The versement liberatoire (final withholding option) lets a French micro-entrepreneur settle income tax as a small flat percentage of gross turnover, paid to URSSAF at the same time as social contributions each month or quarter. Instead of adding profit to the household's progressive income tax, the tax is discharged immediately and definitively.
The rate depends on the activity: 1% for the sale of goods and accommodation, 1.7% for commercial and craft services (BIC), and 2.2% for liberal professions (BNC). You can only opt in if your reference tax income (revenu fiscal de reference) two years earlier was below a ceiling: for 2025 that is EUR 28,797 for a single person, or EUR 57,594 for a childless couple.
Example: a BNC web designer with EUR 40,000 turnover pays income tax of 2.2% = EUR 880 under the versement liberatoire, on top of social charges. Without the option, that profit is instead taxed at the household's marginal rate, which is only worth it when your rate is low enough.
Model the combined burden with the micro-entrepreneur tax calculator, or compare with the wider flat-rate scheme concept.