7 fields, sequential numbering, and a SIRET slot. For multi-activity CA, dépassement de seuil, or *régime réel* transition, call an *expert-comptable*.

How "auto-entrepreneur" differs from the other 4 French freelancer structures

France has 5 statuses a freelancer can pick from. The auto-entrepreneur is the simplest, but it caps your CA:

For the first 18-24 months, most solo freelancers in tech / consulting / creative pick auto-entrepreneur because the setup is essentially free, the CA is reported online, and you can scale later into EI / EURL without losing your SIRET history (it's the same SIREN number; only the status changes).

The 4 numbers that define the regime (verified 2026)

Watch the cliff effects:

• The CA cap is a hard cliff: exceed it for 2 consecutive years and you are out of micro-régime. The BOI tolerates 1 year of dépassement by ≤ 10% without forcing exit.
• The TVA franchise has a *tolérance* of up to €39,100 (services) or €101,000 (goods) for one year if you cross by accident, but as soon as you actually exceed, you must register for TVA and start charging it from the day of the dépassement.
• The cotisations rate is applied to CA *after* the year-end abattement forfaitaire (50% for micro-BNC, 71% for micro-BIC ventes / vente de marchandises, 50% for micro-BIC services). If you declare CA in January, you actually pay 12.3% of *half* of it (because the URSSAF base IS the CA, not the abattement, which surprises new freelancers).

The 7 mentions obligatoires on every FR invoice

Every invoice you issue, regardless of TVA status, must carry the following 7 elements under Code de la consommation art. L441-9 (B2B) and CGI art. 289 (general):

The "exonération de TVA" line is not optional. If you are under the franchise threshold and omit the literal *"TVA non applicable, art. 293 B du CGI"* line, your customer may argue you should have charged TVA and ask for a *avoir* (credit note) to fix it. Worse, you may be deemed to have opted into the *régime réel* for the whole fiscal year and be liable for TVA on past invoices.

For B2C (consumers, "particuliers"), the *Code de la consommation art. L221-18* additionally requires a right-of-withdrawal mention for any paid-by-token or distance contracts; auto-entrepreneur service freelancers are usually exempt because services rendered before withdrawal-period end are themselves "fully performed" (art. L221-28 1°).

Cotisations sociales + versement libératoire — how money actually flows

In practice as a micro-BNC (consultant / freelance service) auto-entrepreneur:

Money-in timing: URSSAF prélève the cotisations around the 5th of the month following your declaration. If you declare CA on the 15th of March for the previous 2 months, the cotisations leave your account around April 5. Plan a cash buffer of ~15% of CA to avoid accidental overdrafts.

1. You do work → you invoice (with 7 mentions, including franchise line if applicable).
2. Customer pays into your compte bancaire dédié (the "compte dédié activité professionnelle"). This is technically recommended, and only becomes mandatory if your CA exceeds €10,000 for 2 consecutive years. In practice most banks ask for it from day one.
3. You log into autoentrepreneur.urssaf.fr every month or quarter and report your CA.
4. URSSAF pulls the cotisations directly: 12.3% of CA for BNC (consulting / freelance / BNC-class activities). For BIC vente de marchandises, it's 21.2%; for BIC services, 12.3% likewise.
5. (Optional) If you opted for versement libératoire de l'IR when registering (must be confirmed yearly, and depends on revenu fiscal de référence), you also pay IR at 2.2% of CA (BNC) or 1.7% (BIC vente), same portal, same cadence.
6. Once a year (May-June), you file your *déclaration de revenus* on impots.gouv.fr. If you did NOT take versement libératoire, the fisc taxes you on abattement forfaitaire basis: roughly 34% of CA is treated as net income for BNC (50% abattement × your marginal IR rate).

When to leave micro-régime (the 3 escalators)

You stay on micro / auto-entrepreneur until one of 3 things forces escalation:

Last reviewed

This article was last reviewed on 2026-08-06 by Emma's editorial workflow. Primary-law backing:

Verify before you act: the precise CA caps (€77,700 / €188,700), the TVA franchise thresholds (€36,800 / €91,900), the cotisations rate (12.3% / 21.2%) and the versement libératoire IR rates (2.2% / 1.7%) are set by law and indexed *occasionally* (the franchise thresholds were raised in 2025 to harmonise with the CA cap; rates themselves are stable since 2020). Always cross-check at autoentrepreneur.urssaf.fr and service-public.fr before billing against a threshold or filing a déclaration.

• CGI art. 50-0 (Code général des impôts) — micro-entreprise CA caps (€77,700 / €188,700)
• CGI art. 293 B — TVA franchise threshold (€36,800 services / €91,900 goods) and the literal exemption text required on invoices
• CGI art. 289 — general invoice-mention obligations
• Code de la consommation art. L441-9 — B2B invoice content list
• Code de la consommation art. L221-18, L221-28 — B2C withdrawal rules and service-execution exemption
• Code de la sécurité sociale art. L613-7 + LOI n° 2008-776 du 4 août 2008 (LME, title V) — auto-entrepreneur cotisations sociales
• CGI art. 151-0 — versement libératoire de l'IR
• BOI (Bulletin Officiel des Impôts) — IR rules, notamment BOI-IR-LIQ for versement libératoire eligibility and *rev fiscal de référence* thresholds

FAQ

Can I bill in France without a SIRET? Technically you can issue a *devis* (quote) before your SIRET is issued, but the *facture* (invoice) requires it. SIRET issuance runs through INPI (formerly the greffe) via the guichet unique and typically takes 1-4 weeks. Register before you sign your first contract. Operating without a SIRET once you've started invoicing is a *travail dissimulé* risk.

Do I need a bank account dedicated to my auto-entreprise? Legally: only mandatory if your CA exceeds €10,000 for 2 consecutive years. Practically: most French banks (including online banks) require a compte dédié from day one for status auto-entrepreneur because they treat your SIRET as a separate account-holder signal. A *compte courant ordinaire* marked "activité professionnelle" is generally accepted.

Can I invoice in English / non-French clients without going through TVA? Yes, the TVS franchise is independent of language or client country. If your customer is B2B in another EU country, you stay under the *régime franchise* and the customer self-accounts for TVA via their own MOSS/OSS or local declaration (reverse-charge in spirit, but technically you just bill HT and write *"TVA non applicable, art. 293 B du CGI"*). If your customer is outside the EU (B2C), you still don't charge TVA under franchise; for B2B outside the EU, same. You must write *"Reverse Charge — Autoliquidation"* so the customer understands their local treatment.

What if I accidentally charge TVA while in franchise — can I keep it? No. If you put TVA on an invoice and remit it (or fail to), the fisc treats you as opted-in to *régime réel* for the entire fiscal year. You have to file CA3 and the collected TVA flows to the Trésor. The "I was just sloppy" defense does not work. Once TVA appears on a facture, it triggers a substantive regime change.

**Do I need an *expert-comptable* for simple auto-entrepreneur work?** For pure BNC consulting with one or two B2B clients and CA under €50,000, no. Once you cross €50k CA, have multi-activity CA (BNC + BIC vente), are nearing the cap, or are thinking about EURL / SASU, yes. An expert-comptable costs €1,500-€3,000/year for a freelance dossier and saves €5k-€20k/year in micro-régime exits and TVA transition friction. The Ordre des Experts-Comptables maintains a search-by-city tool.

**Is the *versement libératoire de l'IR* worth opting in? Almost always, if your revenu fiscal de référence** allows it (the threshold varies; verify on impots.gouv.fr). For a BNC freelancer with marginal IR around 30% and CA below ~€50k, the 2.2% flat rate is usually a significant saving *and* smooths your quarterly cash flow by removing the year-end impots.gouv.fr uncertainty. It is opt-in by declaration year-end, not automatic.

What about the ACRE (Aide à la Création ou à la Reprise d'Entreprise)? ACRE reduces your cotisations sociales in year 1 (and optionally year 2); historically by 50%, although the rate has shifted under Loi de financement de la Sécurité Sociale. You must request ACRE at registration, not after. Late applications are typically rejected.

Related guides

---

Need a FR invoice template? Use our free generator at makinginvoice.com/fr/fr/invoice-generator. TVA-liable and franchise variants, all 7 mentions obligatoires, sequential numbering (YYYY-MM-NNNN), and a SIRET slot. The template also flags the *"TVA non applicable, art. 293 B du CGI"* auto-line when you opt for franchise.

• 🇩🇪 Germany Freelancer Invoice & Kleinunternehmer 2026 — §19 UStG, §14 UStG invoice fields, B2B e-invoicing mandate under Wachstumschancengesetz (2025/2027/2028)
• 🇬🇧 UK Self-Employed Invoice & Making Tax Digital — UK MTD IT rollout (2026/2027/2028), IR35, £90k VAT threshold
• 🇦🇺 Australia Freelancer Tax Overview — ABN, GST AUD 75,000 threshold, BAS lodgement
• 🇦🇹 Austria UID & Kleinunternehmer Invoicing — Austrian UID structure, Kleinunternehmerregelung, reverse-charge
• 🇨🇦 Canada TPS/TVH Freelancer Guide — GST/HST/QST registration, input tax credits, \$30k small-supplier threshold
• 🇦🇪 UAE VAT Registration Guide — AED 375k mandatory registration + reverse-charge for cross-border services