French business taxes and VAT: rates, regimes and deadlines for 2026

Which taxes apply to which business

The tax on profit depends on the legal form. Companies such as the SAS, SASU and SARL pay corporate tax on their own profit. Sole traders, and by default an EURL held by an individual, are under income tax: the profit is added to the household income of the owner. Options exist in both directions, subject to conditions.

VAT and local taxes apply regardless of the legal form. What changes from one business to another is the regime, which depends mainly on turnover.

• Tax on profit: corporate tax (IS) or income tax (IR).
• VAT (taxe sur la valeur ajoutée, TVA): collected on sales and paid over to the State after deduction of the VAT paid on purchases.
• CFE (cotisation foncière des entreprises): a local tax based on the rental value of the premises used by the business.
• CVAE (cotisation sur la valeur ajoutée des entreprises): a tax on added value, payable only above EUR 500,000 of turnover.

Corporate tax (IS)

The standard rate of corporate tax is 25% of taxable profit. A reduced rate of 15% applies to the first EUR 42,500 of profit per twelve-month period, and 25% applies above that amount.

Corporate tax is paid in four instalments, on 15 March, 15 June, 15 September and 15 December, followed by a balance. The balance is due by the 15th of the fourth month after the year-end, or by 15 May when the financial year ends on 31 December. The return (form 2065) must be filed within three months of the year-end. For a financial year ending on 31 December it is due on the second working day after 1 May, with an extra 15 days for online filing, which gave 20 May 2026 for 2025 accounts.

• Conditions for the 15% rate: turnover excluding VAT of no more than EUR 10 million, capital fully paid up, and capital held at least 75% by individuals, directly or indirectly.
• For a company that belongs to a group, the turnover to compare with the EUR 10 million limit is that of the whole group, following a decision of the Conseil d'État of 13 March 2025.
• No instalments are due when the corporate tax of the previous year is below EUR 3,000, or for a newly created company during its first financial year. The tax is then paid in one amount.

Income tax regimes for unincorporated businesses

A sole trader is taxed on business profit in one of two categories: BIC (bénéfices industriels et commerciaux) for commercial and craft activities, or BNC (bénéfices non commerciaux) for liberal professions. Within each category the regime depends on turnover.

Profit is added to the other income of the household and taxed on the progressive scale. For income earned in 2025 and declared in 2026, the rates are 0% up to EUR 11,600, 11% up to EUR 29,579, 30% up to EUR 84,577, 41% up to EUR 181,917 and 45% above, per household share.

• Micro regime: taxable profit is turnover less a flat allowance of 71% for sales, 50% for commercial services and 34% for liberal professions. It applies for 2026 up to EUR 203,100 of turnover for sales and EUR 83,600 for services and liberal professions.
• Simplified real regime (BIC): tax on actual profit, for turnover between EUR 203,100 and EUR 945,000 for sales, or between EUR 83,600 and EUR 286,000 for services.
• Normal real regime (BIC): above EUR 945,000 for sales or EUR 286,000 for services.
• Déclaration contrôlée (BNC): tax on actual profit for liberal professions once the micro ceiling has been exceeded for two consecutive years. It is reported on form 2035.
• Business profit returns under the real regimes are due no later than 15 days after the second working day following 1 May.

VAT rates

Mainland France applies four VAT rates. The standard rate applies to every sale of goods or services for which no other rate is provided by law. Specific, lower rates apply in the overseas departments.

• 20%: standard rate, applicable to most goods and services.
• 10%: intermediate rate, for example restaurants, passenger transport, and improvement and maintenance work on homes completed more than two years ago.
• 5.5%: reduced rate, for example most food products and energy-efficiency work on homes.
• 2.1%: special rate, for example medicines reimbursed by social security.

VAT regimes and thresholds

Three regimes exist in 2026. Under the franchise en base (VAT exemption for small businesses), the business does not charge VAT, files no VAT return and cannot recover VAT on its purchases. The plan to replace the thresholds with a single limit of EUR 25,000 was abandoned, and the thresholds are unchanged for 2026. They are set by article 293 B of the French tax code (Code général des impôts), last amended by law no. 2025-1044 of 3 November 2025, and confirmed by the official tax doctrine (BOFiP) in its version of 1 July 2026.

The simplified regime involves one annual return (form CA12), due on the second working day after 1 May, and two instalments: 55% of the VAT of the previous year in July and 40% in December. Under the normal regime, a return (form CA3) is filed and paid every month, or every quarter when the annual VAT due is below EUR 4,000.

An important change is scheduled: the simplified VAT regime is abolished from 1 January 2027 by the finance law for 2025. Businesses concerned will move automatically to the normal regime, with quarterly returns when turnover plus taxable acquisitions did not exceed EUR 1,000,000 in the previous calendar year and does not exceed EUR 1,100,000 in the current year. The last annual return will be due by 4 May 2027 for financial years ending on 31 December 2026.

• Franchise en base, sales and accommodation: turnover of the previous year up to EUR 85,000. Above this, VAT applies from 1 January of the following year. Above EUR 93,500 in the current year, VAT applies from the day the limit is exceeded.
• Franchise en base, services and liberal professions: EUR 37,500, with an upper limit of EUR 41,250. Specific thresholds apply to lawyers, authors and performing artists.
• Simplified regime in 2026: turnover of the previous year between EUR 85,000 and EUR 945,000 for sales, or between EUR 37,500 and EUR 286,000 for services, and annual VAT due below EUR 15,000.
• Normal regime in 2026: turnover above EUR 945,000 for sales or EUR 286,000 for services, or annual VAT above EUR 15,000.
• A business that exceeds EUR 1,040,000 (sales) or EUR 323,000 (services) during the year moves to the normal regime retroactively from 1 January of that year.

CFE and CVAE

The CFE is due by every business and self-employed person, including micro-entrepreneurs, in each municipality where they have premises. A business with little or no premises is taxed on a minimum base, chosen by the municipality within a scale that depends on turnover, to which the local rate is applied. For 2026 the minimum base ranges from EUR 250 to EUR 597 for turnover up to EUR 10,000, and from EUR 250 to EUR 7,769 for turnover above EUR 500,000.

The CVAE is payable only by businesses with turnover above EUR 500,000, but a declaration of added value and headcount (form 1330-CVAE) is required above EUR 152,500. It is not due for the year of creation. The rate rises with turnover up to a maximum, and the CVAE is not due when its annual amount does not exceed EUR 63.

The finance law for 2025 postponed the end of the CVAE by three years, and the finance law for 2026 did not bring it forward. Official pages are not fully consistent on the rate for 2026: the Service Public Entreprendre page mentions a maximum of 0.19% in its text and 0.28% in its rate table. The schedule below is the one published by the tax authorities in their official doctrine (BOFiP).

• CFE exemptions: the year of creation, and any year for which the turnover of the year before last did not exceed EUR 5,000 (for a business created the previous year, the turnover of that first year). The tax base is halved for the year after creation.
• CFE payment: by 15 December. When the CFE exceeds EUR 3,000, an instalment is due by 15 June.
• CVAE maximum rate: 0.28% for 2026 and 2027, 0.19% for 2028, 0.09% for 2029. The CVAE is abolished from 2030.
• CVAE relief for businesses with turnover below EUR 2 million: EUR 188 for 2026 and 2027, EUR 125 for 2028, EUR 63 for 2029.
• CVAE payment: instalments on 15 June and 15 September when the CVAE of the previous year exceeded EUR 1,500, and a balance with the return filed in May of the following year.

Key dates in the tax year

The dates below apply to a business whose financial year ends on 31 December. When the year-end falls on another date, the corporate tax return and the annual VAT return are due within three months of the year-end. Exact dates shift slightly each year with weekends and public holidays.

• Every month (or quarter): VAT return and payment under the normal regime, between the 15th and the 24th of the month depending on the business.
• 15 March, 15 June, 15 September, 15 December: corporate tax instalments.
• Early May: annual VAT return under the simplified regime, CVAE declaration, and business profit returns. An extra 15 days is allowed for profit returns filed online.
• 15 May: balance of corporate tax.
• 15 June and 15 September: CVAE instalments. 15 June: CFE instalment when the tax exceeds EUR 3,000.
• July and December: VAT instalments under the simplified regime (for the last time in 2026 for most businesses).
• 15 December: payment of the CFE.
• 31 December: deadline for a new business to file the initial CFE declaration (form 1447-C).

Keeping up with changes

Thresholds and rates are reviewed by the finance law adopted each year, and several rules in this guide have changed recently: the micro-entreprise ceilings and the thresholds of the real regimes were raised for 2026, the flat tax on dividends rose to 31.4% on 1 January 2026, and the simplified VAT regime ends on 1 January 2027. The finance bill for 2027 had not been adopted when this guide was checked, so figures for 2027 may still change.

SAREPTA, a chartered accounting firm with offices in Antibes and Valbonne - Sophia Antipolis, prepares tax and VAT returns for businesses and works in English and French. The first 30-minute meeting is free and without commitment.

This guide is general information, checked against official sources on 28 September 2026, and does not replace individual advice.