Wealth Planning for Business Owners in France

Wealth Planning for Founders and Executives - Hayot Expertise#

Professional success must translate into the durability of your personal and family wealth. Hayot Expertise supports business owners, regulated professionals and senior executives with a comprehensive wealth strategy.

1. Full wealth review#

• Analysis of your family, professional and asset situation (property, financial and business assets)
• Personal tax audit (income tax, IFI property wealth tax)
• Identification of your objectives: retirement preparation, succession, protection of spouse, supplementary income creation

2. Director social protection#

• Audit of disability, income protection and retirement coverage (health, incapacity, invalidity, death)
• Change of status (e.g. from self-employed TNS to employee-equivalent) and social impact
• Optimisation of Madelin contributions and PER retirement plans
• Implementation of an optimal remuneration strategy (salary vs dividends vs profit-sharing)

3. Tax structuring and optimisation#

• SCI or wealth holding company structures (LMNP, property deficit)
• Optimisation of property income and investment income tax
• Bare ownership / usufruct split (démembrement de propriété)
• Capital life insurance: Luxembourg contracts, discretionary mandate management

4. Business succession and disposal#

• Dutreil pact to reduce gift/inheritance duties (75% abatement)
• Family LBO (FBO) or gift with equalisation payment
• Gift to surviving spouse, change of matrimonial regime
• Contribution-exchange (Article 150-0 B ter CGI): reinvesting business capital gains

PER (Plan d'Épargne Retraite — retirement savings plan): the essential tax tool#

The PER allows a director to deduct contributions from taxable income or from the company's profit, depending on the structure. In 2026, caps are calculated at 10% of taxable profit, capped at 8 times the annual social security ceiling (~€36,258), with catch-up from the 3 previous years.

Concrete example: a SASU director with €150,000 in profit can contribute up to €15,000 to a PER, saving approximately €4,125 in corporate tax (15% on the first €100,000) in the short term, while building retirement capital.

Read more: Director PER 2026: tax optimisation and retirement

Life insurance: the all-purpose wealth wrapper#

Life insurance remains the most versatile wealth planning tool. It provides:

• Tax-free succession transfers up to €152,500 per beneficiary (premiums paid before age 70)
• Reduced taxation after 8 years (annual allowance of €4,600 or €9,200 for a couple)
• Access to diversified holdings: euro funds, unit-linked, private equity

Luxembourg contracts offer additional guarantees (super-privilege) and access to wider asset classes, suited to portfolios above €500,000.

Property via SCI: securing and passing on assets#

Holding property through an SCI (Société Civile Immobilière) allows you to:

• Avoid joint ownership (indivision) among heirs
• Optimise succession by gifting shares with ownership split
• Depreciate assets under IS to minimise rental income tax

For directors who already have a holding company, the Holding + SCI combination is often optimal: the holding finances the property acquisition through the SCI, and rental income flows with minimal tax.

See our guide: Holding vs SCI: which structure to choose?

Holding company: capitalising profits#

A holding company allows dividends from the operating company to be upstreamed at an effective tax rate of 1.25% (parent-subsidiary regime) versus 31.4% on direct distribution (flat tax). The resulting savings are reinvested in other assets (property, securities, SCPI shares).

For a director generating €200,000 in annual profit and needing only €80,000 to live on, the holding can save up to €35,000 in tax on the €120,000 not consumed.

Income protection: the indispensable safety net#

Many business owners are under-insured for income protection. In the event of incapacity, an employee-equivalent director (SASU) is only entitled to daily allowances if they draw a salary — no salary means no daily allowance. A self-employed manager (TNS) depends on the SSI scheme, often insufficient.

Our recommendations:

• Individual income protection contract: incapacity, invalidity, death (from ~€100/month for a 40-year-old director)
• Key-person insurance: taken out by the company to cover the impact of the director's absence on the business
• Life insurance protection: protecting the spouse and partners

As chartered accountants, we know all your professional and personal flows. We do not sell financial products in isolation; we structure your wealth environment legally and fiscally with full independence.

• Advisory independence: we prioritise pure advice over product sales
• 360° view: seamless integration of professional and personal wealth
• Tailored solutions: support adapted to your life objectives (succession, reinvestment, income generation)