The foreign founder's personal position alongside the company

The company and the person are two files that are usually built by two different advisers who never speak. Most of the avoidable cost sits in the space between them.

A founder takes value out of a company in two ways, and they are not interchangeable. Remuneration is a deductible charge for the company, carries social contributions and is taxed as employment income in your hands, building social rights as it goes. A dividend is paid out of taxed profit, carries its own regime, and builds no pension or health entitlement. The right mix is not a general answer: it depends on which social scheme your corporate form places you in, on the cover you already hold elsewhere, and on whether you qualify for the impatriate regime, which reaches remuneration and not dividends.

The impatriate regime applies to directors too

This is missed regularly, because the regime is discussed as though it were for employees. Article 155 B of the French tax code covers employees and assimilated directors taking up duties in France, which includes the chairman of an SAS affiliated as an assimilated employee, provided the conditions of prior non-residence are met. The consequence is significant for the salary and dividend arbitrage: where the regime applies, the exempt portion attaches to remuneration, which changes the comparison entirely. The regime must be organised around the taking up of duties and cannot be claimed afterwards, which means it has to be considered while the structure is being designed. The page France's impatriate regime: up to eight years of exemptions sets out the conditions.

How French wealth tax treats the shares

French wealth tax reaches real estate rather than financial assets, under article 964 and following of the French tax code, so shares in an operating company are not in scope as such. Two qualifications matter for a founder. Property held by the company can be looked through, so a trading company that owns its premises is not automatically outside the charge. And an exemption exists for assets genuinely used in a professional activity, whose conditions have to be met rather than assumed. Newly arrived residents also benefit from a separate limitation confining the charge to French real estate for a period following their arrival.

Selling the company, or leaving France

Two events deserve to be anticipated years ahead, because both are governed by holding periods and by residence at a given date. A sale of shares produces a capital gain whose treatment depends on how and when the shares were acquired and on your residence when the sale occurs. A departure from France can trigger the exit tax of article 167 bis of the French tax code, which applies where the securities portfolio exceeds €800,000, or where a substantial participation is held, and which interacts with the timing of any later disposal. A founder planning both a sale and a departure should decide the order deliberately, because the two sequences produce different results. Exit tax when leaving France with a large portfolio sets out the mechanism, the deferral rules and what a later sale does to the deferred amount in full.

Arbitrages between remuneration and dividends have social security consequences as well as tax ones, and an arrangement designed solely to minimise contributions can be challenged. The exit tax and the professional assets exemption are technical regimes whose conditions must be verified against the client's own facts. This page is general information and neither tax advice nor a recommendation. The firm does not practise accountancy or law and works alongside the professionals who do.

Frequently asked questions

Should I pay myself a salary or dividends?

There is no general answer, and the honest comparison has three inputs rather than one. Remuneration is deductible for the company, bears social contributions and builds pension and health entitlements; a dividend comes out of taxed profit, has its own regime and builds no social rights at all. Which mix wins depends on the social scheme your corporate form places you in, on the cover you already hold elsewhere, and on whether the impatriate regime applies, since it reaches remuneration and not dividends.

Can a company director claim the impatriate regime?

Yes, where the conditions are met, and it is missed regularly because the regime is discussed as an employee benefit. Article 155 B of the French tax code covers employees and assimilated directors taking up duties in France, which includes the chairman of an SAS affiliated to the general scheme, provided the prior non-residence condition is satisfied. Because the regime attaches to remuneration rather than dividends, it changes the salary arbitrage substantially, and it has to be organised at the outset since it cannot be claimed retroactively.

Are my company shares subject to French wealth tax?

Not as financial assets, since the charge under article 964 and following of the French tax code reaches real estate rather than securities. Two qualifications matter. Property owned by the company can be looked through, so a trading company holding its own premises is not automatically outside the charge. And an exemption exists for assets genuinely used in a professional activity, whose conditions must be met rather than assumed. Newly arrived residents also have a separate limitation for a period after arrival.

What happens to my shares if I leave France?

Leaving can trigger the exit tax of article 167 bis of the French tax code, which applies where the securities portfolio exceeds the statutory threshold or where a substantial participation is held, and which taxes gains that are still unrealised at the date of departure. Deferral of payment is available, on terms depending on the destination, and the deferral interacts with the timing of any later sale. A founder contemplating both a sale and a departure should decide the order deliberately, well before either happens.

ÉTHIQUE ET PATRIMOINE, a French simplified joint-stock company (SAS), registered office at 41 rue Saint-Ferdinand, 75017 Paris, France, Paris Trade Register no. 803 414 796, VAT no. FR 40 803 414 796, registered with ORIAS under number no. 24001817 (www.orias.fr) — Financial investment adviser (CIF) no. 18002418, member of ANACOFI-CIF, a professional association approved by the Autorité des marchés financiers, and Anacofi-Courtage for its brokerage activity. Presence: Paris, Montpellier, Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Shanghai and Dubai.

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Written by Stéphane Molère, Président d'Éthique et Patrimoine — page last reviewed on 2026-08-30 — rules quoted are those in force at that date.