What changes on 1 October 2026 for French businesses

1 October 2026 does not bring a major tax reform, but it does bring several concrete switchovers that affect cash flow, HR processes, residential letting and the filing calendar. This round-up only covers dated, sourced measures, and it clearly separates what is in force from what is still only a proposal.

Quick answer. What changes on 1 October 2026 for French businesses: the end of OPCO payment subrogation for most training, the statutory four-year cycle for career development interviews, a new standard residential lease and new usury thresholds. October also sets the property tax deadline (15 or 20 October) and the filing of the 2027 budget bill, by 6 October at the latest.

Four measures take effect on 1 October 2026 and directly concern businesses or their owners. The table below summarises them, with who is affected and the action expected.

Alongside these measures, October carries recurring tax deadlines and a budget milestone, the filing of the 2027 budget bill, which has no legal effect at this stage. For the full-year view, see our 2026 key tax dates for business owners; for the rules that took effect at the start of the year, see our summary of the key measures of 1 January 2026.

Employers are affected by two main changes: the end of OPCO payment subrogation and the frequency of career development interviews. Neither creates a new filing, but both change internal processes and, for the first one, cash flow.

Training: OPCO subrogation becomes the exception#

From 1 October 2026, payment subrogation no longer applies, save for exceptions, to training files opened with OPCOs. According to notices from Opco Atlas, AKTO and Opco EP, the change follows a clarification by the French tax legislation directorate (Direction de la législation fiscale) that brings OPCO funding in line with ordinary VAT rules.

In practice, the training provider now invoices the business, which pays the invoice and then claims reimbursement from its OPCO with supporting documents. Apprenticeship contracts remain outside the reform, and some OPCOs keep subrogation for fully funded skills development plan training in businesses with fewer than 50 employees.

The underestimated risk. The topic looks administrative; it is first and foremost financial. A business that advances the cost of a training programme carries a cash gap between its payment and the reimbursement, and VAT becomes part of the file. At the firm, we advise listing now the training planned for the last quarter, OPCO by OPCO, because the transitional arrangements differ: Constructys, for instance, has announced its own transitional scheme.

Career development interviews: the four-year cycle applies#

Law no. 2025-989 of 24 October 2025 turned the professional interview into the career development interview (entretien de parcours professionnel). According to the Ministry of Labour, every employee is entitled to one within the year following hiring, then every four years.

1 October 2026 ends the period during which earlier company or industry agreements setting a different frequency continued to apply. From that date, Article L. 6315-1 of the Labour Code applies to those agreements: without a new compliant agreement, the statutory four-year cycle prevails. The template and checkpoints are covered in our article on the mandatory professional interview.

Payroll: no new rate on 1 October#

The gross hourly minimum wage (SMIC) has stood at €12.31 since 1 June 2026, under the order of 22 May 2026. No increase has been published for 1 October at the time of writing; the statutory mechanism for an automatic mid-year increase can still apply if inflation triggers it, which is why payroll settings should be checked at every official publication. The year's amounts are set out in our article on the 2026 minimum wage and its impact on employers.

The usury threshold for account overdrafts of professionals and legal entities is 19.08% from 1 October to 31 December 2026, against an average effective rate of 14.31% (notice of 25 September 2026 published in the Journal officiel of 26 September 2026). Each quarter's usury rates are published by the Banque de France and in the Journal officiel at the end of the preceding month. At the time of writing, on 24 September 2026, they have not yet been published, so we do not reproduce any anticipated figure.

For a business, usury has a limited scope. The Ministry of the Economy points out that, for legal entities and professionals carrying on a business, only account overdrafts remain subject to the usury rate (Article L. 313-5-1 of the Monetary and Financial Code); amortising business loans are not.

Usury does remain decisive for business owners in a personal capacity, for example for a mortgage, and for companies with no commercial or professional activity, such as many family property SCIs, which fall into a specific category of the scale.

In practice. If you are negotiating an authorised overdraft or a cash facility in October, ask for the annual percentage rate (TEG) and compare it with the Q4 threshold published on the Banque de France website. A rate above the usury threshold is unlawful: the check takes five minutes and avoids a dispute later.

The main October 2026 tax deadlines for businesses are property tax, the corporate tax balance and return for financial years ending 30 June, and monthly VAT returns. Each business's exact calendar depends on its year-end and tax regime, and can be viewed in the professional area of impots.gouv.fr.

Points to watch. The tax authority expects to post 2026 CFE (business property tax) notices in the professional area from 2 November 2026 (provisional date), with payment due by 15 December 2026 at the latest. October is the right time to check the email address and bank account registered in the professional area, so the notice does not come as a last-minute surprise. Exemptions and the calculation are covered in our article on the 2026 CFE.

Since 1 September 2026, every business liable for VAT must be able to receive electronic invoices, and large companies and mid-caps (ETIs) must also issue them. SMEs, very small businesses and micro-entrepreneurs will only be required to issue them from 1 September 2027, with e-reporting following the same timetable.

October 2026 is the first month in which the VAT return covers a period entirely subject to the reception obligation, namely September transactions. It is a useful test: if a large supplier still sends you plain PDF invoices by email, your reception workflow is worth checking with your approved platform.

The obligation is detailed in our article on mandatory e-invoice reception since 1 September 2026, and the next steps in the 2026-2027 e-invoicing calendar.

The 2027 budget bill (PLF 2027) must be filed no later than the first Tuesday in October, namely Tuesday 6 October 2026, under Article 39 of the Organic Law on Finance Laws. Parliament then has 70 days to decide.

A bill is not a law. Measures presented in the autumn are often amended, sometimes dropped: the 2026 budget, finally enacted by Law no. 2026-103 of 19 February 2026, showed this once again.

Our view. At the firm, we advise against taking any irreversible decision (a sale, an exceptional distribution, a restructuring) on the sole basis of an article of the 2027 budget bill. On the other hand, identifying in October the measures that would affect your situation lets you prepare scenarios and decide quickly once the final text is published. Year-end decisions are made on the law in force, not on the law announced.

The safest method is to deal with the topics in the following order, from the most urgent to the most structural.

1. Check the new applicable rates: look up the Q4 usury thresholds on the Banque de France website as soon as they are published and review any financing under negotiation.
2. Update payroll settings: check the minimum wage base, DSN filing dates and the payment workflow for training.
3. Note the month's tax deadlines: property tax, corporate tax balance, return and VAT, in your professional area.
4. Review filing and documentation obligations: e-invoice reception, lease templates, collective agreements.

End-of-October checklist#

• Last-quarter training listed and OPCO arrangements confirmed in writing
• Company or industry agreement on interviews reviewed
• Residential lease template replaced for SCIs and furnished lets
• Property tax paid or online payment scheduled
• Tax return and corporate tax balance handled for a 30 June year-end
• E-invoice reception workflow tested on September invoices
• Professional area contact details checked before the CFE notice is posted

• OPCO subrogation ends for most training files opened from 1 October 2026: plan for the cash advance.
• Earlier agreements on the frequency of career development interviews give way to the statutory four-year cycle, unless a new compliant agreement is signed.
• Every main-residence lease (unfurnished, furnished or single-lease flatshare) signed or renewed from 1 October 2026 follows the new standard template.
• The Q4 usury threshold for business overdrafts is 19.08%; for a business, only overdrafts remain subject to usury rules.
• The 2027 budget bill, filed by 6 October 2026 at the latest, has no effect until it is passed and enacted.