Micro-entrepreneur in France: a guide for Aussies

The micro-entreprise is the easiest business structure in France. Getting the paperwork right is easy too, once you have a residence card that lets you use it.

The short version

A micro-entrepreneur (also called auto-entrepreneur) pays social contributions as a flat percentage of turnover, from 12.3% to about 25.6% depending on the activity [1].
In 2026 turnover must stay under €83,600 for services or €203,100 for sales of goods [2].
Most small freelancers don't charge VAT: the 2026 VAT exemption limit is €37,500 for services and €85,000 for sales [3].
Your residence status is the hard part. The entrepreneur/profession libérale card requires a viable business earning at least €1,867.02 a month [4][5].
There's no Australia–France social security agreement, so you pay into the French system and those years don't count towards the Age Pension [6][7].

First, the right to freelance at all

Plenty of Australians arrive in Paris planning to keep their Sydney clients on a laptop. The tax side is simple. The residence side isn't.

Service Public lists the permits that allow you to create and run a business in France [5]:

Status	Lets you freelance?	Notes
Entrepreneur/profession libérale card	Yes	1 year, renewable; then a multi-year card is possible [4]
Talent "project leader"	Yes	Up to 4 years, for company creation or an innovative project [5]
Job search or company creation card	Yes	Only for graduates and researchers who studied or worked in France [5]
EU long-term resident card	Yes	After 5 years' residence in France [5]
Visitor card	No	Work of any kind is banned
Short Schengen stay	No	Not a basis for running a business [5]

The working holiday visa (PVT) isn't mentioned on that Service Public page either way. pvtistes.net, which follows the programme closely, is the place to check current practice. Confirm before you register, because the residence card is what gets checked at renewal time.

The entrepreneur card

The entrepreneur/profession libérale card is the usual route for a freelancer. To get it, your activity must be economically viable. For a liberal profession, it must be able to bring in at least €1,867.02 a month, the same as the minimum wage from June 2026 [4]. Projects are reviewed by the regional foreign labour platform before the prefecture decides [4].

Fee item	Amount (2026)
First card	€350 [4]
Renewal of a temporary card	€250 [4]
Multi-year card	€350 [4]
Late renewal charge	€180 extra [4]

After the first card, a four-year card is possible if you sign the integration contract, reach A2 French and pass the civic exam [4]. Start your French lessons now.

Smartraveller warns that you can't apply for a visa or change your status once you're in France [8]. In practice some prefectures handle a change of status from inside France and others don't. If you're in France on another status, ask your prefecture before you rely on switching.

Registering your micro-entreprise

Registration is free and online through the guichet unique, the single business formalities portal run by INPI, at formalites.entreprises.gouv.fr [2].

Pick your activity type. It sets your rate, your cap and your tax category. Consulting, coding, design and translation are usually BNC liberal activities. Selling products is commercial.
Choose your business address. Your home is fine for most freelancers. Check your Paris lease first; some ban business use, and a business domiciliation service is the alternative [2].
Lodge the declaration on the guichet unique, with your passport and residence card.
Receive your SIRET number. It's the ID you'll put on every invoice. URSSAF registers you automatically.
Open a dedicated bank account. It needn't be a business account at first, but keep business money separate.
Create your URSSAF online account at autoentrepreneur.urssaf.fr and choose monthly or quarterly declarations.
Ask about ACRE. New businesses can qualify for reduced contributions at the start [1].

Your first turnover declaration comes at least 90 days after you start [1]. You declare even when you've earned nothing.

What you pay: contributions and tax

This is the regime's big appeal. You don't calculate profit. You declare turnover and pay a percentage.

Activity	Social contributions	With the tax-at-source option
Sales of goods	12.3%	13.3%
Commercial or craft services (BIC)	21.2%	22.9%
Unregulated liberal professions (BNC)	25.6%	27.8%
Regulated liberal professions (CIPAV)	23.2%	25.4%

Rates from Service Public's micro-social page, verified 1 January 2026 [1]. Rates change from time to time, so check the URSSAF simulator for the current year.

Income tax

You have two choices:

Standard: your turnover goes on your annual return with a flat allowance for expenses, and it's taxed at the household rate with your other income.
The versement libératoire: you pay a small extra percentage with each URSSAF declaration and you're done with income tax on that income [1]. It's only open below an income limit, and it suits people whose household rate would be higher.

Your contributions fund French health cover, pensions and family benefits. The catch is the expense side: you can't deduct real costs. If your costs are high, a different structure may suit you better.

The caps

For 2026 your turnover must stay at or below €83,600 for services and €203,100 for sales of goods [2]. Service Public has a simulator for the caps [2]. Keep an eye on them as you grow, because going over eventually pushes you out of the micro regime and into full accounts.

VAT and invoicing clients in Australia

The VAT exemption

Under the franchise en base de TVA, you don't charge VAT until you pass these 2026 limits [3]:

Activity	Prior-year limit	Current-year tolerance
Services and liberal professions	€37,500	€41,250
Sales and accommodation	€85,000	€93,500

A proposal to cut the limit to a single €25,000 was dropped, and the 2026 thresholds are unchanged [3]. While you're exempt, every invoice must carry the line TVA non applicable, article 293 B du CGI [3].

Invoicing Australian clients

For a client back home, a French invoice needs your name, SIRET, invoice number, date, description, amount and the VAT mention. Invoice in euros or Australian dollars, but record the euro value for your URSSAF declaration on the day you're paid.

Under the Australia–France tax treaty, business profits are taxed where you live unless you have a permanent establishment in the other country [9]. A Paris freelancer working from home is taxed in France. If an Australian client withholds tax, the treaty's relief rules decide what France credits [9].

Don't charge Australian GST unless you've checked with the ATO that you have to register. If you've become an Australian non-resident, tell your Australian bank too.

The Australian angle

No social security agreement. France isn't on the ATO's list of social security agreement countries [7]. French contributions build French pension rights only, and a French parliamentary question in 2024 confirmed no agreement had been concluded [6].
No super guarantee. As a freelancer nobody pays super for you. You can still make voluntary contributions to your Australian fund, but check the rules for non-residents.
Health. There's no reciprocal health agreement [8]. Your micro contributions give you Assurance Maladie, but you'll want a private mutuelle top-up.
HECS-HELP. If you have a debt, you must report your worldwide income to the ATO each year.

Thinking of going freelance in Paris? Ask in Cooee France, our Facebook group for Australians in France. Members share prefecture experiences, URSSAF tips and which banks were easy for micro-entrepreneurs.

Freelancing in France: how the micro-entrepreneur regime works for Australians