What are the jobs you cannot do in France with ‘auto-entrepreneur’ status?

The status of 'auto-entrepreneur’, ‘micro-entrepreneur’ and ‘auto-entreprise’ enables people in France to simplify admin when starting their own business but not all professions or workers qualify.

Social contributions agency Urssaf lists conditions for taking the status on its website.

You must: 

• Be an adult (or a minor emancipated by a court decision)

• Have a postal address in France

• Be a French national or a European citizen (non-EU citizens are subject to certain conditions)

• Not be under guardianship or curatorship

• Not be subject to a ban on managing or exercising a profession

Self-employment can be carried out as a main occupation or as a secondary occupation, states Urssaf. 

You can also register for the status if you are currently unemployed, an employee elsewhere doing something else (depending on your contract), a civil servant (under certain conditions), retired, or a student.

The status can offer greater flexibility to the business owner, simplified tax returns, social security protection, the right to vocational training, and extra help from Urssaf during your first year of business.

Read also: A guide to micro-entrepreneurs in France
Read more: Micro-entrepreneur status: Pros and cons of self-employment in France 

Not all professions permitted

Yet, not all professions or activities are suitable for self-employed (auto-entrepreneur) status. This may be because they are highly regulated, or because they have certain tax contribution requirements.

For example, professions incompatible with auto-entrepreneur status include:

• The legal field (lawyers, bailiffs, solicitors, notaries, judicial administrators, court clerks, agents, liquidators etc)

• Healthcare practitioners (including nurses, doctors, nutritionists, psychiatrists, midwives, veterinarians, speech therapists, pharmacists, physiotherapists, etc). However, in many cases, some dietitians, psychologists and ‘alternative medicine’ professions (e.g. hypnosis, wellness massage, acupuncture) are compatible with self-employment.

• Insurance and accounting officials.

• Agricultural activities linked to the Mutuelle sociale agricole (MSA) social security system, such as livestock farmers, fish farmers, forestry workers and farm accommodation staff. Includes professions registered with Chambre de commerce et d’industrie (CCI, chamber of commerce and industry) and the Chambre de Métiers et de l’Artisanat (CMA, chamber of artisan professions). For example, a landscape gardener cannot have the status because their activity falls within the scope of ‘forestry work’. However, they could still claim the status for small gardening jobs.

• Certain professions in the estate agency sector (particularly those whose sales are subject to VAT). This does not apply to property managers who rent out short-term lets, for example.

• Activities as a majority director of a company (sole director or as part of a board of directors)

• Financial market workers

• Certain types of journalists and artists, depending on their social security scheme, and if their work entitles them to be paid royalties. If you are a performer, you must instead have the ‘statut d’intermittent du spectacle’. Yet, as another example, even if you receive royalties as a musician, you can still register as self-employed if you also offer private music lessons separately to your recording work. Similarly, if you work as a journalist and have a press card, you must be paid a salary under an employment contract, which is incompatible with the micro-entreprise scheme.

Read also: Anger over changes to VAT rates for self-employed people in new 2025 French budget
Read more: Debate rages over freelance worker status in France's hospitality sector 

However, some professions may offer certain payment options that enable you to claim the status. 

For example - as specialist website Portail-Autoentrepreneur explains - if you are paid for freelance journalism work without a salaried contract, this is known as ‘la pige’. This is a specific kind of payment for a freelance journalist, who is then technically known as ‘un journaliste-pigiste’.

This particular payment method allows you to continue to benefit from being a member of the press, while also claiming freelance, auto-entrepreneur status.

Most useful status?

It is important to bear in mind that even if a profession is technically authorised under the status, it may not be the most beneficial for your operations.

For example, if you employ staff, the status may offer little advantage, because you will have to pay employer, tax and social security contributions.