Social contributions of an individual entrepreneur: what you need to know
Verified 02 June 2026 - Entreprendre Public Service / Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)
Are you thinking of becoming or are you an individual entrepreneur and would like to know what social security contributions are payable? We present you with the necessary information.
The individual entrepreneur is entitled to social protection in return for the payment of social contributions.
Its contributions and personal social contributions are calculated on the basis of gross income from the activity carried out, less operating expenses. One abatement the flat-rate is then applied by theUrssaf: titleContent.
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Commercial, craft or industrial activity
The individual contractor falls under the social security for the self-employed, integrated into the general scheme.
He must pay the following social contributions:
- Health and maternity insurance
- Daily allowances
- Basic retirement
- Supplementary pension
- Disability insurance, death
- Family allowances
- Vocational training
- CSG: titleContent/CRDS: titleContent
They are calculated on professional income.
The information necessary for the calculation of social security contributions must be provided to the tax authority, which then forwards it to theUrssaf: titleContent :
Online tax account for professionals (EFI mode)
The payment contributions are made in 2 steps:
- In December, the contractor receives a provisional call for contributions to be paid the following year
- In October, the contractor receives a notification of regularization of the previous year's contributions, based on real income
Provisional contributions are paid either monthly (on the 5th or 20th of the month) or every 3 months (February 5th, May 5th, August 5th and November 5th).
The payment can be done in one of the following ways:
- By telepayment on the Urssaf online space
- By direct debit
- By transfer
Who shall I contact
Unregulated liberal activity
The liberal professional reports to social security for the self-employed, integrated into the general scheme.
He must pay the following social contributions:
- Health and maternity insurance
- Daily allowances
- Basic retirement (Cipav: titleContent)
- Supplementary pension (Cipav: titleContent)
- Disability insurance, death
- Family allowances
- Vocational training
- CSG: titleContent/CRDS: titleContent
They are calculated on professional income.
The information needed to calculate social security contributions must be forwarded to the tax authorities, who then forward it to theUrssaf: titleContent :
Online tax account for professionals (EFI mode)
The payment of contributions is made in two stages to the Urssaf:
- In December, the Liberal professional receives a notice of call for provisional contributions to be paid the following year
- In October, the liberal professional receives a notification of regularization of the contributions of the previous year, according to the real incomes
Provisional contributions are paid either monthly (on the 5th or 20th of the month) or every 3 months (February 5th, May 5th, August 5th and November 5th).
Payment can be made in one of the following ways:
- By telepayment on the Urssaf online space
- By direct debit
- By transfer
Who shall I contact
Regulated liberal activity
The liberal professional falls under the social security for the self-employed, integrated into the general scheme.
Retirement and disability death are managed by the Cnavpl: titleContent.
The professional must pay the following social contributions:
- Health and maternity insurance
- Daily allowances
- Basic retirement (Cnavpl: titleContent)
- Supplementary pension (Cnavpl: titleContent)
- Disability insurance, death (Cnavpl: titleContent)
- Family allowances
- Vocational training
- CSG: titleContent/CRDS: titleContent
They are calculated on professional income.
The information needed to calculate social security contributions must be forwarded to the tax authorities, who then forward it to theUrssaf: titleContent :
Online tax account for professionals (EFI mode)
The payment of contributions is made in 2 steps:
- In December, the Liberal professional receives a notice of call for provisional contributions to be paid the following year
- In October, the liberal professional receives a notification of regularization of the contributions of the previous year, according to the real incomes
Provisional contributions are paid either monthly (on the 5th or 20th of the month) or every 3 months (February 5th, May 5th, August 5th and November 5th).
Payment can be made in one of the following ways:
- By telepayment on the Urssaf online space
- By direct debit
- By transfer
Who shall I contact
If he hires employees, social contributions and contributions are due by the entrepreneur, on the sums paid to his employees:
- Salaries
- Allowances
- Supplementary social benefits
- Replacement income in the event of sick leave, maternity or
- "Extra-legal" family benefits (supplements to social security benefits)
- Cash benefits provided by the social and economic committee (CSE)
- Benefits in kind such as food and lodging, provision of a professional vehicle for private use
Social security contributions include an employer's share, at the expense of the contractor and a wage share, at the expense of the employee.
It is the employer who withholds the amount social security contributions every month on the payroll of its employees.
The employer shall carry out the declaration and the payment contributions to theUrssaf: titleContent, using the registered company declaration (DSN).
The current month's payroll NSN must be transmitted at the latest on the 15th of the following month, when employing fewer than 50 employees:
Registered company declaration (DSN)
Companies with less than 11 employees may opt for the quarterly registered company declaration. The declaration and payment of social security contributions must then be made no later than the 15th of the first month of the following quarter.
The social contributions and contributions due are as follows:
- Contribution of family allowances
- Social security contributions health, maternity, invalidity and death insurance
- Old-age insurance contribution
- Contribution Solidarité d'Autonomie (CSA)
- Workers' compensation contributions
- Payment to the National Housing Assistance Fund (NHAF)
- Unemployment contributions and AGS
- Social package
- Apec Contribution
- Mobility payment
In addition to these social contributions, there are employee contributions which are directly deducted from the gross salary of the employee.
A tool provides an estimate of the amount of social contributions to be paid when hiring an employee:
Calculate the social contributions for the hiring of an employee and his remuneration to be expected
Discounts
The individual contractor may benefit from discounts social security contributions according to different criteria:
- Reduction of employer contributions according to salary : the single general degressive reduction (RGDU) in employer contributions allows the employer to benefit from a reduction in social security contributions for gross wages below a certain amount
- Reduction of employee and employer contributions on overtime : it applies to employees who work overtime or overtime on the part of the salary paid in respect of those hours
Exemptions
The individual contractor may benefit from exemptions social security contributions according to different criteria:
- Exemptions granted because of the place where it carries on its activity:
- Company located in a job pool to be revitalized (BER) : in order to benefit from this, the company must be settled in a BER between January 2007 and 31 December 2027 and have not made any economic redundancies in the last 12 months
- Company located in zone France ruralités revitalizations (FRR) : in order to benefit from this exemption, the company must have at least one establishment located in a ZFRR and have fewer than 50 employees
- Company in the Defense Restructuring Zone (DRZ) : to benefit from this, the company must have set up an activity for at least 3 years that did not exist in the ZRD beforehand
- Exemption for young companies : it is a partial exemption from social security contributions in the form of aid for the creation and take-over of a company (Acre) for companies at the start of their activity
- Young company Innovative (JEI), Growth (JEC), Academic (JEU) or Impact (JEII) : this exemption applies to companies under 8 years of age who carry out research and development projects (R&: titleContent)
The main legal terms of this sheet are explained below:
- Abatement : flat-rate or proportional reduction applied on the basis of a tax calculation (income, value of property, etc.)
- Plate : the basis on which the rates of the various contributions and contributions are applied
- Contribution : tax on specific projects (CSG: titleContentand CRDS: titleContent dedicated to the financing of Social Security)
- Contribution : a levy which entitles the person to social benefits
- Discount :: mechanism for reducing social contributions and contributions
- Registered company declaration (DSN) : online declaration produced monthly from the payslip. It must be completed by all private sector employers.
- Exemption : exemption from payment of one or more social security contributions
- Daily allowances : amount of money paid to the employee by the social security in case of accident, sickness or maternity
- Employer share : social contributions and contributions payable by the employer
- Salary share : social contributions and contributions payable by the employee
- Liable : company who has to pay a social contribution and has not yet done so
- Actual Fees : all expenses incurred by an employee or a manager for his professional activity (meals, daily commutes....))
- Payroll : cumulative gross remuneration of employees of an establishment
- Collecting body : body responsible for receiving payment of contributions (e.g. Urssaf)
- Micro-social regime : Simplified social regime for micro-entrepreneurs
- Gross compensation : the entirety of the sums received by an employee under his employment contract before deduction of independent social contributions and contributions
- Single-location payment (LULV) : system allowing all social contributions and contributions due by the employer to be paid in a single payment to the Urssaf