Contractor vs Employee Calculator: France Take-Home
Compare self-employed and salaried take-home on the same gross in France. A free estimate by country - not tax advice.
Compare the same gross
Enter an annual gross and a country to estimate what you keep as an employee versus as a self-employed contractor.
Estimate only, not tax advice. Each side uses one average tax-and-social percentage for 2026, not real brackets, and ignores employer costs, VAT, benefits, and deductions. A company form (SASU / EURL) is not modelled because its take-home depends on a salary and dividend split. Confirm with an accountant.
Employee or contractor?
In France, an employee (salarie) pays social contributions and income tax on a gross (brut) salary, while a micro-entrepreneur pays a flat share of turnover in contributions plus income tax. The default is a rough average; your real rate depends on your activity and regime.
On the same headline pay, an employee and a self-employed contractor rarely keep the same amount. Employees usually have tax and social contributions withheld at source, while the self-employed pay their own, often at different rates, and can deduct business costs. The gap decides how much a day rate really needs to be.
This is a rough, country-level estimate for planning, not a tax return, and it does not cover company structures or your personal deductions. Use it to frame the question, then confirm the numbers with an accountant.
Country questions
Micro-entrepreneur or company?
This uses a rough micro-entrepreneur-style average for the self-employed side. A SASU or EURL is taxed differently through a salary and dividend split and is not modelled here.
Whichever way you work, track the time
Sandtime.io records billable hours and turns them into reports and invoice-ready totals, for employees and contractors alike. Free for unlimited users, without surveillance.