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.

Wealth management for a director brings together three dimensions that are too often handled in isolation:

1. Remuneration optimisation — how much, and in what form, to draw from your company (salary, dividends, benefits in kind, employee savings) to maximise your net income after tax and social contributions.

2. Wealth structuring — which vehicles to use to capitalise and protect your assets: a wealth-holding company, an SCI (Société Civile Immobilière — non-trading property company), life insurance, a PER retirement plan or property investment.

3. Income protection and succession — how to protect your family and your business against life's accidents, and how to organise the transfer of your wealth on tax-efficient terms.

In 2026 these issues are sharpened by several developments. The pension reform complicates the calculation of qualifying quarters for self-employed (TNS) and employee-equivalent directors; the new IFI (impôt sur la fortune immobilière — property wealth tax) rules catch more and more directors as property values rise; and high interest rates make certain strategies (gifts with an equalisation payment, ownership splitting) more attractive. Without a structured wealth strategy that joins the professional and the personal, the value created inside the company can melt away to tax.

At Hayot Expertise we take a deliberately different approach from traditional wealth advisers: our standpoint as chartered accountants gives us a complete view of your situation — company results, cash flows, legal structure, personal taxation — so we can build a coherent, optimised strategy genuinely matched to your life objectives.

Read more: Holding company and tax optimisation

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)

Remuneration is the first lever of wealth management. It drives your social protection, your personal taxation and your capacity to save. Our work here includes:

• Annual optimal-remuneration simulation — the right balance of gross salary, dividends and employee savings, set against your company's result, your top marginal income-tax bracket and your family situation
• TNS versus employee-equivalent comparison — if you are considering a change of status (for example EURL to SASU), we model the full social and tax impact
• Employee-savings plans — profit-sharing (intéressement, participation) and employer top-up to a PEE or PERCO: powerful tools that are often under-used by SME directors yet very tax-efficient
• Dividend management — distribution timing, arbitrage between the flat tax and the income-tax scale, and the effect on your IFI
• Benefits in kind — company car, accommodation: optimising benefits in kind against salary

A concrete example. A SASU director with €150,000 of annual profit draws a gross salary of €60,000 (contributions of roughly €27,000), leaving a pre-tax result of €63,000, pays about €9,450 of corporate tax and distributes the balance as dividends (31.4% flat tax). The optimised total net income is around €80,000 against €105,000 of profit consumed in tax — a saving of roughly 30%.

This page focuses on structuring, holding strategy, the PER, life insurance and succession. For a deeper salary-versus-dividend analysis on its own, see our dedicated guide: Optimising director remuneration: salary vs dividends in a SASU.

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 €3,750 in corporate tax (a €15,000 deduction at the 25% marginal rate) 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

Income protection and retirement planning#

Income protection is the poor relation of director wealth management — yet a prolonged period of incapacity can be financially catastrophic.

Audit of your current cover:

• For an employee-equivalent director (SASU): daily allowances exist but are capped. Without supplementary income protection, a period off work means an immediate loss of income.
• For a self-employed manager (TNS, EURL or SARL): the SSI scheme provides only minimal cover, often insufficient to maintain your standard of living.

Our income-protection recommendations:

• Individual income-protection contract — covering incapacity (supplementary daily allowances), permanent invalidity and death. From €100–200 per month depending on age and profession.
• Key-person insurance — taken out by the company to cover the risk of the director's absence on the business (lost trading, replacement cost). The premiums are deductible from the company's result.
• Death cover — protecting the spouse and partners, and funding the buy-back of shares on death.

Retirement plan:

• Calculation of your existing pension rights (basic scheme plus the AGIRC-ARRCO or SSI top-up scheme)
• Projection of your pension level at your chosen retirement age
• A PER capitalisation plan to bridge the gap between the projected pension and your target standard of living
• Arbitrage between an individual PER (Madelin) and a collective PER (PERECO or PERO) depending on your company set-up

See also: Holding company taxation in Paris | Property, SCI and LMNP sector

SME and mid-cap directors (20 to 500 employees) are the most exposed to the dependence between professional and personal wealth. A large part of their wealth is often concentrated in the shares of their own company — diversification and structuring are essential.

Regulated professionals (lawyers, doctors, surgeons, chartered accountants, notaires) have specific statuses (BNC, SEL, SELARL), high pension contributions and often substantial income, yet social protection that is sometimes thin. The PER and life insurance are indispensable.

Senior executives (CEOs, CFOs, HR and sales directors) are frequently minority shareholders or holders of stock options or BSA warrants. Managing the taxation of those securities and diversifying their wealth are the main priorities.

Startup founders can face very large capital gains at the point of a fundraising or a disposal. Contribution-exchange (Article 150-0 B ter of the French tax code) allows those gains to be reinvested into new projects with a deferral of tax. Planning ahead is crucial.

Step 1 — Full wealth review (weeks 1-3). A complete picture of your situation: professional assets (company value, partner current accounts), property, financial assets (PEA share plan, life insurance, PER, securities account) and liabilities (loans, tax debts). A tax audit covering income tax, IFI, your top marginal rate and your matrimonial regime. Identification of your wealth objectives.

Step 2 — Remuneration simulation and first tax lever (weeks 2-4). Calculation of the optimal remuneration for the current or coming year. An immediately actionable recommendation: a PER contribution before the year-end close, dividend timing, salary-versus-dividend arbitrage. This step often delivers immediate tax savings of €5,000 to €20,000.

Step 3 — Wealth structuring (weeks 4-12). Depending on the issues identified: creating a holding company, setting up an SCI, putting income-protection contracts in place, opening a Luxembourg life insurance contract, building a property portfolio from the holding's cash. Every measure is modelled before it is implemented.

Step 4 — Retirement and income-protection plan (months 2-3). Calculation of pension rights, projection of the gap, construction of the PER capitalisation plan. Selection of the income-protection and key-person contracts matched to your profile.

Step 5 — Annual review and strategy update. Each year, a full review: how your wealth has evolved, changes in your situation (marriage, divorce, a new child, a property purchase) and fresh opportunities (new legislation, rate movements). The strategy is adjusted accordingly.

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)

1. Not planning for retirement until past 55. A director's retirement is ideally prepared from age 35-40. At 55 there is less than a decade left to capitalise, and the PER becomes less effective for lack of compounding time. Starting early, even with small contributions, harnesses the power of compound interest.

2. Neglecting income protection because you are healthy. Six months off work without supplementary cover can endanger the company as much as your personal wealth. Income protection costs little (€100-300 per month depending on age) and pays back enormously when things go wrong.

3. Distributing everything as dividends every year. Paying out all profit as dividends (31.4% flat tax) is often sub-optimal. For directors who do not need all the cash to live on, a holding company allows profits to be reinvested at an effective rate of just 1.25% — a difference of 30.15 percentage points of tax on every euro not consumed.

4. Ignoring the IFI and its exemptions. As property values rise, more directors cross the IFI threshold of €1.3M. Many overlook the available exemptions (business assets, shares in operating companies) and overpay the IFI for want of an annual audit.

5. Forgetting about succession until the day you sell. Business transfer (gift, Dutreil pact, contribution-exchange) needs two to five years of preparation. Too many directors organise it in a hurry and lose valuable tax allowances. The Dutreil pact must be in place at least two years before the transfer.

Profile: SASU director, 48, married with two children. Annual company profit: €200,000. Objectives: maximise net wealth, prepare for retirement, eventually pass assets to the children.

Strategy with no optimisation:

• Full distribution: €200,000 profit → corporate tax of about €45,750 → gross dividends of €154,250 → 31.4% flat tax: €48,435
• Net dividends: €105,815 — professional wealth capitalised: €0

Optimised strategy (holding + PER + life insurance):

• Gross salary €80,000 → contributions of about €36,000 → net salary about €44,000
• Pre-tax result: €84,000 → corporate tax about €16,750 → net result: €67,250
• Upstreamed to the holding (parent-subsidiary regime, taxed at 1.25%) → tax of €841 → €66,409 available in the holding
• Director's PER: €15,000 contribution → corporate tax saving at the 25% marginal rate: €3,750
• Life insurance: €30,000 invested from the holding

Disposable net income: about €44,000 (net salary) + €20,000 (holding dividends) = €64,000

Wealth capitalised in the holding: about €46,409 reinvested per year

Estimated annual tax saving: €25,000 to €35,000

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