Director remuneration optimisation Paris

Director Remuneration Optimisation in France#

The right remuneration structure for a company director in France depends on legal status, corporate structure, personal income tax bracket, social protection needs and wealth strategy. There is no universal answer — only a well-modelled comparison of options applied to your specific situation.

Hayot Expertise advises directors of SASU, EURL, SARL and holding groups on remuneration optimisation: salary versus dividend arbitrage, flat tax analysis, social regime comparison and holding strategy.

Director remuneration in France involves multiple overlapping parameters:

• Social contributions: very different between a gérant majoritaire (TNS regime) and a SASU president (general social security regime)
• Personal income tax: progressive bracket tax on salary income; 30% flat tax or bracket option on dividends
• Corporate tax (IS): salary reduces the taxable base, creating an indirect lever
• Social protection: retirement rights, disability cover and healthcare reimbursements differ significantly between regimes
• Wealth building: retained profits can be reinvested through a holding structure without passing through personal income tax

These parameters must be modelled together, not in isolation.

TNS (gérant majoritaire de SARL, sole trader): contributions calculated on earnings or management remuneration, typically 40 to 50% of net income received. Lower cost than salaried regime but weaker social protection.

Assimilé salarié (SASU president, minority SARL gérant): subject to the general social security regime. Total employer and employee contributions represent roughly 70 to 80% of net salary. Higher cost but stronger retirement rights and healthcare coverage.

The choice of corporate structure determines which regime applies — and it cannot usually be changed without restructuring the company.

Salary reduces the IS base (deductible charge). Every euro of salary paid saves 25% IS. But it generates significant social charges. The net efficiency depends on the balance between IS savings and additional social costs.

Dividends are paid from after-tax profits. The default flat tax of 30% (12.8% income tax + 17.2% social levies) applies. The bracket option with a 40% rebate can be more favourable for lower income tax brackets.

SARL gérant majoritaire dividend trap: dividends above 10% of share capital plus current account balances are subject to TNS social contributions. This substantially reduces the advantage of dividends above this threshold. This rule does not apply to SASU.

When a holding company owns the operating company, dividends can be remitted to the holding under the parent-subsidiary regime (95% effective exemption from IS). The director retains funds in the holding for reinvestment, drawing personal income only as needed. This structure creates significant long-term tax efficiency for directors who do not need to extract all profits immediately.

We collect the relevant data — projected year-end profit, ownership structure, household income, current social charges, 12 to 24 month plans — and model three to five scenarios. Each scenario shows net disposable income, total tax and social cost, retained cash in the structure, retirement rights accrued, and five-year net wealth impact.

The comparison gives you a factual basis for decision rather than a generic recommendation.