Your company is your primary asset: what it can pay you, finance, and then pass on.

In a company that employs at least one employee and less than 250, the manager can join the PEE and the collective PER like his employees, and receive the same matching contribution (article L3332-2 of the Labor Code): up to €3,844.80 per year on the PEE and €7,689.60 on the collective PER in 2026, i.e. €11,534.40 per year without social security contributions or income tax on entry.

For companies with fewer than 50 employees, the employer does not pay the employer's social security contribution on this matching contribution; the employee pays the CSG and CRDS social security contributions. The mandatory PER (Article 83 of the French General Tax Code) and the defined-benefit pension plan (Article 39) supplement the scheme for a certain category of employees.

A provision for retirement severance pay is not deductible from profit (Article 39, 1-5° of the French General Tax Code). Premiums paid into an insurance contract that finances these severance payments, when stipulated in the collective agreement, are deductible expenses, and on the day of retirement, the insurer makes the payment.

After 30 years of service, the legal minimum is 2 months' salary for voluntary departure (article D1237-1 of the Labor Code), often more depending on the collective agreement.

With a Dutreil agreement (article 787 B of the French General Tax Code), 75% of the value of the transferred shares is exempt from gift or inheritance tax, in exchange for a collective commitment to retain the shares for two years, followed by an individual commitment from each heir or donee. For a company with a value of €4 million, only €1 million is subject to tax.

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.

Contributing shares to a holding company that you control, before selling, places the capital gain under a tax deferral (Article 150-0 B ter of the French General Tax Code). If the holding company sells within 3 years, the deferral is maintained provided that 70% of the proceeds are reinvested within 3 years in an economic activity, and this reinvestment is retained 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.

A holding company which has held at least 5 % of the capital of a subsidiary for 2 years pays corporate tax only on 5 % of the dividends it receives from it (parent-subsidiary regime, articles 145 and 216 of the CGI): on 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.

A Lombard loan is secured by a pledge of securities portfolio or a assurance-vie policy (Article L132-10 of the French Insurance Code), which remain in your name and remain invested. Nothing is sold: no capital gains are taxed at 31.4%, and the policy's tax status is preserved.

We compare selling and borrowing, including tax, then we put you in touch with our banking partners, who study the request and make the offer.

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

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.