Micro-enterprise or company: when (and how) to switch?

Quick answer. In 2026, the micro regime remains available up to 203,100 € of turnover for the sale of goods and accommodation, and 83,600 € for services and professional activities. But the right time to switch to a company rarely depends on the ceiling alone: high real costs, leaving the VAT exemption, the need to take on partners or to protect personal assets weigh more. The switch must be prepared, and contributing the business to a company can benefit from a deferral of capital-gains tax (article 151 octies of the General Tax Code).

The micro-enterprise appeals through its simplicity: a flat-rate allowance, light accounting, social contributions computed on cash received. But this comfort has a cost as the activity grows. Many directors wait until they hit a ceiling to react, whereas the real signals are often tax and financial ones, well before.

At Hayot Expertise, we regularly see independents who should have switched a year earlier. This guide distinguishes the thresholds, which do not tell the whole story, from the switching signals, which truly matter, then details how to move to a company without a tax shock. For the fundamentals of the regime, see our micro-enterprise guide.

The ceiling is only one signal among others. The most frequent reasons to switch:

1. High real costs. Under the micro regime, you are taxed on turnover after a flat-rate allowance. If your real costs exceed that allowance, a company's actual-profit regime becomes more advantageous. This is the trade-off we detail in micro-BIC or actual-profit regime.
2. Leaving the VAT exemption. As soon as you charge VAT, one of the micro's commercial advantages disappears, and keeping proper VAT accounting becomes necessary.
3. The need to take on partners or raise funds. The micro is strictly individual: you cannot bring in a partner or an investor without changing structure.
4. Asset protection and image. A company offers a clearer framework for banks, large-account clients and tenders.
5. Remuneration optimisation. In a company subject to corporate income tax, the trade-off between salary and dividends opens up room for manoeuvre absent under the micro, the subject of our director remuneration optimisation service.

The choice between SASU and EURL then depends on your need for social protection, your dividend policy and your growth project.

Two sets of thresholds, often confused, coexist and do not trigger the same effects.

Consequences to distinguish:

• Exceeding the micro regime ceiling: the regime is kept in the year of the overrun; the exit to the actual-profit regime occurs if the ceiling is exceeded for two consecutive calendar years. See our micro-enterprise ceilings for 2026.
• Exceeding the VAT exemption: you become liable for VAT as soon as the raised threshold is crossed, regardless of the micro regime. We detail this in exceeding the VAT threshold.

In other words, you can stay micro while charging VAT: leaving the micro regime and losing the VAT exemption are two separate events. This nuance is central to the accounting and VAT obligations of the micro-enterprise.

1. Choose the form: EURL or SASU to stay alone, SARL or SAS to take on partners.
2. Create the company at the one-stop shop and draft the bylaws (our company creation service secures this step).
3. Transfer the activity: by contributing the business (clientele, equipment) to the company, or by sale. The contribution can benefit from the capital-gains deferral of article 151 octies of the General Tax Code.
4. Deregister the sole proprietorship at the one-stop shop and transfer ongoing contracts.
5. Opt, where relevant, for corporate income tax and set up the accounting and the director's payroll.

Article 151 octies allows, on a joint option of the contributor and the company in the deed, the taxation of capital gains identified on the contribution to be deferred: gains on non-depreciable items are deferred until the shares received are sold, while gains on depreciable items are reintegrated gradually by the company. Forgetting the option triggers immediate taxation: a point never to be neglected.

• Switching mid-year: possible; you must stop the micro's turnover at the cessation date and start the company cleanly.
• Loss-making or start-up activity: under the micro, a loss cannot be recognised (tax is on turnover); a company on the actual-profit regime allows losses to be carried, a strong argument in an investment phase.
• VAT already applicable: if you already charge VAT, part of the complexity is behind you; the switch to a company is all the more natural.
• Collective project: if the idea is to durably associate employees, also study the route of creating a SCOP or a cooperative.

• Do not confuse the two thresholds: the micro regime ceiling (203,100 / 83,600 €) and the VAT exemption (85,000 / 37,500 €) are decoupled.
• Anticipate the 151 octies option: forgetting it makes the contribution gain immediately taxable.
• Check the real benefit of the actual-profit regime: switching only makes sense if your deductible costs or your project justify it.
• Secure the transfer of contracts: clients, leases, subscriptions must be taken over by the company.
• Choose the right social status: an EURL majority manager and a SASU president have neither the same protection nor the same cost.

Recently, a consultant under the micro regime consulted us because he was nearing the 83,600 € ceiling. In reality, the ceiling was not his problem: with modest real costs, the micro remained tax-efficient. His real issue was VAT, which he should have charged for several months after crossing the raised threshold, and a hiring plan that called for a company structure.

We regularised his VAT situation, then organised the switch to a SASU to prepare the recruitment and add credibility with large accounts. The contribution of his clientele was placed under the deferral of article 151 octies, avoiding an immediate gain. The result: a controlled transition, with no painful tax catch-up. The lesson: you do not switch because you have reached a ceiling, you switch because the project and the figures call for it.

Hayot Expertise advice. Before leaving the micro, have a comparative simulation drawn up: micro versus a company on the actual-profit regime, factoring in VAT, your real costs and your target remuneration. Check your VAT exemption status and prepare the contribution under the article 151 octies regime. Our accounting expertise costs the switch and secures each step.