VAT exemption threshold: consultation with professional organizations "until the end of February"

The Minister of Commerce and SMEs, Véronique Louwagie, met with five professional organizations on Friday, February 7, after the suspension of the reduction in the VAT exemption threshold planned in the 2025 budget, and the consultations should continue "until the end of February," her entourage told AFP.

Several organizations, including Medef, the Confederation of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (CPME), U2P, the employers' organization representing local businesses, as well as two federations of micro-entrepreneurs participated in the round table.

"At this stage it is a suspension to create dialogue" and "the objective is that on March 1 we have the results of this consultation", indicated Véronique Louwagie's entourage.

These meetings organized on Friday followed the announcement the day before by the Minister of the Economy Eric Lombard of the suspension of a controversial measure of the 2025 budget concerning the VAT exemption threshold.

It plans to lower the threshold below which micro-enterprises are not subject to value added tax (VAT) to 1 euros of annual turnover on March 25.000, instead of the current 37.500 euros for the provision of services and 85.000 euros for commercial activities. A provision that affects hundreds of thousands of micro-entrepreneurs.

"We are listening to proposals that may concern the methods of applying the measure" and "adjustments that may be proposed", without however being in a "repeal plan", specified the minister's entourage, assuring that certain organisations were in favour of this measure which aims according to the government to reduce distortions of competition between professionals.

The measure has sparked strong reactions in the ranks of professional organizations, particularly among representatives of micro-entrepreneurs, as well as from political parties of all persuasions, from LFI to RN, including certain Macronists.

"This round table made it possible to confirm that there was no prior consultation, an observation shared by all the participants," François Hurel, president of the Union of Auto-Entrepreneurs, told AFP at the end of this first meeting.

For him, who defends the removal of this proposal, it is "urgent to get out of this ambiguity and this period which creates uncertainty".