News Digest: VAT for Micro-Entrepreneurs & French Visa Changes for US Residents

Dog owners in France should be aware of a seasonal law that comes into action today, Tuesday, April 15th, and will last until June 30th. During this period, dogs must be kept on a lead in forest, riverside, and woodland areas unless on a dedicated trail. The law is in place to protect nesting birds and wildlife during the important spring breeding season, and violating the rule carries an up to €750 fine.

Outside of the breeding period, dogs are allowed to roam off-leash, although they must be within 100 metres of their owner at any time.

You can read the official rules here.

France’s problematic 2025 Budget included plans to lower the VAT threshold for micro-entrepreneurs (auto-entrepreneurs), but the tax reform was so fiercely protested by small business owners and freelancers that it was almost immediately put on hold. However, this pause is not indefinite; instead, the decision was postponed until June 1^st to allow time for further consultation, which means that the fate of hundreds of thousands of businesses hangs in the balance.

Under the current rules, micro-entrepreneurs are only liable to register for VAT/TVA after they pass a threshold of €37,500, but the new budget planned to reduce this threshold to a standard threshold of €25,000 for all businesses. The change would affect more than 200,000 small businesses and freelancers, requiring not only substantial additional paperwork (and likely the services of an accountant) but also the need to charge clients and customers an additional 20% tax on top of their existing rates. This is the biggest fear among micro-entrepreneurs, as many argue that they will not be able to pass this increase on to existing clients – instead, they will be forced to swallow the loss from their own profit margins.

Former Prime Minister Gabriel Attal has been among those to stand in favour of abandoning the VAT reforms entirely, insisting that it would “massively destroy activity and wealth in our country” and warning that “the risk is not only that the French will pay more taxes, but also that they will create fewer businesses.”

As discussions move into the final stages, we’ll keep you updated as we learn more.

We covered this back in March, but here’s a reminder of the upcoming changes that will affect French visa applicants in the United States. As of this Thursday, April 17, TLSContact, the third-party contractor that runs French visa centres in the UK, as well as in the Middle East and Northern and Sub-Saharan Africa, will be taking over operations in the United States from the current contractor, VFS Global.

This means that the addresses of the 10 US visa centres – located in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington DC – will change (you can see a full list of the new addresses here), as will the relevant application fees. However, there will be no changes to the application process itself, which begins, as with all other French visa applications, online via the France Visas website and then requires an in-person interview at one of the abovementioned visa centres.

If you have a visa application underway with VFS Global that hasn’t yet been approved or denied prior to the handover date, then don’t worry – this change won’t affect your application. However, you will need to report to the new TLSContact visa centres to pick up your passport and visa when it’s ready.

It’s Easter this Sunday, April 20th, so Happy Easter or joyeuses pâques to everyone who celebrates! Even if you don’t celebrate Easter, you can still enjoy a long weekend, as next Monday, April 21st, is a bank holiday or jour férié in France.

Unlike the UK and other countries, where Good Friday is also a national holiday, it’s business as usual in France this Friday. However, Saturday, April 19th, does mark the start of the 2-week school holidays for children in Zone A (see the full holiday calendar here).

Our upcoming webinar is entirely devoted to our American and Canadian audiences, and will cover everything you need to know about buying in France.

Our guest host will be joined by a panel of expert advisors to talk about those first steps, from deciding on your dream property and securing a mortgage to signing the compromis de vente, the property purchase process, and navigating foreign currency exchange. Join us to brush up on the basics and take the first steps towards becoming a French property owner today.

Where to start with buying in France – US (PT1)

Thursday, 17th April 2025, 6:00 pm Eastern Time, USA