A signed client doesn’t pick your French business setup. This guide is for expats who will invoice clients from France and are comparing micro entreprise vs SASU France.
Quick answer: Micro-entreprise is a simplified regime for an individual business, not a third company beside SASU or EURL. An individual-owned EURL can use that micro-fiscal regime when it qualifies. VAT is a separate track.
SASU and EURL are companies. Service-Public says an EURL on income tax, whose only shareholder is an individual and also the manager, can opt for micro-BIC or micro-BNC if recent turnover stayed under the thresholds. “Micro” and “EURL” aren’t always opposite boxes.
This is not legal or tax advice. If you have questions, consult a professional. We’re a relocation blog. We give helpful context and links, and we’re not the final word.
What to decide before you compare structures
For Americans, line up the immigration route and the business facts before you lock a structure. On the entrepreneur/profession libérale route, France-Visas says to validate the VLS-TS within 15 days of arrival. The general VLS-TS deadline is 3 months. Validate as early as you can. A new activity must show economic viability. Setting up as a liberal professional, or joining an existing activity, means you must be able to generate resources at least equal to the French full-time minimum wage. A visa doesn’t register the business. See France visa options.
The choice moves on three axes: turnover and real costs, the social regime, and whether you need a company for partners, investment, or profits left in the business. Model the tax from those facts. A mortgage file is a constraint to raise early, not a reason to pick the form.
| Question | Why it matters | When |
|---|---|---|
| May I do this from France? | Visa file and business case | Together |
| What do I sell, and to whom? | Tax and VAT | Early |
| Revenue and real costs? | Threshold and flat allowance | Early |
| Which social cover? | Regimes differ | Early |
| Where are the clients? | VAT workflow | Early |
| Partners or retained profits? | Company or not | Early |
| A loan soon? | Evidence, not the form | When it is real |
Micro entreprise vs SASU France: revenue, expenses, and social cover
For 2026, the micro-entreprise threshold for services and liberal professions is €83,600. It is not a VAT switch. You don’t lose the micro-fiscal regime after one year over the line. Service-Public says it ends on 1 January only after two consecutive years above the threshold. See the threshold rules and the EURL page.
Micro-fiscal math uses a flat professional-expense allowance. The rate depends on the activity. It doesn’t deduct the bills you paid.
A remunerated SASU president is an assimilé-salarié for social security, and is not automatically entitled to unemployment insurance. An EURL sole-owner manager is generally self-employed (TNS) and, on the ordinary regime, still owes minimum contributions with no pay. If the EURL uses micro-social, contributions follow turnover instead. See the SASU page.
Mortgage paperwork is evidence, not a magic business form. Invoices don’t replace a longer income record. Independents are often asked for several years of accounts or Urssaf records, tax notices, and a Kbis. Crédit Mutuel and Crédit Agricole publish lists like that, and the exact list varies by branch. See renting in France and a French bank account.
VAT is a separate track from the company form
EU clients don’t mean you need a SASU. For services, the franchise holds if the previous year’s turnover was at or under €37,500 and this year stays at or under €41,250. Cross €41,250 and VAT applies from that day. Between the two, you keep it this year and lose it on 1 January. A company can be in the franchise too.
You can be subject to VAT (assujetti) and still not collect it (redevable). The tax site (impots.gouv.fr) uses a micro-entrepreneur on the franchise as the example. Invoice an EU business without French VAT and write autoliquidation. A taxable business customer outside the EU gets a different note: TVA non applicable, article 259-1 of the tax code. See prestations between taxable persons.
On the franchise, ask for an intra-EU VAT number when you supply or buy services from a taxable person in another EU country, at any amount. EU B2B service supplies can also require a European services declaration (DES).
What still has to happen after you choose
- Build the visa file and the business facts together.
- Decide on a company, or a regime for an individual business.
- Register, then open only the VAT steps those clients trigger.
- File Urssaf or company paperwork on its calendar, and keep the loan papers.
Declare micro turnover to Urssaf monthly, or quarterly if you opt in, and write néant at zero. Contributions on that zero are normally zero unless you ask for minimum contributions, a floor of cover with no income. That option puts you in the ordinary independent-worker regime, not micro-social. A micro-entrepreneur can be deregistered after 24 months, or 8 quarters, of missing declarations or declarations at €0. For an EURL, approve the annual accounts within six months of the financial year-end, then deposit them within one month of approval, or two months if filed electronically. An EURL on micro-fiscal still files those accounts. Micro changes the tax math, not the company accounts. See micro declarations and annual accounts.
French tax and social charges follow the French rules that apply, not the US job title. US citizens may also have US filing duties. If you’re not a US citizen, check your country’s reporting requirements. See taxes in France.
Common mistakes
- Treating micro, SASU, and EURL as three company types.
- Assuming micro means no VAT paperwork and no social filings.
- Choosing from one euro figure, or from a mortgage you don’t have yet.
Don’t confuse an invoice with legal independence. A US client can hire your French business. An invoice doesn’t turn employment into independent work. The test is subordination: orders, control, and the power to sanction. Registration creates a presumption of independence, and real working conditions can overturn it.
What this guide won’t answer
It won’t pick micro, SASU, or EURL for you, or name an income where one of them wins.
FAQ
Do I need a SASU because my clients are in the EU?
No. Where the client is changes the VAT steps. It doesn’t choose the company.
If I’m on the VAT franchise, do I still need a VAT number?
Often yes for EU B2B services, plus a DES when you supply them. A normal domestic invoice usually has no French VAT.
Does zero turnover mean I can skip Urssaf?
No. File néant. Contributions on that zero are normally zero unless you opted into minimum contributions.
Does the visa register the business?
No. The business case is part of the visa, and registration is separate. See the moving to France guide.
Will invoices count as mortgage income?
They can support the file. Lenders still ask for tax notices, accounts, or Urssaf records.
How Relocora helps
Relocora doesn’t create the company or pick the structure. The France checklist keeps the visa, the structure, registration, VAT, and the filings in order. Keep official pages and the bank’s list in the Document Vault. Paste an accountant letter into the AI Coach, then check that read with the office that wrote it.