You’ve done your research, you’ve watched the videos, you’ve joined the Facebook groups. And yet sometimes, without realising it, you’re using words that mean something completely different in France. You think you’re talking about the same thing as the banker, the accountant, or the DREETS advisor sitting across from you. But you’re not.
This isn’t just a language quirk. It can lead to genuine confusion, bad decisions, and in some cases, real trouble with your taxes or your visa. In this article, I’m sharing five words and expressions to stop using, or at least to use with much more care, when setting up your business in France.
Let’s get into it.
1. “Visa Micro-Entrepreneur”: This Doesn’t Exist
I’m going to be blunt: there is no such thing as a visa micro-entrepreneur. I don’t know who invented this expression, but it has spread everywhere and it is causing real confusion.
Here’s the distinction you need to understand:
- A visa is the document that allows you to enter France and live here legally. If you want to come to France to run your own business, you’re looking at either a Visa Profession Libérale or a Visa Talent.
- A micro-entrepreneur (also called micro-entreprise) is a business structure, the simplest form of sole trader in France. Think of it like a business licence. You register it once you’re in France and have your visa.
These are two completely separate things. One gets you into the country. The other is a business registration and set up once you’re here. You cannot have a “visa micro-entrepreneur” any more than you can have a “visa limited company.”
For reference, other business structures available in France include the EURL/SARL (similar to a C Corp in the US), and the SAS/SASU (similar to an S Corp in the US or a UK Limited company). But if you’re just starting out, the micro-entrepreneur regime is usually the right place to begin. Just remember, it’s a business type, not a visa.
2. “Revenue”: It Doesn’t Mean What You Think
This one trips up almost every English-speaker I work with, and it matters more than you’d expect.
In English (and especially in American business culture), revenue typically means your total sales — the money coming into your business before any expenses.
In French, le revenu means something entirely different. It refers to the income you take out of your business — your personal income, after expenses, after social charges, after tax. It’s closer to your net profit or take-home pay.
You can see why this creates problems. If you’re sitting in front of a French banker or a DREETS advisor and you say, “my revenue is €60,000,” they will hear: “I take €60,000 home personally.” That’s a very different picture from “I invoice €60,000 a year.”
The French terms you want to use instead:
- Le chiffre d’affaires, your total sales / turnover.
- Les ventes or les recettes, your sales / turnover.
- Le bénéfice or le résultat net, your net profit.
Get into the habit of saying sales or turnover rather than revenue, and always clarify with whoever you’re speaking to: “Do you mean total sales, or the money I actually take home?” It sounds like a basic question, but it avoids some very costly misunderstandings.
3. Quoting a Tax Percentage Without Saying What It’s Based On
I hear this constantly: “I’ve heard taxes in France are 25%.” Or “Someone told me it’s 46%.”
Both of those figures can be correct. And completely misleading at the same time. Because the critical question is always: 25% of what? 46% of what?
Here’s a simplified breakdown:
- As a micro-entrepreneur (consultant or coach), your social charges are around 25.6% of your total sales. Every euro you invoice, you pay a percentage on. No deductions for expenses.
- As a sole trader under a réel simplifié or entreprise individuelle regime, taxes are calculated on your profit (sales minus running expenses, minus depreciation). The rate can look higher on paper, but the base is much smaller.
- As a SAS/SASU (incorporated company), you have a mix of salary and dividends, and the calculation changes again.
Why does this matter? Take a photographer who invoices €60,000 a year but has €25,000 of legitimate expenses: travel, lighting assistants, equipment depreciation. Calculating social charges on €60,000 of sales versus €35,000 of profit gives you a very different number.
So whenever someone quotes you a percentage — from a forum, an article, a YouTube video, or an AI tool. Always ask: "Of what?" Sales? Profit? Net income? It makes all the difference.
And don’t panic at the sound of 46%. It’s not necessarily worse than 25% once you account for the different ease, and it often comes with the ability to deduct proper business expenses, training, pension contributions, home office costs, and more.
4. Using AI Without Questioning It
This one isn’t quite a word or expression, it’s a habit. And it’s increasingly one I see getting people into trouble.
AI tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude are genuinely useful for getting an overview of how French business structures work, understanding terminology, or finding out what questions to ask. But they make mistakes. And in legal or tax matters, those mistakes have consequences.
Three real examples I’ve come across recently:
The wrong business structure. A client came to me with very specific questions about BIC vs BNC classifications under the micro-entrepreneur. Technically sound questions — but when I looked at her overall setup, the whole structure was wrong. She was planning to have a US S Corp and a French micro-entrepreneur as a subsidiary, with the micro-entrepreneur invoicing only the US company. That’s not possible. A micro-entrepreneur is a sole trader, not a subsidiary. And you can#t have just 1 client as a micro entrepreneur or it will be requaliifed as a disguised work contract. The entire foundation was being built on a misunderstanding.
The wrong VAT threshold. I asked Gemini about VAT thresholds for consultants in France. It confidently told me the threshold was €47,000. It is not. The correct figure (at time of writing) is €41,250. When I pushed back, it apologised and corrected itself. But if I hadn’t already known the right answer, I might have relied on that wrong number.
Registering a business too early. Several people have come to me having accidentally registered a micro-entrepreneur business while still at the visa application stage, before arriving in France, and before their visa was approved. Normally this shouldn’t be possible, but they forced it through by selecting wrong options. Now they have a registered business they’re not entitled to, papers being generated by URSSAF, and a messy situation to untangle before they can properly restart.
AI can take you very fast in the right direction. It can also take you very fast into a wall. Use it to learn and explore, but before you make any decisions about your business structure, your taxes, or your visa, verify with a qualified professional.
5. Assuming France Works the Same Way as Back Home
This last one is less a specific word and more a mindset, but it’s behind so many of the mistakes I see.
Whether you’re coming from the US, the UK, Australia, or anywhere else, it’s natural to map French systems onto what you already know. But the equivalences are rarely exact, and sometimes they’re completely wrong.
A few examples:
- A SARL or EURL looks like an LLC or UK Limited on paper, but the tax treatment is very different as dividends don#t really work (limited to 10% of the workign capital). Don’t assume what worked at home will work here.
- A SAS/SASU might look like a UK Limited or US S Corp, with salaries, dividends, and social charges work differently in France. Always get the actual numbers for your situation before deciding.
- The concept of social charges in France is not the same as Social Security contributions in the US. In France, cotisations sociales cover your health cover and state pension contributions and they are the biggest single tax your business pays, but they do generate your health cover and state pension. This surprises a lot of people.
When someone on a forum or in a video says “it’s just like an LLC,” or “it works the same as in the UK,” treat that with caution. Ask for the French specifics.
To Summarise
The five terms (and habits) to watch out for:
- "Visa micro-entrepreneur" doesn’t exist. It’s Visa Profession Libérale or Visa Talent for the visa, and micro-entrepreneur for the business structure.
- "Le Revenu" means your personal income in French, not your total sales. Use chiffre d’affaires or turnover instead to describe your sales.
- Tax percentages without context always ask: percentage of what? Sales or profit makes a huge difference.
- Unchecked AI advice — great for research, dangerous for decisions. Always verify with an expert.
- Assuming France works like home. The structures may look familiar, but the rules often aren’t.
The common thread through all of these? Clarify, verify, and don’t assume. Whenever you’re speaking to a bank, an accountant, a business advisor, or a visa expert, take a moment to make sure you’re talking about the same thing. It sounds simple, but it can save you a lot of trouble down the line.
Need Help Getting This Right?
If you’re preparing to move to France and start a business, I’ve got two ways I can help:
My French Business Visa — the complete step-by-step course and coacing
Everything you need to prepare and submit a strong Visa Profession Libérale or Visa Talent application, in the right order, with nothing missed.
➡️ Discover My French Business Visa course
⌚ Power Hour — for one-to-one advice on your specific situation
Not sure which visa or business structure is right for you? Book a Power Hour and we’ll work through it together.
➡️ Book a Power Hour with Valérie
Voilà. À bientôt!
