French legal structures compared: micro-entreprise, EI, EURL, SASU, SARL and SAS

The six structures at a glance

French law distinguishes between a business run in the name of an individual and a company, which is a separate legal person with its own assets, articles of association and share capital. The micro-entreprise is not a legal form in itself: it is a simplified tax and social regime available to sole traders under a turnover ceiling.

• Entreprise individuelle (EI, sole trader): no company is created, no share capital and no articles. Profit is taxed as the income of the individual.
• Micro-entreprise (also called auto-entrepreneur): a sole trader who benefits from a simplified regime in which tax and social contributions are calculated on turnover.
• EURL (entreprise unipersonnelle à responsabilité limitée): a limited liability company with a single shareholder. It is a SARL with one member.
• SARL (société à responsabilité limitée): a limited liability company with 2 to 100 shareholders, governed by detailed legal rules.
• SASU (société par actions simplifiée unipersonnelle): a simplified joint-stock company with a single shareholder.
• SAS (société par actions simplifiée): a simplified joint-stock company with at least two shareholders, whose rules are largely set by its articles.

Liability and share capital

In an EURL, SARL, SASU or SAS, the liability of the shareholders is limited to the amount they contribute to the capital. The manager can still be held personally liable for management misconduct, or as a result of a personal guarantee given to a bank or a landlord.

A sole trader has no separate legal entity, but the business assets are automatically separated from personal assets: business creditors can in principle only claim against the assets used for the business. In cases of fraud or serious breaches, the tax authorities and social security bodies can claim against both.

• Minimum share capital: none for an EURL, SARL, SASU or SAS. The amount is set freely in the articles and can legally be EUR 1.
• EURL and SARL: at least 20% of cash contributions paid at creation, the balance within five years of registration.
• SASU and SAS: at least 50% of cash contributions paid at creation, the balance within five years of registration.
• Sole traders and micro-entrepreneurs: no share capital.

Tax on profits: income tax or corporate tax

Two systems exist. Under income tax (impôt sur le revenu, IR), the profit of the business is added to the household income of the owner and taxed on the progressive scale, which runs from 0% to 45%, whether or not the money is withdrawn. Under corporate tax (impôt sur les sociétés, IS), the company pays tax on its own profit, and the manager is taxed personally only on the salary and dividends actually received.

The standard corporate tax rate is 25%. Small companies pay 15% on the first EUR 42,500 of profit if their turnover does not exceed EUR 10 million and their capital is fully paid up and at least 75% held by individuals.

• EI: income tax, under the micro regime or the real regime (tax on actual profit). An option for corporate tax is possible.
• EURL with an individual shareholder: income tax by default, with an option for corporate tax.
• SARL: corporate tax, with a possible option for income tax.
• SASU and SAS: corporate tax, with a possible option for income tax. In companies other than the EURL, the income tax regime can apply for five financial years at most and is subject to conditions.

Social status of the manager: TNS or assimilé salarié

The legal form determines the social security scheme of the person who runs the business. A travailleur non salarié (TNS) is self-employed for social security purposes and pays contributions to the scheme for the self-employed, which is part of the general scheme. An assimilé salarié is treated as an employee: contributions are calculated on a payslip and declared every month through the déclaration sociale nominative (DSN).

The assimilé salarié status is the more expensive of the two: the official business portal Service Public Entreprendre puts the social charges at around 60% of gross remuneration, and Bpifrance Création, the public body for business creation, at around 63%. It does not give the manager access to unemployment insurance under the general scheme.

• Sole trader, manager and sole shareholder of an EURL, majority manager of a SARL (more than 50% of the shares): TNS.
• Minority or equal manager of a SARL: assimilé salarié.
• President of an SAS or SASU: assimilé salarié when paid for the office. If no remuneration is paid, no social contributions are due.
• New TNS managers pay provisional contributions on a flat base during the first two years (19% of the annual social security ceiling, that is EUR 9,131 in 2026), later adjusted to actual income.
• Micro-entrepreneur: contributions are a percentage of turnover under the micro-social regime. No turnover means no contributions.

Micro-entreprise: ceilings and rates for 2026

The micro regime applies as long as annual turnover excluding VAT does not exceed EUR 203,100 for the sale of goods and accommodation, or EUR 83,600 for services and liberal professions. These ceilings apply for 2026. The regime is lost only when the ceiling is exceeded for two consecutive calendar years, with effect from 1 January of the following year. In the year of creation, the ceiling is reduced in proportion to the number of days of activity.

Income tax is calculated on turnover after a flat allowance that stands for expenses. Actual expenses cannot be deducted, which makes the regime unsuitable for activities with high costs or large investments.

The turnover ceilings of the micro regime are separate from the VAT thresholds. A micro-entrepreneur is exempt from VAT under the franchise en base (VAT exemption for small businesses) only up to EUR 85,000 of turnover for sales and EUR 37,500 for services. Above these amounts VAT applies from 1 January of the following year, or from the day turnover exceeds the upper limits of EUR 93,500 and EUR 41,250.

• Social contributions in 2026: 12.3% of turnover for sales of goods, 21.2% for commercial and craft services, 25.6% for non-regulated liberal professions, 23.2% for liberal professions affiliated to the CIPAV pension fund.
• Flat allowance for income tax: 71% for sales, 50% for commercial services, 34% for liberal professions, with a minimum of EUR 305.
• Optional versement libératoire (income tax paid together with contributions, subject to a household income condition): 1% of turnover for sales, 1.7% for commercial services, 2.2% for liberal professions.
• Furnished tourist rentals follow specific ceilings: EUR 83,600 when the property is classified and EUR 15,000 when it is not.

Dividends

Only companies subject to corporate tax distribute dividends in the tax sense. Since 1 January 2026, dividends received by an individual are subject by default to a flat tax (prélèvement forfaitaire unique) of 31.4%, made up of 12.8% income tax and 18.6% social levies. The rate was 30% until the end of 2025.

The shareholder can instead opt for the progressive income tax scale, in which case 40% of the dividend is excluded from the taxable amount. The option is worth examining for households taxed at 0% or 11%.

The main difference between structures concerns social contributions. For the majority manager of a SARL, and in the same way for the manager and sole shareholder of an EURL, when the company pays corporate tax, dividends are free of social contributions only up to 10% of the total of the share capital, share premiums and sums left in the shareholder current account. The part above that limit is subject to the social contributions of the self-employed. This rule does not apply to the president of an SAS or SASU, whose dividends are not subject to social contributions.

Accounting and filing obligations

The administrative burden rises with each step from micro-entreprise to company. It is a real cost, in time or in fees, and should be part of the decision.

• Micro-entrepreneur: a chronological book of receipts and a register of purchases. Turnover is declared monthly or quarterly. Records and supporting documents are kept for 10 years.
• Sole trader under the real regime: full bookkeeping and an annual tax return of business profit, but no approval of accounts by shareholders and no filing of accounts with the commercial court registry.
• Companies (EURL, SARL, SASU, SAS): annual accounts made up of a balance sheet, a profit and loss account and, in principle, notes. In a SARL or EURL they are approved within six months of the year-end. In an SAS or SASU the time limit is set by the articles, and six months is the usual practice. They are filed within one month of approval, or two months when filed online.
• Small companies can ask for their accounts, or their profit and loss account, not to be made public by filing a declaration of confidentiality.
• Failure to file the annual accounts exposes the manager to a fine of EUR 1,500, or EUR 3,000 for a repeat offence.

Which structure fits which situation

There is no best structure in general. The choice depends on expected turnover and expenses, the need for social protection, the presence of partners or investors, and whether profit will be withdrawn or reinvested. The structure can be changed later, but a change has a cost and tax consequences.

SAREPTA, a chartered accounting firm with offices in Antibes and Valbonne - Sophia Antipolis, advises founders in English and French on this choice and handles company formation. 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.

• Micro-entreprise: testing an activity or running a service business with few expenses and turnover well under the ceilings.
• EI under the real regime: a sole trader whose actual expenses exceed the flat allowance of the micro regime, without the formalities of a company.
• EURL: a solo founder who wants limited liability through a company and lower social contributions, and accepts the self-employed scheme.
• SASU: a solo founder who prefers employee-type social cover, plans to pay dividends or expects to bring in investors later.
• SARL: a family business or a small group of partners who want a stable legal framework set by law.
• SAS: partners who need flexibility in the articles, different classes of shares or the entry of investors.