Legal status and taxation of a taxi driver in 2026: sole proprietorship, EURL or SASU?

Quick answer. A taxi driver's status is chosen between a sole proprietorship (micro-BIC or actual-profit regime), an EURL and a SASU. Profits are taxed as industrial and commercial profits (BIC) at income tax for the sole proprietorship and the income-tax EURL, and at corporate tax for a company under corporate tax (15% up to 42,500 euros, then 25%). The choice turns on income, vehicle financing and the VAT to recover, with one advantage specific to taxis: the right to deduct VAT on the vehicle.

You operate a parking authorisation (ADS), under article L3121-2 of the Transport Code, and you carry passengers for consideration. This commercial activity drives everything: the tax regime (BIC), the VAT rate, your social status and, a point many founders miss, a right to deduct VAT on the vehicle that most businesses do not have. In taxi creation files, the right status is never decided on administrative simplicity alone: it is reasoned from your target income, the value of your ADS and your transfer horizon. Here is how we proceed.

The sole proprietorship is the simplest route to start a taxi business. Two tax regimes coexist, and the choice between them weighs heavily on your cash flow.

The micro-BIC applies a flat-rate allowance on your revenue: no accrual accounting to keep, and no VAT to manage as long as you stay below the exemption thresholds. In return, you deduct no actual expense (fuel, insurance, maintenance, vehicle financing) and you do not recover VAT. For a taxi financing a recent vehicle and driving heavily, the flat-rate allowance is almost always below the expenses actually borne. The micro regime shows a higher taxable income than the economic reality of your operation.

The actual-profit BIC regime opens the deduction of all your expenses and, above all, VAT recovery, including on the purchase of the vehicle. This is the regime we recommend as soon as there is a vehicle to finance. The counterpart is more demanding accounting, which we handle as part of our dedicated support for taxi drivers.

A simple benchmark to decide:

• You start without heavy investment, with an already depreciated or leased vehicle: the micro-BIC may suffice for the first year.
• You buy or finance a vehicle and drive full time: the actual-profit regime almost always becomes more favourable.

Beyond the sole proprietorship, two single-member companies come up often in our taxi files. The choice between them is not only a tax matter: it commits your social cover for years.

The EURL is taxed as BIC at income tax by default, with an option for corporate tax. The sole shareholder-manager is a self-employed worker (TNS). This form suits the solo driver who wants a structure without raising their contributions.

The SASU is under corporate tax. The president is treated as an employee: broader social cover, but heavier contributions. Pay falls under salaries; dividends bear the single flat-rate levy of 31.4%.

Under corporate tax, profit is taxed at 15% up to 42,500 euros, then 25% above (subject to conditions on turnover and capital ownership). A company is genuinely worthwhile when the ADS has value, when you want to steer your pay between salary and dividends, or when you prepare a transfer. To go further, our overview of company formation steps sets out the cost and timeline of each form.

Taxi rides fall under the reduced 10% VAT rate, as passenger transport (article 279, b quater of the General Tax Code). You therefore invoice your customers with a moderate VAT, which limits the price effect compared with the standard rate.

The real lever sits on the vehicle. As a rule, VAT on passenger cars is not deductible: this is an exclusion familiar to every business. The taxi enjoys an exception. As a public individual passenger transport activity, VAT on the vehicle purchase is deductible, provided exclusive allocation to the activity and the status of a liable taxable person (BOFiP BOI-TVA-DED-30-30-20). On a new vehicle, this recovery represents a significant amount, immediately useful to your cash flow. It is the strongest argument for an actual-profit regime over the micro regime.

To this is added the partial refund of the fuel excise (formerly TICPE), now handled by the DGFiP via form 3310-TIC. For a driver working full time, it is a recurring cash flow to factor into the forecast from the start, and one the micro-BIC does not let you optimise in the same way.

Hayot Expertise tip. Before any vehicle purchase, check your VAT regime. Buying under the micro regime, then switching to actual profit the following year, makes you lose a VAT recovery you will not fully claw back. The order of decisions matters as much as the decisions themselves.

The director's social status changes the picture, and it is often the point founders underestimate most.

As a sole trader or EURL manager, you are TNS: contributions of about 45% of your pay, decent but lighter cover, notably on pension and provident benefits. The advantage is the cost; the limit is protection in case of a long sick leave.

In a SASU, the president is treated as an employee: better cover, but markedly higher social charges. The underrated risk lies here: without pay actually drawn, the employee-treated president contributes nothing and acquires no rights, notably towards pension. The pay-versus-dividend trade-off must therefore be framed from the start, not improvised at year-end.

In a recent file, a taxi driver had just bought a valuable ADS and was planning to finance a new vehicle. He had defaulted to the micro-BIC, drawn by the absence of accounting. When we rebuilt his forecast, the calculation was clear: between the unrecovered VAT on the vehicle, the unoptimised fuel excise and the flat-rate allowance that did not cover his real expenses, the micro regime cost him markedly more than the actual-profit regime in the first year. We moved him to the actual-profit BIC before buying the vehicle, which secured the VAT deduction.

Our read is consistent: for a taxi investing in its working tool, the question is not "micro or actual profit", but "actual profit at income tax or a company under corporate tax". The micro regime stays relevant only for a very light start, without a vehicle to finance and without a valuable ADS. As soon as there is an asset (the vehicle, the parking authorisation), the logic of the actual-profit regime prevails, and the move to a company is discussed according to your need for social cover and your transfer plan.

Our decision logic comes down to three cases:

1. Cautious start, few expenses, no vehicle to finance: sole proprietorship under micro-BIC.
2. Vehicle to finance and VAT to recover: sole proprietorship under actual profit or a company.
3. Valuable ADS, need for social cover or a transfer plan: EURL or SASU.

A few situations deserve specific review, because they change the tax or social equation.

• Buying a valued ADS. If you buy a parking authorisation, its value enters your business assets and weighs on the choice of structure and on a future transfer. Our guide on buying a taxi licence and depreciating it sets out the accounting treatment of the ADS.
• Activity contracted with health insurance. Seated transport of patients changes your customer mix and your invoicing constraints, as we explain in our article on the CPAM-contracted taxi.
• Hesitating between taxi and VTC. The basic tax regime is close, but the ADS, the VAT and the excise refund clearly distinguish the two trades. If you are still deciding, see our overview on becoming a VTC driver.
• Pay steering in a company. In a SASU as in an income-tax-electing EURL under corporate tax, the salary-versus-dividend trade-off must be quantified each year with your tax-focused chartered accountant.

• Buying a vehicle before choosing your VAT regime makes you lose a recovery that is hard to claw back.
• The micro-BIC often masks a taxable income above reality for a taxi bearing real expenses.
• In a SASU, the absence of pay drawn opens no social rights: the cover advertised holds only if you pay yourself.
• The fuel excise refund is a recurring cash flow to factor into the forecast, not an incidental bonus.
• The value of the ADS must be anticipated from creation, as it drives the structure and the transfer.

• Quantify your annual revenue and actual expenses (fuel, insurance, financing).
• Estimate the value of the ADS and how it is acquired.
• Decide whether you recover VAT on the vehicle (actual regime or company).
• Weigh the need for social cover (TNS or employee-treated).
• Anticipate the fuel excise refund in your cash flow.
• Frame your pay before registration.

The right status is not universal: it depends on your target income, the value of your ADS and your transfer horizon. For an analysis suited to your situation and the tax framework of the trade, our chartered accountancy firm in Paris 8 builds the forecast with you and secures the choice of structure. This article informs; a decision specific to your file requires reviewing your situation and the law in force.