Self-employed status: the guide before getting started

Updated March 2026 - The self-employed status is attractive because it is simple, quick and inexpensive to launch. But it's not a magical status. Before registering, you must check whether the micro-enterprise is really suited to your activity, your margins, your social protection and your growth prospects.

The self-employed person operates in their own name. This is an individual business which benefits from a simplified tax and social system.

Entreprendre.Service-Public also recalls two points that are often forgotten:

• ▸you do not have any statutes to draw up or capital to build up;
• ▸you cannot own several individual businesses in parallel.

To compare with other frameworks, also see our micro-enterprise 2026 guide, our self-employed and subcontracting file and our SARL or SAS comparison.

1. Are your thresholds compatible with your model?

For income received in 2026, the micro-enterprise thresholds recalled by Entreprendre.Service-Public are in particular:

• ▸203,100 euros for sales and hosting activities excluding special cases;
• ▸83,600 euros for services;
• ▸83,600 euros for BNC liberal activities.

2. Is the level of contributions sustainable?

Rates vary depending on activity. As of February 21, 2026, Service-Public indicates in particular:

• ▸12.3% for sale;
• ▸21.2% for certain BIC services;
• ▸23.2% for certain liberal activities covered by the CIPAV;
• ▸25.6% for unregulated liberal professions.

3. Does your activity support the VAT exemption?

The status can be practical when the VAT exemption is in full effect. On the other hand, as soon as you buy a lot, work with customers recovering VAT or go beyond the thresholds, the reading of the economic model changes quickly.

4. Does the status protect you enough?

The simplified status does not automatically provide the best social protection, nor the best presentation for certain financial partners. We must therefore also think in terms of credibility, future association and growth.

Hayot Expertise Advice: the right status is not the one that costs the least the first month. It is the one that remains consistent between 12 and 24 months with your turnover, your margin and your growth strategy.

• ▸simplified creation formalities;
• ▸simplified accounting;
• ▸social charges calculated on turnover;
• ▸ACRE possible under conditions at start-up.

• ▸turnover ceiling;
• ▸impossibility of welcoming associates;
• ▸deduction of real charges impossible within the micro-fiscal framework;
• ▸risks staying too long in a setting that has become too small.

We can compare for you micro-enterprise, real EI, EURL or SASU starting from a simple budget and your turnover trajectory.

👉 Choose the right status with Hayot Expertise

Self-employed status remains an excellent entry point in 2026 if your activity is simple, your expenses limited and your growth progressive. On the other hand, from the start, it is necessary to test the thresholds, contributions, VAT and possible exit from the scheme.

📞 Do you want to validate your project before registration and avoid a bad choice of structure? Our firm can simulate the correct social, tax and accounting framework. Make an appointment with an expert

(Official sources: Entreprendre.Service-Public on the micro-entrepreneur, their taxation, their social contributions and the Acre)