Create a holding company: practical guide 2026

Updated March 29, 2026 - Creating a holding company can be an excellent decision if you have a group, reinvestment, takeover or transmission logic. But the holding company must never be created by reflex. In 2026, the right approach is to start from your objective, then check if the structure, taxation and monitoring costs remain consistent.

A holding company can notably make it possible to:

• ▸centralize the ownership of several companies;
• ▸organize the return of dividends;
• ▸prepare reinvestments;
• ▸structure a buyout, transfer or group governance.

The BOFiP on the mother-daughter regime recalls that a holding company can, under conditions, limit the economic taxation of dividends received. But this advantage only makes sense if the holding company responds to real economic logic.

To dig deeper, see Holding: advantages and disadvantages, Taxation of holding companies, and What are the costs associated with creating an online holding company?.

1. What is your main goal?

Reinvestment, acquisition, transmission, group management, animation, professional assets: the objective must be clear.

2. Which social form is most suitable?

The holding company is often created in the form of SAS or SARL, but the right choice depends on governance, the number of partners, the status of the manager and the expected taxation.

3. What flows will pass through the holding company?

Dividends, benefits, management fees, cash advances, cash transfers: you need to know what will actually flow.

4. Do you need a holding company now?

A holding company created too early can add costs and formality without any real benefit.

Choose the form and write the statuses

The Public Service sheet on the choice of legal form remains the basis for calibrating the structure.

Submit the file at the formalities counter

The formalities counter now centralizes registration procedures.

Organize follow-up after creation

Creating the holding company is not enough. It is then necessary to frame:

• ▸accounting;
• ▸intra-group agreements;
• ▸the taxation of flows;
• ▸governance;
• ▸the annual legal.

• ▸create a holding company without a specific objective;
• ▸copy a standard montage without looking at the real streams;
• ▸underestimate monitoring costs;
• ▸aim for tax advantages before economic coherence.

Hayot Expertise advice: the best holding company is not the most sophisticated. It is the one that serves a clear, documented and sustainable function over time.

We help you verify the usefulness of the holding company, choose the right form, estimate the costs and structure the creation within a specific tax and legal framework.

Quick link: Create a holding company with a solid tax and legal framework

In 2026, creating a holding company can be an excellent structuring lever. But for it to be useful, it must start from the project, the flows and the calendar, not from the keyword "optimization" alone.

Contact: Want to know if the time has come to create your holding company? Our firm can help you arbitrate between real utility, costs and creation scheme. Make an appointment with Hayot Expertise

(Official sources: Entreprendre.Service-Public.fr - choice of legal form and formalities counter, BOFiP - mother-daughter regime)