In summary…
Yes, you can manage your French company from abroad: it remains a French company, subject to corporate income tax (IS) in France on its French activities, whether its director lives in Lyon or Singapore. What changes is the risk in the host country, which may see it as a seat of effective management or a permanent establishment.
Our position: the departure of the leader costs the company nothing in France, but it can cost it elsewhere if governance is not organized before the departure. The relevant question is not "Do I have the right to leave?", but "Where are the decisions actually made and where are the contracts signed?".
«I’m staying on as president of my SAS (simplified joint-stock company), I’m working from home, the company doesn’t change, does it?» We hear this from Lyon-based business leaders who leave without selling their companies. The answer has two parts: for France, almost nothing changes; for the country where you relocate, everything depends on where you make the decisions and where you sign the contracts.
1. In France, corporate income tax remains unchanged; it is the tax on dividends that is changing.
Corporate income tax is based on the company's operations, not the residence of its director.
French corporate income tax is territorial: it taxes the profits of companies operating in France. Profits from a business actually located abroad are excluded, and a sustainable and technically self-sufficient construction project abroad is considered a business outside France. Conversely, a company whose activity is in France pays corporate income tax there, regardless of where its president resides.
The departure of the manager, however, changes the tax on what he receives from the company, particularly dividends (see withholding tax on dividends paid to a non-resident).
Worked example
Situation. Head of a Lyon-based SAS (simplified joint-stock company) whose activity is exclusively French. Profit for the year: €300,000. He moves abroad and remains president.
Issue. He believes that his departure also reduces the company's tax burden.
Strategy. We separate the two levels: the company's corporate income tax on one side, and the manager's dividend on the other.
Result. Company's IS: 15 % on the first €42,500 (€6,375) then 25 % on €257,500 (€64,375), i.e. €70,750, identical before and after departure. On a dividend of €100,000: €31,400 to the single flat-rate levy of 31.4 % if he remains a resident; €12,800 withholding tax of 12.8 % if he is a non-resident, i.e. €18,600 difference before the tax possibly due in his host country.
Hypotheses. SAS meeting the conditions for the reduced IS rate (turnover of 10 million euros at most, fully paid-up capital, at least 75 % of the capital held by natural persons), natural person shareholder, no more favorable agreement, single flat-rate levy of 31.4 % without option for the scale (12.8 % of income tax and 18.6 % of social levies). Illustrative example, calculated using the rules in force on 23/10/2026.
For the technician. Article 209 I of the French General Tax Code (CGI): principle of territoriality. BOFiP BOI-IS-CHAMP-60-10-10 (version of 27/06/2014), no. 50: profits from operations located outside France of a company whose registered office is in France are exempt from French tax; no. 150: a sustainable and technically self-sufficient construction project abroad is considered a business operated outside France. Withholding tax on dividends: Articles 119 bis 2 and 187 of the CGI.
2. The real risk lies in the host country
Place of effective management and permanent establishment: two concepts, two risks
The seat of effective management This designates the place where management and industrial or commercial policy decisions necessary for conducting business are made, normally where the highest-ranking body decides. A company may have several places of management, but only one place of effective management, and this is a matter of fact. In the 2018 Franco-Luxembourg convention, this is the sole criterion that distinguishes a company considered resident in both states.
L'’permanent establishment is the taxable presence of a company in another State. The Franco-Luxembourg convention defines it as a fixed place of business through which an enterprise carries out all or part of its business, or as the presence of a dependent agent, that is to say a person who habitually concludes contracts for the enterprise.
Specifically. The two situations we first examine in the case of a departing executive are: signing company contracts from abroad, and using a room in their home as a company office. These situations require a detailed analysis of the facts, agreement by agreement. This is precisely why preparations are made before departure.
| What you do from abroad | Concept in question | What we check |
|---|---|---|
| You make strategic decisions via videoconference from your home. | Effective management seat | Location of key meetings, date and signing of minutes |
| You negotiate and sign customer contracts | Dependent agent | Who concludes the contract, on whose behalf, and with what written delegation of authority? |
| A room in your home serves as the company's office. | Fixed business installation | Provision, usual use, possible rebilling |
| You supervise, the team in France decides and signs | Lower risk, to be documented | Delegations of power and decisions traced in France |
These definitions are those of a specific convention. Each convention has its own wording, and in the absence of a convention, the domestic law of the host country applies: the analysis is done country by country, based on the regulations of its tax administration. The list of conventions is available here: tax treaties signed by France.
For the technician. France-Luxembourg Convention of 20 March 2018: Article 4 § 3 (place of effective management, sole criterion in case of dual residence), commented on in BOFiP BOI-INT-CVB-LUX-10 (version of 23/02/2021), No. 150; Article 5 (permanent establishment: fixed place of business and dependent agent), commented on in BOFiP BOI-INT-CVB-LUX-20 (version of 23/02/2021), Nos. 30 and 70. These definitions are specific to this convention.
3. For the leader himself: four consequences not to be confused
- His tax residence. Managing from abroad argues for having one's main activity outside France, but the home and center of economic interests may be sufficient to keep one domiciled in France: see Article 4 B of the French General Tax Code and its three criteria and the main professional activity.
- His remuneration. It is read convention by convention: the place where the activity is carried out matters, and each convention has its own rule for directors' fees and executive compensation (in the Franco-Luxembourg convention, directors' fees are taxable in the state of residence of the company that pays them). The general tax framework is in the executive's remuneration.
- Its dividends. Withholding tax in France, then taxation in the country of residence with elimination of double taxation: see the tax credit and the effective rate.
- Its social protection. It follows a logic distinct from taxation: see the social status of the president of SAS and the French Overseas Social Security Fund.
4. What we put in place before departure
- A written governance : where the bodies are located, who decides what, what delegations are given to people present in France.
- Contracts signed by the right person : the company's commitments are made by delegates located where the activity takes place.
- An unambiguous office : no room in the home allocated to the company without a documented contract, rent and usage.
- Cross-reading of the applicable convention and the law of the host country, on the sources of its tax administration, before the first decision taken from abroad.
Our position
The governance plan is built before departure
A company defends itself with dated documents: minutes, delegations of authority, contracts signed by the correct person. Reconstructed after a question from the host country's administration, these documents are far less convincing than continuous documentation from day one. We prefer to produce them in a few weeks before departure rather than defend them for months afterward.
Frequently asked questions
Does the company become foreign if I manage it from abroad?
No, not in France: its registered office remains in France and its French corporate income tax is based on its French activities. The host country, however, may argue that the company has its effective management headquarters or a permanent establishment there; this is a matter for the applicable tax treaty to resolve, if one exists.
Can I remain president of my SAS or manager of my limited liability company (SARL) if I move abroad?
The conditions for holding the position of president of a simplified joint-stock company (SAS) as published by the tax authorities (capacity, absence of any ban on managing a company) do not include a residency requirement. For the management of a limited liability company (SARL) by a non-EU citizen, the situation must be verified on a case-by-case basis. In all cases, the tax and social security consequences of leaving the company must be considered.
Will my dividends be taxed less if I leave?
In France, the withholding tax is reduced to 12.8% for a non-resident individual, instead of 31.4% under the flat-rate withholding tax system. The host country generally taxes the dividend in turn, which is why the calculation is always done in two stages: first in France, then in the country of residence.
Are you running a French company and preparing to relocate abroad?
The first meeting is used to map out your governance, contracts and dividends, and then to discuss what needs to be documented before departure.
Are you a notary, chartered accountant, lawyer, or fellow consultant? And one of your executive clients is leaving? We act as a co-contractor on governance and tax residence: the client remains yours, we hand over the completed file to you.
Book an appointment
The initial consultation is to establish your exact situation and determine if there is anything that can be done—sometimes there is nothing, and we will say so as well. Thirty minutes, with no obligation.
Book an exchange with Balmont Conseil
Alexis Sagnier, financial and real estate investment advisor, insurance broker, AMF certified. ORIAS 13003497. Updated on 23/10/2026.
Official sources consulted
- Territoriality of the IS (BOI-IS-CHAMP-60-10-10)
- France-Luxembourg Convention, scope of application (BOI-INT-CVB-LUX-10)
- France-Luxembourg Convention, taxation rules (BOI-INT-CVB-LUX-20)
- Corporate tax rates (service-public.fr entreprendre)
- Social security contributions 18.6 % and PFU (service-public.fr)
- Form 2777, withholding tax on dividends (2026 tax year)
- President of a SAS (simplified joint-stock company): conditions of practice (service-public.fr entreprendre)
