Professional coach: status, VAT and Qualiopi in 2026

Quick answer. A professional coach carries on an unregulated liberal activity: micro-BNC up to 83,600 EUR of receipts (34% allowance), full accrual filing or a company. The key point: coaching is in principle subject to 20% VAT; the exemption for continuing professional training (CGI art. 261, 4-4°) applies only on an attestation issued by the DREETS. Qualiopi certification is mandatory only to access public or pooled funding (CPF, OPCO, France Travail).

Coaching keeps expanding: executive, career, team and life coaching. Yet the activity remains legally flexible — no professional order, no required diploma — which does not exempt it from precise tax rules. Two confusions recur: believing all coaching is VAT-exempt, and believing Qualiopi is mandatory to practise. Both are false.

In 2026 the micro-BNC threshold stands at 83,600 EUR of receipts, with a 34% flat allowance. The VAT registration threshold for services remains 37,500 EUR. And the boundary between "coaching" and "professional training" directly governs your VAT treatment.

Recently, a career-transition coach consulted us after billing for two years without VAT, convinced her activity was exempt. But her individual coaching did not qualify as continuing professional training: a VAT adjustment had to be anticipated. A controlled correction limited the impact, but the episode shows the importance of rigorously qualifying the activity from the outset.

Coaching is an unregulated liberal activity falling under non-commercial income (BNC). Three main options:

1. Micro-BNC: as long as your annual receipts stay under 83,600 EUR. A 34% flat allowance (minimum 305 EUR), simplified cash bookkeeping, no actual expenses deductible.
2. Full accrual filing: above the threshold or by election, with a 2035 return and deduction of actual expenses (travel, supervision, training, premises, tools).
3. A company (EURL or SASU): to protect your assets, structure a team or arbitrate between remuneration and dividends.

The choice depends on your activity volume, your costs and your growth plans. Many coaches start under micro-BNC, then move to accrual or a company as the activity intensifies.

This is the heart of the matter. The exact nature of your service determines its VAT regime.

Coaching is in principle taxable at 20%#

A coaching service — support, personal or professional development, advice — is by default subject to 20% VAT. Under the exemption threshold (receipts below 37,500 EUR), you do not charge VAT but do not recover it either; above the threshold, you become liable for 20% VAT and deduct it on your costs.

The "training" exemption is not automatic#

The VAT exemption under article 261, 4-4° of the CGI covers continuing professional training, as defined by article L6313-1 of the Labour Code. It is neither automatic nor a right: it requires an attestation issued by the DREETS (request via form 3511). The DREETS has three months to reply, silence amounting to approval. Once obtained, your invoices carry the wording "Exempt from VAT — art. 261-4-4° of the CGI".

The classic trap is presenting coaching as training to claim the exemption: without an attestation and without a genuine link to continuing professional training, the exemption is refused and VAT is reclaimed.

Qualiopi certification (7 criteria, 32 indicators) attests to the quality of a training provider's processes. It is not required to practise coaching. It does become mandatory to access public or pooled funding: CPF, OPCO, France Travail, AGEFIPH, Regions.

To reach this funding, several steps:

1. Obtain an activity declaration number (NDA) from the DREETS, a prerequisite for any training activity.
2. Have your processes certified Qualiopi by a Cofrac-accredited certifier. The certificate is valid three years, with a surveillance audit between the 14th and 22nd month.
3. Attach your services to a registered professional certification to make them CPF-eligible.

Note: Qualiopi alone does not make a service CPF-eligible. The CPF finances training attached to a registered professional certification (RNCP or specific register); Qualiopi only certifies the organisation's processes.

The coach wanting CPF access#

Beyond Qualiopi and the NDA, the offer must be backed by a registered certification, either by creating one or partnering with a certifying body. This is a project in itself, not to be confused with simply obtaining Qualiopi.

The coach who is also a trainer#

If you combine coaching (taxable) and continuing professional training (potentially exempt), you must clearly split your services and, where applicable, manage an activity partly subject to VAT. The distinction must appear on your quotes and invoices.

The coach operating through a company: EURL or SASU#

Beyond a certain activity level, moving to a company protects your assets and opens the remuneration-versus-dividends trade-off. In an EURL, the manager is self-employed; in a SASU, the president is an employee-equivalent, with social protection closer to that of an executive but heavier contributions on remuneration. The choice depends on your cover needs, your profit level and the share you intend to distribute. For a coach whose activity stays modest, micro-BNC often remains the simplest; a company makes sense when actual costs become significant or a structured training-organisation project takes shape.

• Do not presume the VAT exemption: without a DREETS attestation and a genuine link to continuing professional training, coaching is taxable.
• Qualiopi ≠ practising: certification only conditions access to public and pooled funds.
• Qualiopi ≠ CPF: CPF eligibility requires a registered professional certification.
• VAT exemption: watch the 37,500 EUR threshold; crossing it makes you liable for 20% VAT.
• Invoicing: state the exact regime (20% VAT or exemption wording) to secure any audit.

As a chartered accountant registered with the Order, we support coaches at every stage, from the first invoice to structuring a certified training body. The reflex we instil from the start: qualify each service precisely. Coaching or training? With or without attestation? With or without targeted public funding? These answers determine VAT, procedures and the business model.

For the coach mentioned above, the solution was not to "avoid VAT" but to clarify her offer: keep coaching as a taxable service, and engage the attestation and Qualiopi process only for the part genuinely structured as professional training. This honest reading of the activity secures matters durably, where an opportunistic arrangement exposes one to an adjustment.

Hayot Expertise advice. Before billing, qualify each service: coaching (taxable at 20%, subject to the exemption threshold) or continuing professional training (exempt only on DREETS attestation). Pursue Qualiopi and the NDA only if you genuinely wish to access public funding, and remember that a registered professional certification remains necessary for the CPF. An initial framing with your accountant avoids VAT adjustments and needless procedures.