VAT for auto-entrepreneurs in France: franchise en base and thresholds

VAT for an auto-entrepreneur (a self-employed person under France’s micro-business regime) comes down to one rule: as long as your turnover stays below certain thresholds, you’re under the franchise en base de TVA (the VAT exemption for small businesses). You don’t charge VAT, you don’t declare it and you don’t reclaim it on your purchases. Here are the 2026 thresholds, what happens when you go over them, the mention to put on your invoices, the option to pay VAT and the cases where a European client or supplier changes the picture.

The rules and thresholds are those in force in 2026, checked on impots.gouv.fr and in the BOFiP (the tax administration’s official doctrine) on 30 September 2026.

The franchise en base de TVA in practice

According to impots.gouv.fr, the franchise en base applies by operation of law: you don’t have to ask for anything. From the moment you register, a micro-entrepreneur (the official name of the auto-entrepreneur) is placed under this regime, unless they choose to pay VAT.

What the franchise means, according to impots.gouv:

• You don’t charge VAT. Your price excluding VAT is the price your client pays.
• You don’t file a VAT return and you pay nothing over, except in special cases linked to the European Union (see below).
• You don’t deduct the VAT your suppliers charge you.
• You put a mention on every invoice: it’s your only VAT obligation.

The franchise isn’t specific to the micro-entreprise (France’s micro-business regime): a company can benefit from it too. And its thresholds are decoupled from the micro-entreprise’s turnover ceilings. So you can remain a micro-entrepreneur while paying VAT. The micro regime’s ceilings are in the article on the auto-entrepreneur ceiling.

VAT thresholds for the auto-entrepreneur

There are two thresholds per activity: the basic threshold, assessed on the previous year’s turnover, and the raised threshold (seuil majoré), which comes into play during the year.

The BOFiP states that these thresholds have applied since 1 January 2025 and remain unchanged in 2026. The 2025 Finance Act had planned a single threshold of €25,000: Service-Public confirms that this plan has been abandoned.

Some professions have their own thresholds: lawyers, authors of intellectual works and performing artists. If that’s you, check the amounts on impots.gouv’s page on the franchise en base.

If you sell and provide services

The BOFiP explains that with a mixed activity, two conditions apply together: your total turnover must not exceed €85,000, and the services part must not exceed €37,500. A building craftsperson who supplies the materials for their jobs is treated as a mixed activity; if they supply only the labour, they fall under the services threshold.

The year you start

The BOFiP and Service-Public adjust the thresholds in the year you start, in proportion to how long you’ve been trading (number of days of activity out of 365). For a service activity launched on 12 June, the BOFiP gives this example: the franchise applies in the first year as long as turnover doesn’t exceed €22,942, that is €41,250 × 203 / 365.

What happens if you go over the VAT threshold?

It all depends on which threshold you cross.

The BOFiP gives the example of a garden maintenance provider who made €35,000 in 2025. They’re under the franchise on 1 January 2026. If they go over €41,250 in 2026, they lose the franchise on the day they go over it. If they end the year between €37,500 and €41,250, they keep the franchise for the whole of 2026, but are no longer entitled to it on 1 January 2027.

When you become liable to pay VAT (redevable) during the year:

1. Charge VAT on your sales and services from the date you go over the threshold. For your business clients, the BOFiP provides for corrective invoices (factures rectificatives) for transactions made from that date, deposits included.
2. Notify your SIE (the business tax office) by simple letter, as soon as the transaction that takes you over the threshold happens.
3. Declare and pay VAT. In 2026, with turnover below €840,000 (sales) or €254,000 (services), you normally fall under the réel simplifié (the simplified standard VAT regime): two instalments, in July and December, and an annual return, the CA12 (annual VAT return). According to the BOFiP, the 2025 Finance Act abolishes this simplified VAT regime on 1 January 2027: ask your SIE how you’ll file from that date.
4. Reclaim VAT on your purchases: as soon as you’re liable, you can deduct the VAT on your expenses.

Losing the franchise doesn’t take you out of the micro-entreprise. You stay under the micro regime for your taxes and your social-security contributions as long as you stay within its own ceilings. Your prices, on the other hand, change: if you don’t raise them, the VAT comes out of your margin. Keep an eye on your cumulative turnover every month to see the threshold coming.

The « TVA non applicable » mention on your invoices

Under the franchise, every invoice carries one of these two mentions:

• « TVA non applicable, article 293 B du Code général des impôts (CGI) » (VAT not applicable, article 293 B of the general tax code, CGI);
• « TVA non applicable, article L. 223-3 du Code des impositions sur les biens et services (CIBS) » (VAT not applicable, article L. 223-3 of the code of taxes on goods and services, CIBS).

The second reference has existed since 1 September 2026: the VAT rules were moved into the CIBS, with no change of substance. The BOFiP notes that the reference to the CGI remains possible on your invoices until 31 December 2027; after that, only the reference to the CIBS may appear on them. The other mentions on your invoice are in the article on the auto-entrepreneur invoice.

Never show VAT on an invoice while you’re under the franchise. VAT that has been invoiced is due simply because it was invoiced: you’ll have to pay it over.

VAT on your purchases: you pay it without reclaiming it

Your suppliers charge you VAT as they would any client, and you can’t reclaim it. For you, a purchase therefore costs its price including VAT. That doesn’t matter if you buy little. It does if you invest a lot or if you buy goods to resell.

Opting for VAT: when is it worth it?

You can give up the franchise while keeping the status of micro-entrepreneur. You then charge VAT and deduct the VAT on your purchases. It’s often worth it if:

• your clients are mostly businesses, which reclaim the VAT you charge them: for them, your price doesn’t change;
• you have large purchases or investments, whose VAT you reclaim.

It’s rarely worth it if your clients are private individuals, for whom VAT raises the price.

Impots.gouv.fr points out that you can opt at any time, including when you register, by letter to the SIE or through the secure messaging of your professional area on impots.gouv.fr. The option takes effect on the first day of the month in which you make it and lasts two years, then renews tacitly for two-year periods.

Clients and suppliers in the European Union

The franchise covers your transactions in France. With the European Union, impots.gouv sets out three cases in which you must request an intra-EU VAT number from your SIE:

• you provide services to a business established in another EU country, or you buy services from a business established in another EU country, whatever the amount;
• you buy goods from a business in another EU country for more than €10,000 a year;
• you make distance sales of goods to private individuals in other EU countries for more than €10,000 a year.

In these cases, you must apply the reverse charge (autoliquidation), declare and pay in France the VAT on your purchases of goods and services in the EU. A software subscription invoiced by a business established in another EU country is a purchase of services: it falls into this case.

Invoicing a service to a business in another EU country? You file a DES (European services declaration) with customs, no later than the tenth working day of the month following the transaction. Under the franchise, you can use the paper form Cerfa 13694 instead of the online service.

And e-invoicing?

The franchise doesn’t exempt you from the reform. You’ve had to be able to receive e-invoices since 1 September 2026. You’ll have to issue yours in this format from 1 September 2027 for your business clients in France, still with the « TVA non applicable » mention. It’s all in the article on e-invoicing for the auto-entrepreneur.

The franchise en base is a real simplification: all it takes is knowing your threshold and keeping track of your turnover, and VAT will never catch you by surprise.
💜💙 Your BravoLisa Team

This article is for general information purposes only and does not constitute professional tax, legal, or accounting advice. Every situation is different — consult a qualified professional (tax adviser, accountant, or lawyer) for advice specific to your circumstances. BravoLisa does not accept liability for decisions made based on this information.

Last updated: September 2026. Rates and thresholds can change: always check with the URSSAF, impots.gouv or the relevant authority.

Sources (9)

Verified on 30 September 2026

1. impots.gouv.fr — Les régimes d'imposition à la TVA
2. impots.gouv.fr — Je suis micro-entrepreneur : ai-je des obligations déclaratives en matière de TVA ?
3. BOFiP — BOI-TVA-DECLA-40-10-10 : Franchise en base, champ d'application et limites
4. BOFiP — BOI-TVA-DECLA-40-10-20 : Franchise en base, conséquences de la franchise
5. BOFiP — BOI-RES-TVA-000253 : Recodification de la TVA dans le CIBS
6. BOFiP — BOI-RES-TVA-000198 : Sortie de la franchise en base de TVA en 2025
7. Ministère de l'Économie — Abaissement du seuil de franchise de TVA : fin de la consultation et prochaines étapes (28 février 2025)
8. Entreprendre.Service-Public.fr — Franchise en base de TVA
9. Douane — La déclaration européenne de services (DES)