Selling or transferring your business: what taxes take, and what the law allows you to keep.

The decisions that have the greatest impact on a business leader's assets are made years before the sale or gift. Three tools to get started.

Asset health assessmentYour assets assessed on 7 pillars, from precautionary liquidity to diversification.Taking stock

Company-sponsored retirement planWhat your company can pay towards your retirement, deductible from its profit.Start the calculation

Guaranteed retirementA life annuity financed by society: Article 39, in figures.Calculate

Strategies

Choose your topic.

Dutreil PactTransferring the business with 75% % exemptionRead →Contribution-saleSell through a holding company, reinvest in deferred revenueRead →Asset holding companyReplenish cash reserves, invest, transferRead →Estate planningProtecting the spouse, preparing the childrenRead →Corporate treasuryPlace the excess without solidifying it.Read →

Frequently Asked Questions

What the leaders are asking of us.

Transferring my business: how many rights?

With a Dutreil pact (article 787 B of the CGI), 75 % of the value of the transferred securities escapes gift or inheritance tax, in return for a collective commitment to keep them for 2 years, then an individual commitment from each heir or donee. In a company worth 4 million euros, only 1 million is taken into account in the calculation of rights.

For transfers made since February 21, 2026, the individual commitment period is extended from 4 to 6 years, and assets unrelated to the business activity (residences, passenger vehicles, works of art, pleasure boats) are no longer eligible for the exemption. Now is the time to review any existing agreements.

Selling my business: what changes when I contribute it to a holding company?

Contributing shares to a holding company you control before selling them places the capital gain under a tax deferral scheme (Article 150-0 B ter of the French General Tax Code). If the holding company sells within three years, the deferral remains in place, provided the shares are reinvested. 70 % of the price within 3 years in an economic activity, and to retain this reinvestment for 5 years.

These rules apply to sales made since the 2026 Finance Act, which also excluded real estate and financial activities from reinvestment. Without deferral, the capital gain is taxed at 31.4% in 2026.

What is the purpose of a holding company?

A holding company that has owned at least 5 % of the capital of a subsidiary for 2 years only pays corporation tax on 5 % of the dividends it receives from it (parent-subsidiary regime, articles 145 and 216 of the CGI): Of the €100,000 raised, the tax is levied on €5,000., i.e. €1,250 at the rate of 25 %.

This cash can then be reinvested from the holding company without being subject to personal income tax. The holding company also serves to prepare for a sale or transfer of ownership. It has operating costs: it becomes justified above a certain level of dividends.

Assurance-vie and inheritance: how much excluding taxes?

Capital transferred through assurance-vie is exempt from inheritance tax up to €152,500 per beneficiary, for payments made before the age of 70 (Article 990 I of the French General Tax Code). Two children receiving benefits: €305,000 transferred excluding taxes.

After age 70, only €30,500 of contributions are tax-exempt, across all beneficiaries, but the gains realized on these contributions remain tax-free (Article 757 B of the French General Tax Code). The beneficiary clause determines the rest: it decides who receives the capital.

A Dutreil agreement is signed before the gift, a contribution before the sale.

Choose a time slot Create my free space