Micro-entreprise thresholds 2026: figures and VAT switch

Quick answer. In 2026, the micro regime is open up to EUR 203,100 of turnover for the sale of goods and accommodation, and EUR 83,600 for services and the liberal professions. The VAT exemption, however, stops much lower: EUR 85,000 for sales and EUR 37,500 for services.

Every year we see business owners confuse two very different things: the threshold that lets you stay in the micro-entreprise regime, and the threshold that lets you avoid charging VAT. These are not the same figures, they do not trigger the same consequences, and the confusion can be costly. This article lays out the 2026 figures and explains how the two sets of thresholds fit together.

The micro regime is a simplified tax and social scheme. To qualify, your turnover must stay below a threshold that depends on the nature of your activity.

For 2026, the thresholds have been revalued. They stand at EUR 203,100 for the sale of goods and accommodation, and EUR 83,600 for services and the liberal professions. These amounts replace the former limits of EUR 188,700 and EUR 77,700, which applied over the 2023 to 2025 period and are now obsolete.

The flat-rate allowance is the share of turnover the tax authority treats as expenses. You are taxed on the remainder. In practice, a self-employed consultant declaring EUR 60,000 of receipts is taxed, for income tax, on EUR 39,600 after the 34% allowance.

Mixed activity#

If you both sell goods and provide services, a double threshold applies: total turnover must not exceed EUR 203,100, and the services share must not exceed EUR 83,600. Both conditions must be met at the same time.

Pro rata in the year of creation#

If you start your activity during the year, the thresholds are not reduced pro rata for the year of creation: the assessment is made on the turnover actually realised, scaled to the full year. In practice, a late start lowers your risk of exceeding the limit in the first year, but we advise tracking your monthly cumulative figure from day one.

This is where the most common trap lies. The VAT exemption (franchise en base) relieves you from charging and remitting VAT. But it follows its own thresholds, which have nothing to do with the micro limits.

For 2026, the exemption applies as long as your turnover does not exceed EUR 85,000 for the sale of goods, or EUR 37,500 for services. Beyond that, a so-called increased threshold leaves a tolerance: EUR 93,500 for sales and EUR 41,250 for services.

The reform that would have unified these thresholds at EUR 25,000 for all activities was dropped at the end of 2025. The 2026 thresholds therefore remain those in the table below.

Our reading. Put the two lines side by side and the gap is obvious. For a service provider, the VAT exemption threshold (EUR 37,500) is less than half the micro threshold (EUR 83,600). So you can comfortably stay in the micro-entreprise regime while being required to charge VAT. The two regimes are decoupled.

This is the direct consequence of the previous table, and the point most founders fail to anticipate.

Becoming liable for VAT does not push you out of the micro regime. You keep the flat-rate allowance and the simplified calculation of your social contributions. You simply add VAT to your invoices, collect it on behalf of the State, deduct the VAT on your business purchases, and file it.

Common case. A freelance graphic designer in BNC turns over EUR 46,000 in 2026. She stays well below the micro threshold of EUR 83,600, so she keeps her status. But she has exceeded the increased VAT exemption threshold of EUR 41,250: she becomes liable for VAT, and must charge it from the first day of the month of that overshoot. Many discover this mechanism too late, once the client has already been invoiced without VAT.

The underestimated risk. If you cross the increased VAT exemption threshold during the year, VAT is due from the first day of the month of the overshoot, on all the operations of that month. An invoice issued without VAT just before this switch, when it should have carried VAT, forces a correction: either you re-invoice the client, which is commercially awkward, or you absorb the VAT out of your margin. Hence the value of tracking your cumulative figure closely when you approach the zone.

Exceeding the micro threshold and exceeding the VAT threshold follow different logics. Here are the two mechanisms side by side.

For the micro regime, an isolated overshoot therefore triggers no exit. Only after two consecutive years above the threshold do you move to the réel regime, on the following 1 January. This gives you time to anticipate the change of accounting and reporting framework.

Points to watch in 2026. Three gaps come up regularly in start-up files:

1. Confusing the micro threshold with the VAT exemption threshold, and believing that as long as you stay in micro, you do not charge VAT.
2. Forgetting that the VAT exemption threshold for services (EUR 37,500) is reached well before the micro threshold.
3. Overlooking the double threshold of mixed activity, by monitoring only total turnover without isolating the services share.

The micro regime allows, subject to a reference taxable income condition, an option for the income-tax flat payment (versement libératoire). You then settle your income tax at the same time as your social contributions, as a percentage of your turnover. This option is only worthwhile in certain household configurations: we look at it case by case, as it can be unfavourable if your marginal tax rate is low.

To avoid surprises, we recommend keeping, from the start:

• a monthly tracking of your cumulative turnover, broken down by nature of activity;
• a personal alert when you reach 80% of the VAT exemption threshold applicable to your activity;
• the retention of your business purchase invoices, useful the day you become liable for VAT;
• an annual review with your accountant before the closing, to anticipate a possible move to the réel regime.

As an accountant registered with the Ordre des experts-comptables of Île-de-France, we regularly support this type of switch, whether it means handling the first VAT return or preparing a change of regime without disruption.