Vet: Sole Practice (BNC) or SELARL, Which Tax Regime

Quick answer. A self-employed vet falls by default under non-commercial profits (BNC), filed on form 2035. Moving to a SELARL (a company taxed at corporate level) only pays off when income durably exceeds living needs. Since the 2024 income year, an SEL partner's technical pay is taxed as BNC, not as salary (French tax guidance BOI-RES-BNC-000136).

The question comes up at every year-end for vets with a strong result: stay self-employed under the BNC regime, or set up a professional practice company (SELARL)? There is never a single threshold. The answer depends on your income, what you actually spend, your need to build up capital, and the trade-off between salary and dividends. Because vet services are subject to VAT at the standard 20 % rate, VAT is neutral in the structure choice: it is handled separately, as we explain in VAT on vet services and medicines.

We are registered with the Île-de-France Order of Chartered Accountants and support animal-health practitioners through this decision. This article sets out the method and the genuine deciding factors, without selling you a switching threshold that does not exist.

A vet in private practice generates non-commercial profits (article 92 of the French Tax Code). Above the micro-BNC regime, they fall under the controlled-declaration regime and file an annual form 2035.

The principle is simple: you are taxed on income tax on the real profit of your activity, whether you drew it down or left it on the business account. Your self-employed social contributions and your CARPV contributions are based on that profit.

What the BNC regime brings in practice:

• Light administration: no mandatory accrual accounting depending on your situation, no company-format financial statements, no general meeting.
• A readable tax position: profit flows straight into your tax household.
• Real deductible expenses (rent, equipment, business vehicle within legal limits, staff costs).

The limit appears as profit grows. The entire result is taxed at your marginal income-tax rate, even the part you leave in the business to invest or build cash. That friction is what prompts a SELARL review.

A SELARL is a company subject to corporate income tax. The result is taxed at company level. You, the practitioner, are taxed on two separate flows: your pay and any dividends.

The main lever is here: only the amount you take out of the company (salary plus dividends) is taxed in your hands. The part kept in the company to invest or pay down debt is taxed only at corporate level, not at your marginal income-tax rate. For a clinic that invests (technical equipment, property, hiring), this shielding effect is decisive.

Partner pay: BNC, no longer salary#

One point has changed deeply. Since the 2024 income year, the pay an SEL partner receives for their professional activity within the company (the "technical pay") is taxed as BNC under article 92 of the Tax Code, on a form 2035, and no longer as salary (tax guidance BOI-RES-BNC-000136, published 24/04/2024). This doctrine rests on Conseil d'État case law (CE 16 October 2013 no. 339822 and CE 8 December 2017 no. 409429).

In short: even in a SELARL, your operating pay remains BNC income. Only the pay for the corporate office (management duties) stays taxed under the company form, as salary or under article 62 of the Tax Code for a majority manager. We detail how the move from BNC to a SELARL works and the tax reform of SEL partner pay in dedicated articles.

Dividends: flat tax and social contributions#

Dividends paid by the SELARL generally fall under the single flat-rate levy (PFU) of 30 %, made up of 12.8 % income tax and 17.2 % social levies (article 200 A of the Tax Code), with an option for the progressive scale. The exact social-levy rate for 2026 income remains to be confirmed against the latest financing acts.

Watch a common trap: for a SELARL majority manager, the share of dividends exceeding 10 % of share capital, share premiums and current-account balances is subject to self-employed social contributions (article L131-6 of the Social Security Code). Paying dividends in a SELARL is therefore not always "socially cheaper" than pay.

The CARPV is the mandatory pension and provident fund for self-employed vets. Its contributions are called in classes, based on the non-salaried income of the prior year (N-1).

The BNC-or-SELARL choice changes the base of those contributions:

• Under BNC, the CARPV base equals your profit.
• Under a SELARL, the base equals your technical pay (internal BNC income) and, where applicable, the share of dividends reintegrated into the self-employed contribution base.

An "all dividends" strategy to minimise the social base can reduce your pension rights. The 2026 class scale must be confirmed directly with the CARPV before any simulation: a commonly cited class threshold (around 76,995 euros of income) circulates on secondary sources and must be verified before use.

This table points, it does not decide. The right reflex is to cost your own case with a professional: that is the very purpose of an engagement to balance salary and dividends.

Recently, a vet clinic director approached us after two years of strong growth. Their BNC profit clearly exceeded what they drew to live on, and the surplus was heavily taxed at their marginal income-tax rate. We studied a SELARL: the goal was not a promise of savings, but to stop taxing at income tax a cash reserve meant to fund new technical equipment. The SELARL allowed that share to stay at corporate level. In return, the technical pay had to be recalibrated to preserve CARPV rights and to anticipate the company's annual legal cost.

1. Stabilise the diagnosis: rebuild 2 to 3 years of BNC profit and isolate the part actually drawn down to live.
2. Simulate both scenarios at identical disposable income, including income tax and social contributions.
3. Factor in the CARPV: check the impact on the base and pension rights, without shifting everything to dividends.
4. Cost the recurring company burden: accounting, annual legal work, possible provident cover.
5. Check the contributions: valuation of the client base, capital-gains treatment, formalities.
6. Decide over 3 to 5 years, not over one exceptional year.

A SELARL is not magic optimisation, it is a capitalisation tool. It becomes relevant when you earn more than you spend and want to reinvest in the clinic. As long as you draw all your profit to live, the BNC regime is often simpler and tax-neutral. The real gain of a company is measured over time, not over one year.

The danger is not the structure choice itself, it is reasoning "dividends versus salary" while forgetting the pension. By cutting the social base to pay fewer contributions now, you erode CARPV rights. That risk is invisible in a one-year simulation: it is paid at retirement. Any salary-dividend trade-off must factor in this deferred cost.

• The technical pay of an SEL partner has been BNC since 2024 income: form 2035 remains your support even within a company.
• The social-levy rate on 2026 dividends must be confirmed before any costing.
• The 2026 CARPV class scale must be validated directly with the fund.
• The e-invoicing reform makes invoice reception mandatory for all businesses on 1 September 2026, BNC or company alike.