This page used to recommend €55/h claiming €2,800 net per month. The maths was wrong: it handled neither VAT nor the way social contributions are actually calculated. Using the figures published in our own tattoo artist tax guide, that same rate leaves €1,008 per month. Here is the corrected method, and the threshold almost nobody mentions: working full time, you become liable for VAT at €36/h.
Scope. All figures on this page are for France: micro-BNC regime, SSI affiliation, French VAT. If you work elsewhere, the method holds but you must substitute your own rates.
The number this page corrects
Take the old calculation. 1,100 billable hours at €55/h come to €60,500 invoiced, roughly €50,400 excluding VAT once VAT is stripped out. That is, within 1%, the worked case already published in our tax guide. Here is what it gives, line by line.
1,100 h at €55/h, studio with premises
- Turnover excluding VAT: ~€50,000
- Social contributions + training levy (25.8%): -€12,900
- Cash operating costs, including €9,600 rent: -€22,000
- Income tax (single, 1 share): -€3,000
- Left to live on: €12,100 per year, or €1,008 per month
The gap with the €2,800 previously claimed comes from two omissions. VAT first: past the threshold, one sixth of what you collect is not yours. Contributions second: they are a percentage of your turnover, not a fixed cost you add to the rent. An artist charging €55/h expecting €2,800 was underpricing by roughly a third.
The VAT threshold: when you cross it
Under the VAT exemption you charge no VAT and remit nothing. You lose that exemption at €37,500 of annual turnover (base threshold) or €41,250 (upper tolerance). Past the upper threshold you become liable on the very day you cross it, not the following month.
Translated into an hourly rate, dividing each threshold by your billable hours:
| Billable hours per year | Base threshold (€37,500) | Upper threshold (€41,250) |
|---|---|---|
| 1,200 h | €31.25/h | €34.38/h |
| 1,100 h | €34.09/h | €37.50/h |
| 1,050 h | €35.71/h | €39.29/h |
In other words: past €36/h full time, you cross the base threshold whatever your hours. No full-time tattoo artist stays VAT exempt. Your floor rate is therefore calculated excluding VAT, and the 20% you add on top is not your income.
The formula
Floor rate including VAT
[(annual target before income tax + annual costs) ÷ 0.742] × 1.2 ÷ billable hours
The 0.742 is what remains after contributions (100% minus 25.8%). The 1.2 puts back the VAT you charge the client. Three inputs, one result.
Assumptions behind every figure on this page
- Micro-BNC regime, SSI affiliation, contributions 25.6% + 0.2% training levy = 25.8% of turnover excluding VAT
- VAT registered, 20% collected. Input VAT on your purchases not counted: it works in your favour
- Micro-BNC ceiling: €83,600 excluding VAT per year
- Results stated before income tax, which depends on your household
- ACRE start-up relief not counted: it only applies in year one
Input 1: your annual costs
Add up only what you actually pay out. Not contributions: they are already in the formula, and counting them twice is the error that breaks everything.
- Rent and premises charges: €4,800-15,000/yr
- Professional insurance (liability + premises): €600-1,200/yr
- Consumables (inks, cartridges, gloves, films): €2,000-4,500/yr
- Software, Procreate, digital tools: €300-600/yr
- Accountant and filings: €0-1,500/yr depending on regime
- Banking fees, card terminal, internet, work phone: €500-900/yr
- Marketing, training, conventions, travel: €1,300-4,500/yr
Total for a solo artist in 2026: €9,500 to €28,000. Use your exact figure, not an estimate.
Input 2: your billable hours
This is where most calculations go wrong. You do not bill 35 hours a week.
A typical week
- Billable machine hours: 22-26 h
- Design and preparation: 8-12 h
- Admin, quotes, client messages: 4-6 h
- Marketing, photos, social: 3-5 h
Across the year, after 5 weeks of holiday and 2 slow weeks, you get 1,050 to 1,200 billable hours, not 1,600.
Input 3: your income target
State it in euros per month before income tax, once your costs are paid. That is what stays in your account before the annual return. A target expressed as "net" without saying whether it is before or after tax means nothing, and that is exactly what produced the error this page corrects.
The calculated floor rates
Three profiles, one formula, only the inputs change.
| Profile | Hours | Costs | Target before tax | Turnover ex VAT | Floor rate inc VAT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solo, small town | 1,050 h | €11,000 | €2,000/mo | €47,170 | €54/h |
| Mid-market city | 1,100 h | €16,000 | €3,000/mo | €70,081 | €77/h |
| Established, major city | 1,100 h | €20,000 | €3,500/mo | €83,558 | €92/h |
The third profile lands €42 short of the micro-BNC ceiling. That is not a presentation trick, it is a real limit: with €20,000 of costs, micro-BNC caps you at roughly €3,500 per month before tax. Beyond that, switching to the real-cost regime becomes mandatory.
Past the ceiling: the real-cost BNC regime
Careful, this section changes formula. Under the real-cost regime, contributions are levied on profit rather than turnover, at roughly 45%, and your costs become deductible. The figures below therefore do not compare directly with the three rows above.
A Paris artist at 1,000 billable hours, €28,000 annual costs and a €4,500 monthly target before tax:
- Required profit: €98,182 (€54,000 ÷ 0.55)
- Turnover excluding VAT: €126,182
- Contributions on profit: €44,182
- Floor rate: €152/h including VAT
The gap with the €92/h of the third profile is not a jump in technical level. It comes from the change of regime and from premises costs tripling.
How much a self-employed tattoo artist earns: what the corrected rate leaves
Take the mid-market profile: €77/h, 1,100 hours, €16,000 of cash costs.
- Turnover invoiced: €84,700 inc VAT
- VAT collected, remitted to the state: -€14,117
- Turnover excluding VAT: €70,583
- Contributions + training levy (25.8%): -€18,210
- Cash costs: -€16,000
- Left before income tax: €36,373 per year, or €3,031 per month
For income tax, the only worked case on this site is the one in our tax guide: €50,000 turnover under micro-BNC, single, 1 share, roughly €3,000 of tax. Your own amount depends on your household. It is computed on the progressive scale over 66% of your turnover excluding VAT, after the flat 34% allowance.
Flat rate or hourly
The rule fits in three lines. Flat rate for anything done in under 3 hours: small pieces, flash, lettering, predictable duration. Hourly beyond that: large pieces, realism, long sessions, unpredictable duration. Studio minimum of €60 to €80 covering setup on very small pieces.
A good flat rate includes a 30 minute buffer and a written framework on the quote: if the piece runs over into a second session, you switch to hourly. Without that framework, you will end up giving the second session away.
When to raise
- Your calendar has been full 4-6 weeks out for 3 months and you are turning work away: +10 to 15%.
- Your technical level has visibly jumped a tier: +15 to 25%.
- Your costs have gone up: pass it through mechanically, without waiting a year.
One increase per year, dated, announced 30 days ahead. And re-run the formula every time your rent or your hours change.
What's next
The detail on contributions, VAT thresholds and the micro versus real-cost trade-off sits in our tattoo artist tax guide, the source of every rate on this page. Pricing also connects to deposits and no-show management. The full picture is in the "Tattoo studio management" pillar guide.
What justifies a higher rate
The formula above gives you a floor. What lifts you above it is what a client sees before booking. A portfolio where the pieces move is hard to compare on an hourly rate: it shifts the conversation from price to craft.
On our side, animating one piece costs 10 credits. The €7.99 pack contains 45, which is four animations.
Create my accountThe 3 credits given at sign-up cover design generation, not animation.