Those who wish to embark on the adventure of entrepreneurship can opt for the micro-entrepreneur scheme which has the advantage of offering few financial and administrative constraints. This status allows you to carry out all kinds of activities as a main or complementary activity.
Individual entrepreneur, the micro-entrepreneur can carry out a small independent activity on an ad hoc or regular basis, and this, very simply. “Small activity” means an independent craft or commercial activity. The micro-entrepreneur can also practice a liberal activity provided that his turnover does not exceed a certain ceiling. This scheme is accessible to everyone:retirees, civil servants, employees, job seekers and students. On the other hand, it will not be eligible for people on maternity, parental or paternity leave or on sick leave. A particularity of the micro-enterprise relates to its ultra-simplified mode of operation. The objective is to allow the entrepreneur to escape cumbersome and complex formalities so that he can fully focus on his core business.
Micro-enterprise is seen more as a regime than a status. Previously, there were two specific regimes to designate the activity of an individual entrepreneur:the micro-entrepreneur and the auto-entrepreneur. The first was only subject to the micro-fiscal regime. The second, on the other hand, had to respect a micro-social and micro-fiscal system at the same time.
However, in January 2016, a new reform was applied and announced the merger of the two regimes. Clearly, there is no longer any self-employed person. The latter is now referred to as a micro-entrepreneur. He has two choices:opt for the micro-fiscal and micro-social regime together or choose only the micro-fiscal regime.
To be able to operate under the micro-enterprise regime, an entrepreneur must respect a ceiling on his annual turnover which is 70,000 euros for a service activity and 170,000 euros for a food sales activity, objects, housing supplies or other goods. The tax regime of a micro-entrepreneur has the advantage of being simplified. Profits are calculated on a flat-rate basis. The entrepreneur is not obliged to keep full accounts. It is also subject to income tax calculated either in the traditional way in accordance with the rules of the micro-enterprise tax system, or by discharge tax payment (only if the taxable income does not exceed a certain amount).
No VAT is applied to the company if the turnover does not exceed 35,200 euros for service activities and 91,000 euros for sales of goods activities. Finally, it is necessary to pay the business property tax (CFE).
The social regime called micro-social is also simplified. Monthly or quarterly, the entrepreneur calculates and pays his social contributions according to the turnover recorded during the month or during the last three months. Social security contributions include family allowances, health-maternity insurance, supplementary pension or old-age insurance, not to mention the CSG-CRDS and disability-death. To all this is added the contribution to vocational training.
