{"id":2133779,"date":"2026-09-28T20:13:22","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T18:13:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/2026\/09\/28\/foreign-company-france-nonresident-director-salary-dividends-charge-abroad\/"},"modified":"2026-09-28T20:13:22","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T18:13:22","slug":"foreign-company-france-nonresident-director-salary-dividends-charge-abroad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kohenavocats.fr\/en\/2026\/09\/28\/foreign-company-france-nonresident-director-salary-dividends-charge-abroad\/","title":{"rendered":"You Live Abroad and Pay Yourself From Your French Company: Salary or Dividends, Social Charges, Withholding and How to Challenge the Bill"},"content":{"rendered":"

You live in London, New York, Dubai or Singapore, and your French company is up and running. The bank account is open, the Kbis<\/em> \u2014 the official identity certificate of the company issued by the greffe<\/em>, the registry of the commercial court \u2014 has arrived, and the first invoices are about to go out. One question now dominates every decision: how do you, as a director who does not live in France, lawfully take money out of that company, and what will it cost in social charges and French tax? Salary or dividends, French social security or none at all, withholding at source or treaty relief \u2014 the wrong choice can double the bill, and the right one depends on the company form you chose on day one. This guide walks through the whole path in plain English: appointing yourself from abroad and staying properly registered, then paying yourself by salary or by dividend as a non-resident, with the exact statutes, the case law that gives them teeth, and the remedies when the URSSAF<\/em> \u2014 the agency that collects social contributions \u2014 or the tax office sends a reassessment to an address outside France.<\/p>\n

I. Can I run my French SAS or SARL while living abroad and how do I appoint myself director?<\/h2>\n

French law does not in principle require the president of a SAS<\/em> \u2014 soci\u00e9t\u00e9 par actions simplifi\u00e9e<\/em>, the flexible joint-stock company most foreign founders choose \u2014 or the g\u00e9rant<\/em>, the manager, of a SARL<\/em> \u2014 soci\u00e9t\u00e9 \u00e0 responsabilit\u00e9 limit\u00e9e<\/em>, the limited liability company with a more rigid statutory frame \u2014 to live in France. Nationality and residence are separate questions from capacity: what matters is that the appointment follows the articles, that the company discloses its director to the register, and that regulated activities, banking rules and immigration law do not impose a local presence. A founder who lives abroad can therefore preside over a SAS or manage a SARL from another country, sign contracts electronically, hold meetings by video link where the articles allow it, and delegate day-to-day authority to a local representative. The traps are administrative rather than theoretical: a file rejected by the single filing portal, a bank that freezes onboarding until the director appears in person, or a residence document missing for a non-European director who needs to enter France regularly. Getting the appointment right at the start saves months of corrections later, and it determines the social security regime and the tax treatment described in the second part of this article.<\/p>\n

A. SAS president or SARL manager: who can live abroad and what to file on the Guichet unique<\/h3>\n

The SAS is built around contractual freedom. The statute says that \u201cLa soci\u00e9t\u00e9 est repr\u00e9sent\u00e9e \u00e0 l’\u00e9gard des tiers par un pr\u00e9sident d\u00e9sign\u00e9 dans les conditions pr\u00e9vues par les statuts.\u201d<\/a> In practice this means the articles decide everything: who appoints the president, for how long, whether a foreign resident can hold the office, whether decisions can be taken in writing or by video link, and whether deputy executives \u2014 directeurs g\u00e9n\u00e9raux<\/em> \u2014 can be added. Nothing in the SAS chapter of the Commercial Code imposes French residence on the president, and a non-resident, even a non-European, can preside over a SAS provided any visa or residence-permit question for physical presence in France is handled separately. Most foreign founders who want maximum freedom therefore pick the SAS or its one-person variant, the SASU, and write remote-management clauses into the articles from day one. For a general overview of the creation sequence \u2014 bank account, Kbis<\/em>, VAT number and first hire \u2014 readers often start with the complete setup guide for foreign founders opening a company in France<\/a>, which this article completes on the specific point of the director’s pay.<\/p>\n

The SARL works differently. The statute provides that \u201cLa soci\u00e9t\u00e9 \u00e0 responsabilit\u00e9 limit\u00e9e est g\u00e9r\u00e9e par une ou plusieurs personnes physiques.\u201d<\/a> Only a natural person can manage a SARL, and the manager is appointed by the members in the articles or by a later members’ decision. Like the SAS president, the SARL manager can live abroad \u2014 no residence condition appears in the statute \u2014 but the SARL is less flexible: the manager’s powers, removal and remuneration follow stricter statutory rules, and the social security regime turns on the size of the manager’s shareholding, as explained below. Founders who plan to manage alone from abroad and to adapt the governance as the business grows usually prefer the SAS; founders who want the protective statutory frame of the SARL, or who convert an existing small business, accept the manager regime with its majority test.<\/p>\n

Whatever the form, the appointment must be disclosed through the Guichet unique<\/em>, the single online filing portal operated by the INPI (the French intellectual-property and companies institute), which feeds the RNE<\/em> \u2014 the Registre national des entreprises<\/em>, the single national companies register that replaced the former separate registers. The Commercial Code states the principle in these terms: filings are made \u201cpar le d\u00e9p\u00f4t d’un seul dossier comportant les d\u00e9clarations qu’elle est tenue d’effectuer\u201d<\/a>, one single file containing all the declarations the business must make. In concrete terms the founder \u2014 or the lawyer or accountant acting under a power of attorney \u2014 uploads the articles, the appointment decision, proof of identity, a statement of non-conviction, proof of the registered office, and, for a non-European director who will be active in France, the relevant residence or visa document. The greffe<\/em> verifies the file, the company and its director appear in the RNE, and publication follows in the BODACC<\/em> \u2014 the Bulletin officiel des annonces civiles et commerciales<\/em>, the official gazette where company creations, director changes and insolvency openings are published. A change of director later follows the same single-file route: members’ minutes, updated beneficial-owner information where required, and a fresh filing. Foreign founders should keep a certified English translation of the articles for the bank, but only the French text filed has legal value, and any discrepancy between the translation and the filed French version is resolved in favour of the French.<\/p>\n

Two practical warnings complete the picture. First, the articles can restrict the president’s internal powers \u2014 spending caps, co-signature requirements, matters reserved to the members \u2014 but those internal limits are unenforceable against third parties, so a contract signed by the president binds the company even beyond an internal cap, with only an internal claim against the president afterwards. Second, a director who is also an employee needs a real employment contract on top of the corporate office: separate technical duties, a relationship of subordination, and separate pay. The Cour de cassation recalled this firmly in a 15 May 2025 decision about a SAS president, holding that \u201cce dirigeant \u00e9tait assujetti par assimilation au r\u00e9gime g\u00e9n\u00e9ral en sa qualit\u00e9 de pr\u00e9sident d’une soci\u00e9t\u00e9 par actions simplifi\u00e9e\u201d<\/a>, and that \u201cm\u00eame si la r\u00e9mun\u00e9ration du pr\u00e9sident d’une soci\u00e9t\u00e9 par actions simplifi\u00e9e, au titre de son mandat social, est assujettie au r\u00e9gime g\u00e9n\u00e9ral de la s\u00e9curit\u00e9 sociale, il n’en r\u00e9sulte pas pour autant que le pr\u00e9sident soit salari\u00e9\u201d<\/a>. Assimilation to the employee scheme for social security does not make the president an employee in labour law, and claiming retirement indemnities or dismissal protection reserved to employees fails without a genuine separate contract. Founders living abroad should therefore decide early whether they want a pure corporate office \u2014 flexible, revocable, without employment protection \u2014 or a genuine dual status, which the courts examine strictly.<\/p>\n

B. Kbis, BODACC, bank checks and residence: the paperwork that blocks non-resident directors<\/h3>\n

The Kbis<\/em> is the document everyone will ask for: banks, suppliers, landlords, the VAT office, and clients checking that the company exists. It shows the company name, form, capital, registered office, activity, registration number (SIREN), and the identity of the director. After the greffe<\/em> validates the Guichet unique file, the Kbis<\/em> can be downloaded, and the creation notice appears in the BODACC<\/em>. Foreign directors should check the Kbis<\/em> line by line on arrival: a misspelled name, a wrong birth date or a missing appointment renders every subsequent step \u2014 bank, VAT, payroll \u2014 inconsistent, and corrections require a new filing with supporting documents. Keeping a recent Kbis<\/em> (less than three months old) is standard practice in France, and counterparties are entitled to ask for one before signing.<\/p>\n

Banks are the most frequent bottleneck. A French company whose director lives abroad, holds a foreign passport, and injects capital from a foreign account triggers every anti-money-laundering control at once: proof of the origin of funds, proof of address abroad, certified passport copy, company documents, and sometimes a video call or a physical appearance. Some banks still require the director to appear in person to release the frozen capital and open the operating account; others accept fully remote onboarding through specialised non-resident desks. Founders should prepare a coherent file \u2014 source of funds, foreign tax number, criminal-record statement, company plan \u2014 and allow several weeks. Where a bank refuses outright, French law offers a remedy: the right to an account (droit au compte<\/em>) procedure through the Banque de France, which designates a bank obliged to open a basic account. The companion guide on what to do when the French bank refuses the company account from abroad<\/a> details the capital-deposit certificate, the Kbis<\/em> sequence and the forced-opening procedure step by step.<\/p>\n

Residence and immigration form the third layer. A European Union citizen can live anywhere in the Union and direct a French company without any permit. A founder from outside the Union who stays abroad and manages remotely generally needs no French residence permit, but each entry into France follows ordinary short-stay visa rules, and any plan to settle in France to run the company requires the appropriate long-stay visa and residence permit for company directors, with minimum investment and activity conditions. The registered office itself needs no physical shop: domiciliation with an authorised domiciliation company is lawful, provided the company keeps its records available and declares the address consistently to the RNE, the tax office and the bank. Inconsistency between the Kbis<\/em> address, the lease or domiciliation contract, and the VAT registration is one of the most common causes of frozen files, so the founder should align all three before trading starts. Once the company is properly registered, visible in the BODACC<\/em>, banked, and VAT-registered where needed, the question shifts from existence to income: how the non-resident director is paid, which is the subject of the second part.<\/p>\n

II. How do I pay myself from France when I live abroad: salary, dividends, charges and withholding?<\/h2>\n

Once the company trades, the founder faces a choice with major financial consequences: take a salary for the director’s office, take dividends as a shareholder, combine both, or take nothing for a while. Each route carries a different social-security regime, a different tax, and a different procedure when the administration disagrees. Salary exposes the director to French social contributions but builds French cover and is deductible for the company; dividends escape social contributions in most cases but bear flat-rate tax and withholding for non-residents, and require distributable profits voted by the members. A director who lives abroad adds a second dimension: France may levy withholding at source on French-source pay, while the country of residence may also tax the same income, with the applicable tax treaty deciding who taxes what and how double taxation is relieved. The sections below compare the two routes precisely, so that the founder can choose with full knowledge of the cost and keep the documents that make a challenge possible if a reassessment arrives.<\/p>\n

A. Salary of a non-resident director: social charges, URSSAF control and withholding under article 182 A<\/h3>\n

The social security regime follows the office, not the passport. The Social Security Code lists the offices affiliated to the general scheme \u2014 the scheme of employees \u2014 even without an employment contract. For the SAS it provides, in item 23 of article L. 311-3, \u201cLes pr\u00e9sidents et dirigeants des soci\u00e9t\u00e9s par actions simplifi\u00e9es et des soci\u00e9t\u00e9s d’exercice lib\u00e9ral par actions simplifi\u00e9es\u201d<\/a>. A paid SAS president is therefore an assimil\u00e9 salari\u00e9<\/em> \u2014 a person treated as an employee for social security only \u2014 whatever the shareholding: the sole shareholder-president of a SASU pays into the general scheme exactly like a minority president. The counterpart rule for the SARL turns on a majority test: item 11 of the same article covers \u201cLes g\u00e9rants de soci\u00e9t\u00e9s \u00e0 responsabilit\u00e9 limit\u00e9e et de soci\u00e9t\u00e9s d’exercice lib\u00e9ral \u00e0 responsabilit\u00e9 limit\u00e9e \u00e0 condition que lesdits g\u00e9rants ne poss\u00e8dent pas ensemble plus de la moiti\u00e9 du capital social\u201d<\/a>. A minority or equal-share SARL manager belongs to the general scheme; a majority manager belongs to the self-employed scheme \u2014 the TNS<\/em>, travailleur non salari\u00e9<\/em> \u2014 with contributions set by a different statute, since \u201cLes cotisations de s\u00e9curit\u00e9 sociale dues par les travailleurs ind\u00e9pendants non agricoles ne relevant pas du dispositif pr\u00e9vu \u00e0 l’article L. 613-7 sont assises sur l’assiette d\u00e9finie \u00e0 l’article L. 136-3.\u201d<\/a> The majority test counts family holdings \u2014 shares of the spouse, PACS partner and minor children count as the manager’s own \u2014 and aggregates co-managers, so an apparently minority founder can fall into the self-employed scheme through a spouse’s shares or a joint management.<\/p>\n

Three consequences matter for a director living abroad. First, no pay means no general-scheme affiliation: an unpaid SAS president or unpaid minority SARL manager owes no employee-scheme contributions, but accrues no French health, maternity or retirement cover either, while an unpaid majority SARL manager still owes the minimum self-employed contributions. Second, paid assimilated directors contribute roughly like employees \u2014 health, family, retirement, workplace accidents, supplementary pension \u2014 but never unemployment insurance, and the company files them through the DSN<\/em> \u2014 the d\u00e9claration sociale nominative<\/em>, the monthly electronic payroll return \u2014 exactly like staff. Third, European coordination can change everything: a director already insured in another EU or EEA state, or posted under an A1 certificate, may remain under the home state’s legislation for a time, while a director in a non-treaty third country generally falls fully into the French regime for French-office pay. Founders should obtain a written position from the URSSAF<\/em> on their exact situation before the first payslip, keep every appointment decision fixing the remuneration, and never confuse a current-account advance (compte courant d’associ\u00e9<\/em>) with salary: advances are loans, not pay, and reclassifying them as hidden salary is a classic reassessment.<\/p>\n

The tax side of salary for a non-resident is governed by withholding. The Tax Code provides that \u201cles traitements, salaires, pensions et rentes viag\u00e8res, de source fran\u00e7aise, servis \u00e0 des personnes qui ne sont pas fiscalement domicili\u00e9es en France donnent lieu \u00e0 l’application d’une retenue \u00e0 la source\u201d<\/a>. In practice the French company withholds at source on the director’s French-source salary according to the statutory scale, and the director declares the income in the country of residence, crediting the French withholding under the applicable treaty. Treaties on dependent employment usually give the primary right to the state where the work is physically done, with management work performed remotely from abroad sometimes taxable there \u2014 the precise treaty article and the director’s travel diary decide. Founders should therefore keep boarding passes, meeting records and a calendar of days worked in France, because the tax office asks for them in every cross-border salary audit. Salary remains deductible for the company when it reflects real work and a market-consistent amount: the company pays corporation tax \u2014 whose standard rate is set by the rule that \u201cLe taux normal de l’imp\u00f4t est fix\u00e9 \u00e0 25 %.\u201d<\/a> \u2014 on profit after genuine salary, so excessive pay to a related director risks partial non-deduction and reclassification.<\/p>\n

When the URSSAF<\/em> audits, it notifies findings in an observation letter, the company responds within the deadline, and any assessment can be challenged first before the amicable-appeals commission and then before the judicial social-security court, from abroad through a representative. The guide on facing a URSSAF audit while living abroad<\/a> explains the timetable, the documents to produce, and the way to contest from another country without missing the short limitation periods. The annual rhythm of accounts, meetings and filings that frames all of this \u2014 approving accounts within six months, filing with the greffe<\/em>, paying corporation tax instalments \u2014 is set out in the legal calendar of a French company managed from abroad<\/a>, which every non-resident director should keep beside the payroll schedule.<\/p>\n

B. Dividends to a non-resident director: withholding under article 119 bis, treaty relief and how to challenge the bill<\/h3>\n

Dividends follow a different logic: they reward the shareholder, not the office. The Tax Code treats as distributed income, among other items, \u201cLes dividendes, int\u00e9r\u00eats, arr\u00e9rages et tous autres produits des actions de toute nature et des parts de fondateur des soci\u00e9t\u00e9s\u201d<\/a>. For a shareholder who lives in France, the mechanism is familiar: a flat-rate levy of 12.8 percent applies at payment, since \u201cLes personnes physiques fiscalement domicili\u00e9es en France au sens de l’article 4 B qui b\u00e9n\u00e9ficient de revenus distribu\u00e9s mentionn\u00e9s aux articles 108 \u00e0 117 bis et 120 \u00e0 123 bis sont assujetties \u00e0 un pr\u00e9l\u00e8vement au taux de 12,8 %.\u201d<\/a> \u2014 the first layer of the single flat-rate levy (PFU<\/em>, pr\u00e9l\u00e8vement forfaitaire unique<\/em>), with social levies on investment income on top \u2014 followed by final settlement on the annual return, with an option for the progressive scale in some cases. For a shareholder who does not live in France, France instead levies withholding at source: the Code states that the relevant investment income items \u201cdonnent lieu \u00e0 l’application d’une retenue \u00e0 la source dont le taux est fix\u00e9 par le 1 de l’article 187\u201d<\/a> where they benefit persons without French tax domicile. The standard statutory rate on dividends paid to non-residents is 25 percent, reduced by most bilateral treaties \u2014 commonly to 15 percent, sometimes lower for substantial corporate shareholders \u2014 provided the shareholder proves residence, discloses the beneficial owner, and files the treaty reclaim forms through the paying company. The distinction between a parent company receiving subsidiary profits and an individual director receiving dividends on a personal holding matters here: the parent-subsidiary channel and its own withholding disputes are analysed in the guide to subsidiary profits and dividend withholding for foreign parents<\/a>, while this section concerns the individual founder-shareholder living abroad.<\/p>\n

Dividends have three strict preconditions that salary does not. First, they require profits: only distributable sums \u2014 current profit plus reserves and retained earnings, minus losses and legal allocations \u2014 can be distributed, and the members must vote the distribution on the basis of accounts duly approved. Second, they require a vote: the ordinary general meeting approves the accounts and allocates the result, fixes the dividend per share and the payment date, and the company withholds and remits the levy or withholding. Third, they are not deductible: unlike salary, dividends are paid out of after-tax profit, so the company has already paid corporation tax on the same euro. The comparison for a non-resident founder is therefore corporation tax plus withholding plus residence-country tax with treaty credit, against salary charges plus French withholding plus residence-country tax with treaty credit \u2014 and the answer changes with the amounts, the treaty rate, and whether the founder needs French social cover. Low, regular salary up to a sensible level combined with a voted dividend out of genuine profit is the most common balanced pattern, but it must be documented as such: appointment decision and pay slips for the salary, approved accounts and minutes for the dividend, never a mere transfer labelled afterwards.<\/p>\n

The courts police the boundary harshly. Distributing sums without genuine distributable profit \u2014 fictitious dividends \u2014 can lead to civil recovery and, where false documents support the distribution, criminal liability: the criminal chamber of the Cour de cassation ruled on 12 June 2025, appeal no. 24-81.263, in a case joining prosecutions for forgery with distribution of fictitious dividends, upholding the penal logic while limiting cassation to the civil provisions concerning one defendant, a reminder that dividend paperwork is examined document by document. On the civil side, the commercial chamber ruled on 12 February 2025, appeal no. 23-11.410, in litigation between family shareholders of two SAS companies over dividends voted at a 2017 meeting and the social levies paid to the Treasury afterwards, partially cassating the appeal judgment on the dividend-payment claim and the related levies \u2014 proof that even a voted distribution can be reopened years later on the accounts, the vote and the levies. A decision worth citing in full on the social-security side is the 15 March 2018 ruling of the second civil chamber, appeal no. 17-15.192, concerning an unpaid SAS president: the Court recalled that \u201cle r\u00e9gime de protection sociale des salari\u00e9s des professions agricoles est applicable aux pr\u00e9sidents et dirigeants des soci\u00e9t\u00e9s par actions simplifi\u00e9es qui exercent une activit\u00e9 agricole au sens de l’article L. 722-1, 1\u00b0 \u00e0 4\u00b0, du m\u00eame code\u201d<\/a>, and deduced from the mere quality of SAS president that \u201cce dont il r\u00e9sultait que l’int\u00e9ress\u00e9 ne pouvait \u00eatre assujetti au r\u00e9gime de protection sociale des exploitants\u201d<\/a>, rejecting the contribution claim against him personally. The lesson generalises: the office determines the scheme, and only the precise statutory text \u2014 read as written \u2014 decides which fund can bill whom.<\/p>\n

When the tax office reassesses dividends \u2014 denial of treaty relief, challenge to beneficial ownership, late-payment penalties \u2014 the procedure runs through a formal proposal of reassessment, a response period, and then administrative and judicial appeal, with strict deadlines that run even if the notice is sent abroad. The founder should react in writing within the stated period, attach the residence certificate, the treaty forms, the approved accounts and the minutes proving distributable profit, and request suspension of collection where available. Parallel company-level disputes on distributions to a foreign parent follow their own channel, described in the subsidiary-profits guide linked above. In every case the winning file is the boring one: complete accounts, consistent Kbis<\/em> and RNE data, dated minutes, payslips through the DSN<\/em>, dividend vouchers, withholding returns, and a travel diary separating days worked in France from days worked abroad. Judges forgive a debatable interpretation supported by documents; they rarely forgive missing ones.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h2>\n

A non-resident can lawfully direct a French SAS or SARL, be registered through the single file of the Guichet unique<\/em>, appear on the Kbis<\/em>, pass the bank’s controls and be published in the BODACC<\/em> \u2014 provided each step is filed consistently and in French. Once trading, the founder chooses between salary, taxed at source under article 182 A of the Tax Code and charged with social contributions as an assimil\u00e9 salari\u00e9<\/em> in the SAS or under the majority test in the SARL, and dividends, withheld at source under article 119 bis at the statutory or treaty rate out of voted distributable profit. The case law leaves no room for improvisation: assimilation is not employment, unpaid office does not open employee cover, and fictitious dividends lead to recovery and prosecution. With clean appointments, approved accounts, voted distributions, filed returns and a diary of presence, a founder living abroad can take money out of a French company at a known, controlled cost \u2014 and answer any URSSAF<\/em> or tax reassessment with a file that holds together from London, New York, Dubai or Singapore as solidly as from Paris.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Non-resident director of a French SAS or SARL: appointment from abroad, salary vs dividends, social charges, withholding and remedies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":251031309,"featured_media":16521,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kj_source_type":"","_kj_official_id":"","_kj_official_url":"","_kj_judilibre_id":"","_kj_jur":"","_kj_lieu":"","_kj_chambre":"","_kj_rg":"","_kj_date":"","activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","activitypub_max_image_attachments":4,"activitypub_interaction_policy_quote":"anyone","activitypub_status":"federated","footnotes":""},"categories":[80314,80313],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2133779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-decryptage","category-doing-business-in-france"],"yoast_head":"\nYou Live Abroad and Pay Yourself From Your French Company: Salary or Dividends, Social Charges, Withholding and How to Challenge the Bill - 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